Author
Menendez, other U.S. Senate Democrats vent frustrations after new ruling against DACA
WASHINGTON — A federal judge Wednesday declared illegal the Biden administration’s revised version of a program that protects hundreds of thousands of people brought into the country as children from deportation, and U.S. Senate Democrats, advocates and the White House on Thursday decried the decision. “I think that Congress should act, but it has been incapable of […]
U.S. prisons chief insists to Senate panel there’s been ‘visible change’ in the system
WASHINGTON — The head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons on Wednesday outlined to the Senate Judiciary Committee how she has sought improvements in the nation’s troubled prison system, and fielded questions from Republicans about transgender inmates. “Developing meaningful change throughout the agency is not something that happens in a moment,” Colette Peters, the director […]
U.S. House Speaker McCarthy tells committees to launch Biden impeachment probe
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday announced that he has directed several House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into unproven GOP allegations that President Joe Biden profited from his son’s business dealings when he was vice president in the Obama administration. “These allegations paint a picture, a picture of corruption,” […]
Battles over spending, farm bill, Ukraine and yet more loom over a divided Congress
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House and Senate are both back in D.C. on Tuesday following a long summer recess, facing an overwhelming agenda of unfinished work — funding the federal government and reauthorizing major programs set to expire at the end of the month. Congressional leaders and President Joe Biden have only a few weeks […]
Millions enrolled in new student loan repayment program
WASHINGTON — More than 4 million federal student loan borrowers are enrolled in the Biden administration’s new repayment program, according to figures released Tuesday by the Department of Education. With the pause of more than three years on federal student loan repayments coming to an end in October, and the Supreme Court’s summer decision to […]
Here’s what to know about new federal policies for repaying student loans
WASHINGTON — Following the Supreme Court’s summer ruling against 40 million federal student loan borrowers who would have qualified for debt relief, the Biden administration crafted a year-long delay in repayments. The policy, known as an on-ramp, is set to begin next month. Additionally, hours after the Supreme Court’s decision, the Department of Education unveiled […]
Afghan refugees who aided the U.S. stuck in legal limbo, two years after Kabul’s fall
WASHINGTON — Two years ago, Farzana Jamalzada and her husband made the difficult decision to separately flee Afghanistan, after U.S. troops withdrew from the country and the Taliban took over. It took days for the couple to be reunited at an airport in Qatar, where Jamalzada would show people a picture of her husband on […]
Biden administration provides guidance on diversity in college admissions
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice and Department of Education jointly released guidance on Monday to colleges and universities about how to consider race in admissions decisions, following the Supreme Court’s summer decision that struck down affirmative action in higher education. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, on a call with reporters, said higher education institutions can continue to participate in […]
States seek to let teens as young as 14 serve booze in restaurants
WASHINGTON — As a former bartender and current tipped worker, Trupti Patel knows that customers tend to get grabby when there is alcohol involved. After working in the food service industry for more than a decade, she is accustomed to dealing with drunk customers who get out of hand, especially if they become belligerent or […]
More than 100 advocacy groups urge Congress to denounce anti-immigrant rhetoric
WASHINGTON — On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas in which 23 people were murdered, more than 160 religious, civil rights and immigrant advocacy groups called on congressional leaders to denounce lawmakers who use white supremacist, anti-immigrant rhetoric, arguing that it can lead to violence for marginalized […]
Parents have no right to allow their children’s gender transition, Republicans say
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on a panel for limited federal government on Thursday argued that parents should not be allowed to let their transgender children have access to gender-affirming care. “A parent has no right to sexually transition a young child,” the chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, […]
Biden border policies ripped by U.S. House GOP as impeachment threats ramp up
WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday faced off with Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, who did not directly call for his impeachment but strongly criticized his oversight of the agency. “I know that today Secretary Mayorkas is going to try to paint a rosy picture of this disastrous […]