Author

Ariana Figueroa

Ariana Figueroa

Ariana covers the nation's capital for States Newsroom. Her areas of coverage include politics and policy, lobbying, elections and campaign finance.

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

Asylum seekers with criminal records would be more quickly removed under Biden proposal

By: - May 9, 2024

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Thursday it’s proposing changes to the asylum system that would allow immigration officials to reject asylum seekers who have a criminal record that poses a threat to national security or public safety and quickly remove them. Those changes will occur during the initial screening stages, a senior U.S. Department […]

U.S. House Republicans pass bill to stop census from counting noncitizens

By: - May 9, 2024

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans passed a bill Wednesday to add a citizenship question to the census and exclude noncitizens from the official headcount when determining population for representation in Congress and electoral votes. The legislation, which passed on a 206-202 party-line vote, is part of a trend of House GOP bills relating to immigration as the […]

U.S. House GOP targets noncitizen voting, even though it’s rare

By: - May 8, 2024

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson Wednesday unveiled a bill that would require states to verify proof of citizenship to prevent noncitizens from voting in federal elections, something already barred under the law. Johnson, a Louisiana Republican who played a key role through legal challenges in defending the former president’s efforts to overturn the […]

Biden decries campus antisemitism in Holocaust remembrance speech

By: - May 7, 2024

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden warned Tuesday of rising antisemitism in the U.S. and said too many are forgetting the attack on Israel in October. During a Holocaust memorial speech at the U.S. Capitol, Biden stressed the importance of honoring the 6 million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust, and the victims of Hamas’ […]

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene huddles with U.S. House speaker she’s trying to oust

By: and - May 7, 2024

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene plan to meet privately Tuesday amid her calls for him to resign or face a floor vote that could, but likely won’t, remove the Louisiana Republican from leadership. Greene announced the meeting Monday evening after she and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie met […]

Biden administration to issue rule expanding DACA health care access

By: - May 3, 2024

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will publish a final rule Friday that will allow about 100,000 uninsured people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to enroll in state-run or private health insurance plans provided under the Affordable Care Act, administration officials said. The new rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human […]

Trump says he’d use police, National Guard and possibly the military to expel immigrants

By: - April 30, 2024

WASHINGTON —  Former President Donald Trump in his second term would carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants by utilizing local law enforcement, the National Guard and potentially the U.S. military, according to a lengthy interview he conducted with Time magazine. “When we talk military, generally speaking, I talk National Guard,” the presumptive 2024 GOP […]

Biden administration to roll back the Betsy DeVos Title IX rules

By: - April 19, 2024

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education on Friday announced a final rule that will update Title IX regulations governing how schools respond to sexual misconduct, undoing changes made under the Trump administration and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. “For more than 50 years, Title IX has promised an equal opportunity to learn and thrive […]

Senate rejects two impeachment articles against DHS Secretary Mayorkas

By: - April 17, 2024

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Wednesday dismissed two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The Democrat-controlled chamber voted, 51-49 along party lines, to adjourn the impeachment trial after finding that the impeachment articles accusing Mayorkas of not complying with federal immigration law and breaching the public trust did not rise to […]

New rule to close ‘gun show loophole’ finalized by Biden administration

By: - April 11, 2024

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Thursday finalized a new rule that would require anyone selling a gun to obtain a federal license and conduct background checks. The rule aims to close what’s known as the “gun show loophole.” Gun merchants who sell online, by mail or at flea markets and gun shows until now […]

Republicans in Congress delay Mayorkas impeachment proceedings

By: - April 10, 2024

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans will delay until next week their delivery to the Senate of the two articles of impeachment against Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a spokesperson for House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday. “To ensure the Senate has adequate time to perform its constitutional duty, the House will transmit the articles of impeachment […]

In Wisconsin, Biden underlines plans to help college students with ‘unsustainable debts’

By: - April 8, 2024

WASHINGTON — During a speech in Madison, Wisconsin on Monday, President Joe Biden touted his administration’s efforts to provide student debt relief through several new proposals, such as canceling accrued interest. “While (a) college degree still is a ticket to the middle class, that ticket is becoming much too expensive,” Biden said. “Things are a […]