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![Ariana Figueroa](https://kentuckylantern.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Ariana-Figueroa-e1651791759710-300x300.jpeg)
Ariana covers the nation's capital for States Newsroom. Her areas of coverage include politics and policy, lobbying, elections and campaign finance.
Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
On the U.S.-Mexico border, hopes and fears after Biden’s order limiting asylum
By: Ariana Figueroa - June 20, 2024
EL PASO, Texas — Seventeen-year-old Karina Parababire gently rocked her three-month-old daughter as they waited in a migrant shelter before a Friday night bus ride to Chicago. “I want my daughter to have everything that I didn’t have,” Parababire, who traveled up the extremely dangerous route of the Darien Gap while pregnant, said in Spanish. […]
U.S. House ethics panel adds allegations to Matt Gaetz investigation
By: Ariana Figueroa - June 18, 2024
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Ethics Committee released a statement Tuesday saying it has “identified additional allegations that merit review” based on its investigation of prior allegations that Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz had inappropriate sexual relationships and violated rules by accepting gifts. The committee is investigating allegations that Gaetz may have “engaged in […]
Biden to unveil protections for some undocumented spouses, easier DACA work visas
By: Ariana Figueroa - June 18, 2024
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration Tuesday will announce deportation protections for long-term undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens, along with quicker approval of work permits for those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. President Joe Biden will formally make the announcement during an afternoon White House event to celebrate the 12th anniversary of […]
U.S. Supreme Court overturns ban on bump stocks used in Las Vegas mass shooting
By: Ariana Figueroa - June 14, 2024
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday struck down a rule enacted following a 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that defined a semiautomatic rifle equipped with a bump stock attachment as a machine gun, which is generally prohibited under federal law. The opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, reduces the executive branch’s already-limited […]
Trump claims ‘great unity’ after talks with congressional GOP
By: Ariana Figueroa and Ashley Murray - June 14, 2024
WASHINGTON — In his first visit to Capitol Hill since leaving office in January 2021, former President Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, mapped campaign strategy with GOP lawmakers and projected party unity ahead of the November elections. Trump said the meetings brought “great unity.” Surrounded by Republican senators who were smiling and applauding him […]
Biden touts gun safety record to advocates, as son found guilty on felony charges
By: Ariana Figueroa - June 11, 2024
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday touted his administration’s efforts to reduce gun violence as the second anniversary of bipartisan gun safety legislation he signed into law approaches. “Never give up on hope,” Biden said during an annual conference hosted by the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety. The speech came hours after the […]
U.S. Senate Republicans outline their farm bill framework
By: Ariana Figueroa - June 11, 2024
WASHINGTON — Republicans on the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry on Tuesday released their framework for a new five-year farm bill that will set the policy and funding levels for key food, agriculture and conservation programs. The top Republican on the committee, Arkansas Sen. John Boozman, laid out GOP priorities with reporters during a […]
Executive order limiting asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border signed by Biden
By: Ariana Figueroa - June 4, 2024
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday issued an executive order that will allow him to partially suspend asylum requests at the U.S.-Mexico border when daily unauthorized crossings reach a threshold of 2,500 migrants. “I’ve come here today to do what Republicans in Congress refuse to do, take the necessary steps to secure our border,” […]
An angry Trump pledges to appeal ‘this scam’ conviction as Republicans vow resistance
By: Ashley Murray, Jacob Fischler and Ariana Figueroa - May 31, 2024
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump, now a convicted felon, vowed to launch an appeal based “on many things” he considered unfair during his New York trial, he said Friday in the lobby of Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan. Meanwhile Friday, legal and political analysts predicted he will spend little if any time in jail […]
Bipartisan border bill loses support, fails procedural vote in U.S. Senate
By: Ariana Figueroa - May 23, 2024
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate failed Thursday to advance a border security bill as both parties seek to hone their messages on immigration policy in the runup to November’s elections. The Senate bill failed to advance on a 43-50 procedural vote. The chamber already rejected the measure as part of a broader foreign aid package […]
U.S. House panel votes to advance election bills targeting noncitizens, foreign money
By: Ariana Figueroa - May 23, 2024
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Administration Committee voted along party lines Thursday to advance two election-related bills to the House floor. The Republican-led committee approved H.R. 8281, a bill to bar noncitizens from voting in federal elections, something that is rare and already illegal, and H.R. 8399, which would restrict the contributions of foreign nationals […]
Bipartisan border bill likely doomed in approaching U.S. Senate vote
By: Ariana Figueroa - May 21, 2024
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats are pushing for a second attempt to pass a bipartisan border security bill that failed in February after Republicans walked away from the very deal they helped craft, and it’s likely to fail again when the Senate votes on the legislation Thursday. “So why are we bringing this bill up […]