Author Archive
Ariana Figueroa
DC Bureau Reporter
Ariana covers the nation's capital for States Newsroom. Her areas of coverage include politics and policy, lobbying, elections and campaign finance.
Ariana covers the nation's capital for States Newsroom. Her areas of coverage include politics and policy, lobbying, elections and campaign finance.
Management
Top Dems in Congress list ICE constraints they want in funding bill
Proposed restrictions on the agency include requiring wearing body camera, the removal of masks and limitations on certain locations where people can be detained.
- Jennifer Shutt and Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
Management
House Democrats call for Kristi Noem’s firing in rally outside ICE headquarters
Congressional Democrats continued to keep up the pressure on the Homeland Security secretary Tuesday in the wake of the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal agents.
- Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
Management
Senate Dems demand immigration agents unmask, wear body cameras and carry IDs as shutdown looms
The lawmakers say the measures are needed to increase transparency and accountability within Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
- Jennifer Shutt and Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
Management
Trump dispatches border czar to Minnesota amid protests over federal shootings
Tom Homan will oversee ICE operations in Minneapolis after the deaths of two U.S. citizens shot by federal immigration officers.
- Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
Management
Judge upholds DHS policy requiring notice for lawmaker visits to immigration facilities
The ruling leaves in place a rule that mandates advance notice for congressional visits, with the judge citing procedural issues rather than the policy’s substance.
- Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
Management
Move to impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem follows fatal ICE shooting
House Democrats introduced three articles of impeachment against Noem, accusing her of blocking congressional oversight, violating civil rights and misusing taxpayer funds after an ICE agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis.
- Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
Updated
News
2 National Guard members from West Virginia wounded in 'targeted' shooting in D.C.
Officials say both guardsmen are in critical condition and a suspect is in custody. President Trump says the attacker will “pay a very steep price.”
- Jennifer Shutt and Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
Management
As health costs spike, a sour and divided Congress escapes one shutdown to face another
Few of the divides that fueled the 43-day shutdown have been resolved, and a fractured Congress is on the clock to find a budgetary solution.
- Jennifer Shutt, Ariana Figueroa and Shauneen Miranda, States Newsroom
Management
Shutdown fight in the Senate likely to drag through the weekend
Senators are staying in Washington through the weekend as talks continue on a short-term spending deal to end the government shutdown, with both parties trading proposals on health care subsidies and federal worker pay.
- Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
Management
Fresh from election wins, Dems demand Trump meeting over shutdown
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Wednesday, calling for a bipartisan meeting to end the government shutdown.
- Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
Management
Two judges block Trump administration from cutting SNAP benefits
A pair of rulings have temporarily paused White House plans to halt funding to the food assistance program during the government shutdown.
- Jacob Fischler and Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
Management
USDA won't shuffle funds to extend SNAP during shutdown, in about-face from earlier plan
Agriculture Department officials said Friday they cannot use a contingency fund to continue paying the SNAP program, despite earlier shutdown guidance allowing its use.
- Shauneen Miranda and Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
Workforce
With funding for courts in question, Congress stuck in shutdown gridlock for day 16
The Senate ensured that the government shutdown would last into next week when it failed to pass a stopgap government spending bill for a 10th time on Thursday.
- Jennifer Shutt and Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
Management
Trump Education Department to divert grants from colleges serving students of color
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the department would withhold $350 million in minority-serving institution grants from 800 colleges and universities, saying the grants "discriminate by restricting eligibility to institutions that meet government-mandated racial quotas."
- Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
News
4 GOP states send nearly 1,000 National Guard to D.C. for Trump crackdown
Governors from Ohio, Mississippi, South Carolina and West Virginia agreed to send National Guardsmen to the nation's capital.
- Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
Management
Trump’s pick to lead Customs and Border Protection confirmed by Senate
Rodney Scott, the former Border Patrol chief, returns to a key role in Trump’s immigration agenda—despite renewed scrutiny over a migrant death under his past leadership.
- Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
Management
Judge grills DOJ official on order tying transportation funding to immigration enforcement
A lawsuit brought by 20 Democratic state attorneys general challenges an April directive from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
- Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
News
U.S. senators call for security funding boost after Minnesota assassination
Following shootings in Minnesota, senators called for more funding for the U.S. Capitol Police to provide member security.
- Jennifer Shutt, Ariana Figueroa and Shauneen Miranda, States Newsroom
Transition
Trump Customs and Border Protection nominee probed on 2010 death in custody
Rodney Scott served as chief of Border Patrol during the first Trump administration and was dismissed in 2021 by President Biden.
- Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
News
Final results may lag in deadlocked presidential contest, anxious election officials warn
Election officials, Congress and others are preparing for slow vote counts, legal challenges and the potential for violence this election season.
- Ariana Figueroa and Ashley Murray, Daily Montanan