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.

Biden administration to use processing centers in Latin America to handle migration

By: - April 28, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration Thursday announced the use of processing centers in Colombia and Guatemala to create legal pathways for migrants, in preparation for the ending of a pandemic-era tool used to expel migrants that is expected to cease in May. The migrant processing centers will open shortly and be run by international organizations. […]

An aerial view of the American flags flying over an international bridge as immigrants line up next to the U.S.-Mexico border fence to seek asylum on Dec. 22, 2022 in El Paso, Texas.

Asylum limits, more border security funds proposed in U.S. House GOP immigration bill

By: - April 28, 2023

WASHINGTON — Top U.S. House Republican leaders on Thursday unveiled an immigration package of bills that appropriates millions in funds for border security and imposes sweeping restrictions on asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. The plan is in sharp contrast with an announcement earlier Thursday  by the Biden administration on how it would begin to handle […]

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has said a state cannot bar a resident from traveling to another state to obtain an abortion because there is a constitutional right to interstate travel. (Photo by Astrid Riecken/Getty Images)

U.S. Senate Democrats denounce post-Dobbs landscape of state abortion bans, restrictions

By: - April 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats at a Wednesday hearing explored how nearly a year after the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to an abortion, multiple states and conservative-backed lawsuits are restricting access to reproductive care. The chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, said the recent Texas lawsuit challenging […]

‘Tennessee three’ praised by Biden in White House meeting

By: - April 25, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday met with three Tennessee state Democratic lawmakers, two of whom were expelled by the Republican-controlled state House after they protested for gun safety measures following a mass school shooting. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with Tennessee state Reps. Justin Jones of Nashville, Justin Pearson of Memphis […]

U.S. House approves bill banning transgender student athletes in girls sports

By: - April 21, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans voted Thursday to prohibit transgender student athletes from competing on girls sports teams consistent with their gender identity, at the same time multiple GOP-dominated states are making similar moves. The bill, H.R. 734, which would apply to K-12 schools as well as colleges that receive federal funding, passed on a […]

A view of the U.S. Capitol down East Capitol Street at sunset on Jan. 5, 2022 in Washington, D.C.

Labor exploitation of unaccompanied migrant children probed at U.S. House hearing

By: - April 19, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House members in a hearing on Tuesday questioned the head of a federal agency in charge of unaccompanied migrant children about multiple reports of their exploitation as workers in U.S. meatpacking plants and elsewhere. Republicans and Democrats on the House Oversight & Accountability Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs […]

DACA recipients to gain health coverage under new plan from Biden administration

By: - April 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Thursday that he will direct his administration to allow undocumented people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to enroll in Medicaid or private insurance provided under the Affordable Care Act. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will issue a proposed rule on the policy by […]

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 25: Heat waves emanate from the exhaust pipe of a city transit bus as it passes an American flag hung on the Los Angeles County Hall of Justice by workers renovating the historic structure on April 25, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. The nation's second largest city, Los Angeles, has again been ranked the worst in the nation for ozone pollution and fourth for particulates by the American Lung Association in it's annual air quality report card. Ozone is a component of smog that forms when sunlight reacts with hydrocarbon and nitrous oxide emissions. Particulates pollution includes substances like dust and soot. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

Kids at work: States try to ease child labor laws at behest of industry

By: - April 10, 2023

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers in 11 states have either passed or introduced laws to roll back child labor laws — a push that’s come from industry trade organizations and mostly conservative legislators as businesses scramble for low-wage workers.  In the past two years, those states have moved to extend working hours for children, eliminate work permit […]

U.S. judge rules insurers don’t have to cover many free preventive health services

By: , and - March 31, 2023

WASHINGTON — Health insurance companies may no longer need to cover a wide swath of preventive health care services that were required by the 2010 Affordable Care Act, under a federal judge’s ruling issued Thursday in Texas. The decision could affect millions of Americans’ access to no-cost preventive health care — including pregnancy-related care, cancer […]

Bernie Sanders confronts former Starbucks CEO over union-busting allegations

By: - March 30, 2023

WASHINGTON — Democratic senators at a hearing on Wednesday grilled the former CEO of Starbucks over allegations that the giant coffee company intimidated, harassed and fired workers who tried to form unions. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent and former presidential candidate who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, focused on Starbucks’ […]

State election officials at U.S. Senate hearing discuss threats to workers, call for funding

By: - March 29, 2023

WASHINGTON — Election officials on Tuesday detailed to the U.S. Senate Rules Committee how their states countered threats to election workers and worked to combat misinformation and disinformation during the 2022 midterm election. With the 2024 presidential election closely approaching, Senate Rules Committee Chair Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she was concerned about threats to election […]

Biden student debt relief plan met with skepticism from U.S. Supreme Court conservatives

By: - March 1, 2023

WASHINGTON — The majority conservative wing of the U.S. Supreme Court appeared skeptical Tuesday that the Biden administration had the authority to implement a federal student debt relief program that was estimated to potentially aid millions of borrowers. The conservative justices, who hold a 6-3 majority on the court, questioned whether the Department of Education […]