Miami Rep. Diaz-Balart Fought Cigar Regulations Days After Taking Tobacco Cash

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart sure loves cigars. He enjoys them so much that, at a February 14 federal budget hearing, the GOP congressman railed against the Food and Drug Administration's plans to add new regulations on the cigar industry, claiming the rules were needlessly "burdensome" and unfair.

Trump says he will not let U.S. become ‘migrant camp’

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would not allow the United States to become a "migrant camp" as his administration faced a barrage of criticism for separating immigrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. Democrats and some in Trump's own Republican Party have admonished the administration for dividing nearly 2,000 children from their parents between mid-April and the end of May. Medical professionals have said the practice could cause lasting trauma to children.

House Immigration Bill Seeks to End Family Separation at Border

U.S. Border Patrol agents take a father and son from Honduras into custody near the U.S.-Mexico border on June 12, 2018 near Mission, Texas. A House Republican immigration plan would curb the Trump administration's widely criticized policy of separating children from parents seeking asylum at the U.S. border, but other provisions may lessen its chances of being enacted.

House GOP proposal would incarcerate asylum seekers with their children

House Republican leaders on Thursday circulated a proposal to end the Trump administration's practice of separating immigrant children from their families when they are apprehended at the border - one that would, in effect, allow children to be detained alongside their parents. The provision is included in a "discussion draft" of broader GOP legislation aimed at striking a compromise between conservative and moderate Republicans on immigration by balancing relief for young undocumented immigrants, billions of dollars for President Donald Trump's border wall and changes to legal immigration programs.

GOP leaders sell immigration bills, with Trump’s blessing

Republican leaders began the problematic task of finding support for an immigration compromise Wednesday, telling lawmakers that President Donald Trump was backing the still-evolving bill. But cracks within the party were on full display and it seemed that pushing the measure through the House next week would be a challenge.

In blow to Speaker Ryan, conservatives torpedo farm bill and put immigration front and center

In a major blow to House Speaker Paul Ryan, Republican leaders failed to garner enough votes for a sweeping GOP farm bill amid a revolt from hardline conservatives who opposed the bill over an unrelated immigration fight. Friday's 198-to-213 vote was an embarrassing defeat for Ryan, R-Wis., who had championed the farm bill as a major step toward welfare reform but saw that GOP priority squelched by members of his own Republican conference.

GOP rebels launch petition to force vote in House on ‘Dreamers’

Five House Republicans launched an official petition drive Wednesday to hold a vote on legalizing illegal immigrant "Dreamers," in a move designed to force GOP leaders' hand. The Republicans are using what's known on Capitol Hill as a discharge petition, which is a way for lawmakers to force bills to the floor over the objections of the majority party's leaders, who traditionally control the floor schedule.

Five Unanswered Questions About the FIU Bridge Collapse

Bridges don't usually crumble into dust. So when a pedestrian walkway at Florida International University collapsed Thursday, killing six people and crushing eight cars, people were rightly horrified and confused.

Reports: Several people killed in Florida pedestrian bridge collapse

A new pedestrian bridge collapsed onto a highway at a Miami-area college Thursday, crushing at least five vehicles under massive slabs and killing several people, authorities said. Several people were seen being loaded into ambulances and authorities launched search and rescue missions.

Multiple deaths in Miami pedestrian bridge collapse

A pedestrian bridge being built across an eight-lane highway collapsed at a Miami-area college Thursday , crushing eight vehicles under massive slabs and killing multiple people, authorities said. Search and rescue missions were underway.

Pedestrian bridge collapses, crushing cars

A new pedestrian bridge collapsed onto a highway at a Miami-area college Thursday, crushing at least five vehicles under massive slabs and killing several people, authorities said. Several people were seen being loaded into ambulances and authorities launched search and rescue missions.

President Trump urged NOT to recognize Cuban “election” or King Raul’s successor

One senator and five members of Congress have written to the Trumpinator, asking him to reject the immediate and eventual results of today's absolutely phony "election" in Castrogonia. This is a futile and quixotic gesture, for sure - even if the Trumpinator follows their advice - but futile gestures have an elegance of their own.

Trump blames Democrats, and vice versa, as efforts to protect ‘Dreamers’ have fizzled out

Loyola Marymount student Maria Carolina Gomez joins a rally in Los Angeles in September to support the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Loyola Marymount student Maria Carolina Gomez joins a rally in Los Angeles in September to support the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Haley Praised by Rubio, S. Florida Republicans During Panel

Sen. Marco Rubio joined Nikki R. Haley, US Ambassador to the United Nations, for a panel discussion with Hispanic and Latin American community leaders Friday, as the all-Republican panel heaped effusive praise on her. The discussion took place at Florida International University's Modesto Maidique campus, after Haley's travels to Honduras and Guatemala.

Here are details of latest bipartisan DACA deal to protect DREAMers

Senators to introduce bill providing $18 billion for border-security over the next decade in exchange for DREAMers getting permanent legal status. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, both Republicans, focused on immigration and DACA when asked about President Trump's reported comments about African countries and Haiti on Monday.

Steve Bannon arrives to testify on Capitol Hill

A former aide to President Donald Trump testified before congressional leaders in a closed session on Tuesday. The House Intelligence Committee questioned Bannon following his spectacular fall from power after accusing the president's son and others of "treasonous" behavior for taking a meeting with Russians during the 2016 campaign.

Did Democrats lose their leverage on DACA?

In the end, the calendar won -- and that has some recalculating who will have leverage in January for negotiations on immigration. Congress finished up its business for the year Thursday night and left town without resolving major outstanding issues -- including a resolution for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which lawmakers had repeatedly pledged to fix before the end of the year.