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 provides guidance on diversity in college admissions

By: - August 15, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice and Department of Education jointly released guidance on Monday to colleges and universities about how to consider race in admissions decisions, following the Supreme Court’s summer decision that struck down affirmative action in higher education. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, on a call with reporters, said higher education institutions can […]

States seek to let teens as young as 14 serve booze in restaurants

By: - August 7, 2023

WASHINGTON — As a former bartender and current tipped worker, Trupti Patel knows that customers tend to get grabby when there is alcohol involved. After working in the food service industry for more than a decade, she is accustomed to dealing with drunk customers who get out of hand, especially if they become belligerent or […]

Decrying attempts to ‘bury history,’ Biden designates Emmett Till national monument

By: - July 30, 2023

WASHINGTON — On what would have been the 82nd birthday of Emmett Till, a Black boy kidnapped and murdered by two white men in Mississippi, President Joe Biden on Tuesday designated a new national monument at sites connected to the lynching that became a catalyst for the civil rights movement. “Telling the truth and the […]

Parents have no right to allow their children’s gender transition, Republicans say

By: - July 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on a panel for limited federal government on Thursday argued that parents should not be allowed to let their transgender children have access to gender-affirming care. “A parent has no right to sexually transition a young child,” the chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, […]

Biden border policies ripped by U.S. House GOP as impeachment threats ramp up 

By: - July 26, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday faced off with Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, who did not directly call for his impeachment but strongly criticized his oversight of the agency. “I know that today Secretary Mayorkas is going to try to paint a rosy picture of this disastrous […]

Public schools banned from sheltering migrants under bill passed by U.S. House

By: - July 21, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House has passed a bill to bar the use of public K-12 school facilities to provide shelter for migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. The bill, approved 222-201, is known as the “Schools Not Shelters Act” and is a rebuke of the Biden administration’s immigration policy. If enacted into law, public […]

National bill on voting standards pushed anew by Democrats in Congress

By: - July 19, 2023

WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats on Tuesday said they plan to again introduce a bill to set national voting standards in response to state legislatures passing strict voting laws. The bill, known in a previous Congress as the Freedom to Vote Act, would establish national standards for early voting, mail-in ballots and protection of poll workers […]

The debt relief will come through fixes to mismanagement of the agency’s income-driven repayment plans. (Getty Images)

More than 800K student loan borrowers to have debt forgiven, White House announces

By: - July 14, 2023

More than 43M Americans have student loan debt, and federal estimates show that debt totals more than $1.76T.

Black borrowers hold a disproportionate share of student loan debt, and many likely were recipients of Pell Grants.

U.S. Supreme Court rules against Biden administration student loan debt relief plan

By: - June 30, 2023

More than 43M Americans have student loan debt, with the estimated total pegged at more than $1.76T.

Stop and fight child labor concept. Human hand tearing a piece paper with written word child labor. Children rights protection.

U.S. House Dems seek to stiffen penalties for employers violating federal child labor law

By: - June 30, 2023

The measure would also prevent states from easing federal child labor standards.

An aerial shot of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (Getty Images).

U.S. Supreme Court strikes down use of affirmative action in college admissions

By: and - June 29, 2023

In a 6-3 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, wrote that the admissions processes at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Protesters in front of the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol urged Congress to pass the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, in December 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

‘We’re just trying to live our lives’: DACA hits 11-year mark still mired in the courts

By: - June 17, 2023

For more than two decades, Congress has tried and failed to pass immigration reform.