Napolitano on DHS partnering with ADL; admits shift in enforcement focus; trying to repeal REAL ID; "reform" is a "mission"

Department of Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano gave a talk to the Anti Defamation League yesterday, and her remarks are at dhs.gov/ynews/speeches/sp_1240412499724.shtm

1. The ADL has been "training" DHS personnel about "hate" groups and others, which is more than a bit worrisome because the ADL's definition of "hate" isn't trustworthy. Nevertheless, Napolitano said this:

...the ADL and DHS have had some good partnerships. In recent years, the Department has placed our employees in your advanced training school to educate us on the tactics used by extremists and terrorists; the strategies that may be used by law enforcement to deter, prevent and respond to incidents and threats; and to make us aware and sensitive to and cognizant of the civil rights and liberties that must be protected even while you are enforcing the law and conducting these very difficult investigations... We also, of course, have our own civil rights/civil liberties area, section, within the department. And we have undertaken action, sometimes with ADL or other similar groups to provide outreach to communities of particular sensitivity and do some pretty unusual - some functions that you wouldn't normally place within DHS.

See [1] for an ADL press release from 2007 relating to the school.

2. She builds a strawman argument over the distinction between "securing" and "sealing" the border, saying "anybody who suggests that there can be a seal is certainly not anyone who has actually been or worked on a border". The problem, of course, is that very, very few people are calling to end all cross-border trade and visits. She also noted that she wants to keep trucks moving back and forth over the border.

3. She says that one of DHS's five major missions is "to be prepared, when the President and the Congress decide the time is right to implement or to provide advice on comprehensive immigration reform; but until then, to within our own administrative capacity institute smart, tough immigration reforms." In other words, how does the DHS work it so they can get amnesty without an amnesty bill.

4. She admits that there's been "a shift in focus on immigration enforcement" from employees to employers.

5. She said:

And so we've been, over the last weeks, meeting with governors of both parties to look at a way to repeal REAL ID and substitute something else that pivots off of the driver's license but accomplishes some of the same goals.

[1] From adl.org/PresRele/TerrorismIntl_93/5033_93.htm

The Department of Homeland Security has contracted with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to provide its specialized training and expertise on extremism, hate groups, domestic and international terrorism, and civil liberties to high-level agency personnel.

ADL held a special session of its Advanced Training School (ATS) for Homeland Security officials on April 22-24 in Washington, D.C. On hand for the briefings were 34 participants representing various divisions within the department, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Transportation Security Administration's Federal Air Marshals Service, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, and the U.S. Secret Service.

Comments

Back in the old days, the ADL was smart enough to designate MEChA as a hate group due to its antisemitism.