Department of Homeland Security

Summary (posts follow):

Protects the "homeland". Cabinet-level department started by the Bush administration after the September 11 attacks, with the first Secretary being Tom Ridge, who was followed by Michael Chertoff. Agencies included in the DHS are the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration, and several lesser-known groups.

This site mainly concentrates on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and, to a lesser extent, the Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). The first - lately run by Julie Myers - concentrates on looking like they're enforcing our laws at the same time as not really enforcing our laws in order to maintain a ready supply of cheap labor for crooked businesses.

Last modified Dec 11, 2008

Discussed in (click each link for the full post):

Yale Law students, Wishnie sue ICE over 2007 immigration raid (after Elm City card passed) - 10/28/2009

... current or former ICE (part of the Department of Homeland Security) officials and agents over a 2007 immigration raid in New Haven, Connecticut. They make various claims, including that the agents violated the constitution, that they engaged in racial profiling, and that the raid was in retaliation for New Haven having passed their Elm City Card proposal 36 hours before the raid. That card was an...

Napolitano of DHS: "al-Qaeda-type" terrorists inside U.S.; difficult to track visa exits; supposed border enforcement will lead to "reform" - 10/12/2009

Bloomberg Television interviewed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano today, and she said among other things (link): "It is fair to say there are individuals in the United States who ascribe to al-Qaeda-type beliefs... And so it makes information-sharing, it makes effective law enforcement and it makes the shared responsibility of law enforcement ever so important."...

DHS also restricting 287g enforcement in Prince William County, northern Virginia - 10/12/2009

From this: Prince William supervisors Tuesday are expected to put in place a new directive from Homeland Security that will standardize how 287(g) immigration policies are implemented around the nation... ...The new agreement states that "ICE must give approval for an immigration arrest where no state or local charges are made [and] ICE must give prior approval of planned operations where imm...

Senators complain about DHS plan to reduce Border Patrol agents on southern border - 10/10/2009

... letter to Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security complaining about her plan to reduce the number of Border Patrol agents on the Mexican border. The letter is at [1], excerpted below:

Obama pick to head ICE investigations himself investigated for possible embezzlement - 10/08/2009

Debbie Schlussel has an exclusive here: Robert Schoch, the Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for Los Angeles, is under investigation for alleged embezzlement and/or misuse of ICE funds used in undercover operations. Mr. Schoch and the Los Angeles Deputy Special Agent in charge, Jennifer Silliman, were escorted from the ICE federal offices in Long Beach, Californ...

DHS scraps "no match" program, e-Verify still operational - 10/08/2009

... Francisco federal court. Although the Department of Homeland Security formally withdrew the "no-match" rule Wednesday, the administration is supporting another program (EVerify) enabling employers to check workers' names against electronic records that are supposed to screen out illegal immigrants. See the no match summary for the backstory; groups collaborating on the lawsuit incl...

DHS revising rules on immigration detention; some actions might be OK, but motives questionable - 10/06/2009

From this: Homeland Security Department officials said on Tuesday they would enact far-reaching reforms for how Immigration and Customs Enforcement detains immigrants. The new system will prioritize the removal of criminal aliens and those slated for deportation from the country and seek alternatives to incarceration for others when appropriate, said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. T...

DHS restricts Joe Arpaio 287g enforcement to jails; Arpaio pledges to continue sweeps - 10/05/2009

... signed a new agreement with the Department of Homeland Security that restricts his ability to perform immigration enforcement under the 287g program (link). Under the previous agreement, he could both check immigration status in county jails and also conduct street sweeps; the new agreement seeks to restrict him to the former. Jail screening caught 30,000 illegal aliens since February 2007, but t...

DHS sued to release 287g reform documents (Judicial Watch, FOIA) - 9/28/2009

... filed a FOIA lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, seeking that they release documents about their proposed "reforms" to the 287g program. JudicialWatch filed a FOIA request in July; the DHS responded by asking for more time but apparently never followed through. Here's what JW wants: -- The new standardized Memorandum of Agreement used to enter into 287(g) partners...

Sources for DHS rightwing extremism report: ADL, SPLC, NYT, LAT, Dave Weigel... - 8/12/2009

... request to get the sources that the Department of Homeland Security used in the "rightwing extremist" report that came out earlier this year. The government has responded with a list that includes some questionable to very questionable internet sources rather than, for instance, actual FBI investigations and the like. Per the group's president (link via this): "Our worst fears...

DHS blamed release of illegal aliens on Sheriff Joe Arpaio and then tried to shut him up about it - 8/06/2009

... first obtaining approval from the Department of Homeland Security, which is ICE's parent agency...

DHS wants your input on immigration policy, terrorism, FEMA - 8/03/2009

The Obama administration has a habit of running popular voting systems - flawed systems that allows weak questions and proposals to rise to the top - and they're back with another one. This time it's concerning immigration policy and the other issues in the DHS's purview. They want your input at homelandsecuritydialogue.org Following a generic "Mission vision Statement", t...

ACLU tries to block 287g program, files FOIA request - 7/15/2009

From the ACLU press release at commondreams.org/newswire/2009/07/15-4 The American Civil Liberties Union filed a Freedom of Information Act request Tuesday for new documents governing the continued delegation to state and local law enforcement agencies of federal immigration enforcement authority. The fundamentally flawed program has been associated with serious civil rights abuses and public safe...

Janet Napolitano of DHS undermines 287g program (Joe Arpaio, Phil Gordon) - 7/13/2009

... Friday, Janet Napolitano's Department of Homeland Security announced new rules for their 287g program that allows local police to help in the enforcement of immigration laws. The goal of the new rules is clearly to undermine such enforcement, especially by those like Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Obama admin sends audit letters to possible illegal alien employers; Bush-style prelude to "reform" - 7/02/2009

Remember how George W Bush "got tough" on illegal immigration in an attempt to push through comprehensive immigration reform? Welcome to the Obama administration's version (link, from Jeanne Meserve of CNN): In a signal that the Obama administration is changing tactics in dealing with illegal immigration, hundreds of businesses were notified Wednesday that federal authorities will b...

DHS Southwest Border Task Force includes NCLR chairwoman, recipient of award from Mexican government, more - 6/08/2009

... dealing with border issues. The Department of Homeland Security's new "Southwest Border Task Force" (dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1244145382319.shtm) shows how that would work. One member of the group is Andrea Bazan, chairwoman of the National Council of La Raza. Another is former Douglas, Arizona mayor Ray Borane. In 2003, he was given the "Ohtli Award", the Mexican govern...

DHS to check for criminal aliens at all local jails by 2012; possible 10x increase in such deportations; prelude to amnesty? - 5/19/2009

... Deportation Cases" (link). The Department of Homeland Security's ICE currently checks state and federal inmates to determine whether they're illegal aliens (or perhaps legal immigrants) who are deportable. The Obama administration intends to extend that to all local jails by 2012: Based on the pilot program, the agency estimates that if fingerprints from all 14 million bookings in ...

100,000 in U.S. have swine flu; youth hospitalization rate "very unusual". Would border security have reduced spread? - 5/19/2009

... Napolitano and the leadership of the Department of Homeland Security nearly failing to do their job and protect our borders.

Obama admin deports two illegal aliens, but only because they tried to tour the White House - 5/14/2009

According to the Associated Press (link): Two people facing deportation from the United States have been taken into custody at the White House gate. They had arrived for a tour of the executive mansion... The pair was part of an adult education program, and a routine background check showed they had an outstanding immigration order against them.

DHS budget: no additional miles for border fence; concentrating on "virtual fence" (+287g?) - 5/08/2009

... Chief Financial Officer for the Department of Homeland Security, recently conducted a conference call about Barack Obama's budget for the DHS and a transcript is here:

House Republicans demand that Janet Napolitano explains rightwing extremist report - 5/07/2009

... with materials detailing how the Department of Homeland Security arrived at the conclusions contained in the [rightwing extremist report]. Whether the resolution will do anything and will produce, for instance, details on the extent to which materials from far-left groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center or the Anti Defamation League were used as sources isn't clear. The resolution follo...

Obama immigration budget: does a McCain: border security, then amnesty; fulfills promise to Mexican government; worried about southbound flows - 5/06/2009

... nearly $200 million to enable the Department of Homeland Security to hire 80 new people to identify criminal immigrants in the jails and prisons for deportation... Obama also wants to spend $112 million, a 12% increase, to make E-Verify, an employment verification program, more reliable and to get more employers to use it. The rest of the article consists of Gorman and Nicholas blueskying for the...

DHS "Domestic Extremism Lexicon" includes wider range of groups - 5/01/2009

... "rightwing extremism" report, the Department of Homeland Security also released a "Domestic Extremism Lexicon" that defines a wide range of left, right, and elsewhere groups. You can download a copy from here, and the DHS says it was pulled for an unnamed reason shortly after it was released. Among those groups and movements defined are "anti-immigration extremism": ...

New DHS immigration raid guidelines: focus on employers, not employees - 4/30/2009

... crack down on illegal labor, the Department of Homeland Security intends to step up enforcement efforts against employers who knowingly hire such workers. Under guidelines to be issued Thursday to Immigration and Customs Enforcement field offices, agents will be instructed to take aim at employers and supervisors for prosecution “through the use of carefully planned criminal investigations.” ...

Napolitano: swine flu can be spread by infected visitors, but closing the border won't contain the virus; says actively questioning visitors - 4/29/2009

... remarks of Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee are here. Among many other things, she says: ...As infected travelers can lead to the spread of this virus, DHS is taking a number of precautions in light of the scope and nature of the threat... The actions we are taking regarding international travelers match the...

Napolitano, Vilsack: call it the "H1N1 virus", not "swine flu". More concerned about pork industry than public safety - 4/28/2009

Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security and Tom Vilsack of the Department of Agriculture want us to call swine flu the "H1N1 virus" instead (link). They have somewhat of a point: if you really can't get it from eating pork then perhaps we should grit our teeth and not wish for the demise of the pork industry. The problem is that while they're rushing to the aid ...

Janet Napolitano refuses to close or even tightly secure the border despite health risks (+Eric Massa) - 4/27/2009

... Meanwhile, Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security is refusing to close the border and does not appear to fully appreciate the risks of a loose border during a pandemic. At a press conference today, she said: "We're already doing passive surveillance at the border... You would close the border if you thought you could contain the spread of disease, but the disease alread...

Napolitano on DHS partnering with ADL; admits shift in enforcement focus; trying to repeal REAL ID; "reform" is a "mission" - 4/23/2009

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. Neverthele...

Janet Napolitano thinks 9/11 terrorists came over Canadian border - 4/21/2009

... with Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security: Napolitano: ...Nonetheless, to the extent that terrorists have come into our country or suspected or known terrorists have entered our country across a border, it's been across the Canadian border. There are real issues there. (Neil Macdonald of the CBC): Are you talking about the 9/11 perpetrators? [Napolitano]: Not just those...

Janet Napolitano falsely says "crossing the border is not a crime" (+border fence, Arpaio) - 4/21/2009

Department of Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" with John King and said the following (transcript here): And yes, when we find illegal workers, yes, appropriate action, some of which is criminal, most of that is civil, because crossing the border is not a crime per se. It is civil. But anyway, going after those as well. The U.S. Code...

DHS released rightwing extremists report despite objections by their civil rights officials (+Napolitano, Hoekstra, Harman, Boehner) - 4/17/2009

From this: Civil liberties officials at the Homeland Security Department did not agree with some of the language in a controversial report on right-wing extremists, but the agency issued the report anyway. ...Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said the report was issued before officials resolved problems raised by the agency's civil rights division. Kudwa would not specify what language ...

SPLC: DHS rightwing extremist report mentions them and "tracks" theirs "fairly closely" (Harry Smith; +two errors) - 4/16/2009

... almost anyone else, the recent Department of Homeland Security report warning about rightwing extremists mentions - without naming it - a misleading report from the Southern Poverty Law Center. I say "almost" because of this: Mark Potok, director of the [SPLC's] intelligence project, said... he was generally pleased with the report... "Basically, the report tracks fairly close...

Bennie Thompson "dumbfounded" by DHS rightwing extremist report - 4/16/2009

... letter to Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security complaining about their recently-released report warning about rightwing "extremists". Per this, in the letter he says that he's "dumbfounded" by the report, also saying: "This report appears to raise significant issues involving the privacy and civil liberties of many Americans -- including war vetera...

Illegal aliens from ICE raid given work permits so they can sue ICE agents? (+more) - 4/13/2009

Debbie Schlussel has a scoop here. According to her sources, the reason why illegal aliens were given work authorization and then released after being caught in a raid in Bellingham, WA is so that those aliens can now... sue the ICE agents who arrested them. Bear in mind that hasn't been confirmed, ICE hasn't replied with a statement, and it might just be a case of the telephone game. Ho...

DHS concerned about violence by "rightwing extremists" including groups opposed to immigration - 4/13/2009

... from an April 7 report from the Department of Homeland Security entitled "Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" is available here. While the DHS should be keeping track of those groups that are actually violent, as we know that occasionally crosses the line. And, that's affected both rightwing and leftwing...

Suzanne Gamboa /AP big scoop: 55 U.S. citizens deported in past eight years - 4/13/2009

Suzanne Gamboa of the Associated Press - with help from Traci Carl and Peter Prengaman - offers her version of investigative journalism in "AP IMPACT: Citizens held as illegal immigrants" (link). She says that 55 U.S. citizens have been deported over the past eight years. That's 55 too many, but that's only a infinitesimal fraction of all those who have been deported during tha...

U.S., Mexico form "working group" on immigration (safe, legal, etc.) - 4/06/2009

From this: Mexico and the United States have formed a high-level, joint working group to make immigration safer and more orderly, Mexican officials announced Friday. The working group will focus on making documented migration easier, protecting migrants' rights and improving procedures for repatriating migrants, the Mexican Foreign Relations Department said in a statement. It also will focus ...

Immigration enforcement, Janet Napolitano style: illegal aliens given work permits, released - 3/31/2009

Welcome to the tough new immigration enforcement regime of Janet Napolitano (link): Many if not all workers detained in the Feb. 24 immigration raid at Yamato Engine Specialists have been released from the federal detention center in Tacoma. The unexpected move appears to be related to an ongoing federal investigation of Yamato. "I can confirm that many of the individuals ... have indeed been...

DHS halting immigration raids pending policy change; may "go after employers" instead - 3/29/2009

... ago, Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security - someone who was sold as tough on illegal immigration despite that not being true - went through the roof after an immigration raid was conducted that she hadn't been informed of. Now, there's partial confirmation that Napolitano has in fact ordered a halt to such workplace enforcement pending review. Spencer Hsu of the Washi...

T.J. Bonner of Border Patrol union "underwhelmed" by Obama border plan - 3/26/2009

According to this, T.J. Bonner - president of the National Border Patrol Council is "underwhelmed" by Barack Obama's recently announced border control plan. He's concerned about working with his counterparts from Mexico considering that many Mexican law enforcement agents have been corrupted and are "rotten to the core". And: Bonner wants a greater priority placed on ...

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