Department of Homeland Security

Summary (posts follow):

See the summary for this topic on the main Department of Homeland Security page.

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

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 ...

Janet Napolitano orders review of first immigration raid under Obama; bye bye raids - 2/26/2009

... reform. Now, Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security is sending the message that the Barack Obama administration isn't even going to do show raids (link): Immigration agents this week conducted their first work-site raid since President Barack Obama took office [at Yamato Engine Specialists in Bellingham, WA], but it was news to their boss, Homeland Security Secretary Janet N...

DHS Dep. Asst. Sec'y for Policy is from CAP, United Nations, Ted Kennedy office (Esther Olavarria) - 2/23/2009

... Assistant Secretary for Policy in the Department of Homeland Security. And, she's from the Center for American Progress, called around here the "think tank that can't think straight". CAP supports illegal immigration and defines opposition to massive illegal activity as "xenophobia"; see the link for more on them. And, since August 2008 she's been a CAP Senior F...

Thomas Perez to head Citizenship and Immigration Services? (close with Casa de Maryland) - 2/20/2009

According to this, the new pick for Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is Thomas E. Perez, currently Labor Secretary of Maryland. In April 2007, he "joined students in Annapolis to urge approval of a bill granting in-state tuition rates to undocumented immigrants" (link). And from this: Perez, a former Clinton Administration official and currently Maryland’s Secretary of Labo...

DHS fugitive teams mostly picked up non-fugitives (why is Nina Bernstein telling us this? MPI, Wishnie) - 2/03/2009

... targets of fugitive raids by the Department of Homeland Security shifted from dangerous criminals into whatever illegal aliens they found, including those who had not been convicted of crimes. In the second part, the question becomes, why are Bernstein and all the other not-so-fine people mentioned telling us this, and why does it dovetail so neatly with something that Janet Napolitano is doing?...

DHS immigration directive: goal is comprehensive "reform"; biometrics - 1/31/2009

Janet Napolitano's Department of Homeland Security has been issuing a series of directives in which she asked the various sub-agencies in the DHS to come up with reports on their future operations. She's finally gotten around to immigration matters: dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1233353528835.shtm It shows that their overall goal is to work towards comprehensive immigration reform, aka a mas...

Bush lifted "Auntie Zeituni Rule" after election - 1/26/2009

... before the news came out, the Department of Homeland Security reportedly required all deportations to be approved by high-level officials; the directive appears however to have actually involved only high profile deportations. Now, Ted Bridis and Eileen Sullivan of the Associated Press inform us that the AP has received documents about that directive obtained under the FOIA (link): The Homelan...

DHS Deputy Secretary was top United Nations official (Jane Holl Lute) - 1/25/2009

From this: A top United Nations official who once served on the White House National Security Council has been picked for deputy secretary of the Homeland Security Department, a move that would place two women at the top of the department for the first time. President Barack Obama's nomination of Jane Holl Lute, a retired Army major who worked on the NSC under President Bill Clinton, was an...

Shock: Michael Chertoff used cleaning company that employed illegal aliens - 12/11/2008

... used by Michael Chertoff of the Department of Homeland Security has been fined almost $23,000 for failing to check the IDs of its workers, some of whom were illegal aliens. The Secret Service checked the IDs of the workers who visited Chez Chertoff, but those didn't involve immigration checks. Which is pretty stupid, but unless I missed it there's no indication that any of those who cle...

Janet Napolitano's immigration stance criticized (she doesn't really oppose illegal immigration) - 12/01/2008

From this: Far from being a border hawk, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano frequently blocked efforts to curb illegal immigration, say enforcement advocates concerned about her expected nomination to be the Homeland Security secretary under President Barack Obama. In July 2007, Napolitano signed what she called the toughest employer sanctions law in the country. During her first term, she establi...

Obama cabinet might include Democrat titans: Gore, Napolitano, Vilsack, Howard Dean, Caroline Kennedy... - 11/11/2008

... iceberg on her is here. For the Department of Homeland Security, the possiblities are: * Tim Roemer (affiliated with George Mason University, a nexus of "cosmotarianism" and support for illegal activity), * Raymond Kelly and Bill Bratton, chiefs of police of NYC and L.A. respectively, * James Lee Witt (Clinton-era head of FEMA) * Richard Clarke For the State Department, all of them are ...

Julie Myers to leave Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS) - 11/05/2008

... Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was qualified.

Bob Menendez, Teddy Kennedy still trying to hamper immigration enforcement (S.3594) - 10/02/2008

Senator Robert Menendez has introduced S.3594, the "Protect Citizens and Residents from Unlawful Raids and Detention Act", co-sponsored by Teddy Kennedy (link). The PCRURDA appears to be as bad as you might expect; some of the differences between his bill and the current law are more in the realm of those who are immigration lawyers.

Mexico-linked ACLU: immigration raids are "terrorizing communities" (Joanne Lin) - 5/22/2008

... federal lawsuit filed against the Department of Homeland Security and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department by the ACLU and the family on behalf of Pedro Guzman, the Associated Press reported. Guzman is a mentally disabled man who was arrested for trespassing, had no identification and was deported to Mexico. Guzman, who is a U.S. citizen, was found by relatives near a border crossi...

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) tries tying ICE's hands on immigration raids; Mexico-linked ACLU cheers - 5/20/2008

Rep.

Texas Border Coalition sues to stop border fence; lead attorney is Mexico-linked Peter Schey - 5/18/2008

... listed at the link - has sued the Department of Homeland Security over the border fence. The lead attorney in the case is Peter Schey, someone with a series of links to the Mexican government. The chairman of the TBC is Chad Foster, mayor of Eagle Pass.

HuckPAC: Mike Huckabee launches his Political Action Committee (PAC) - 4/15/2008

Mike Huckabee has launched his own Political Action Committee (PAC) called, euphonically enough, "Huck PAC" (huckpac.com), saying: "Our goal is to secure a better future for our country by changing our punitive tax system, standing firm for the sanctity of life and traditional marriage, and protecting our borders and giving our veterans the blood-bought benefits they deserve.

David Price, Ciro Rodriguez question Michael Chertoff on fence waiver; "contingency miles"; hilarious posturing - 4/10/2008

Earlier today, Department of Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff spoke to Congress about the waivers he's using to apparently build part of the border fence. "This is a major exercise of the waiver authority which goes beyond, I think, what many of us anticipated," House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman David Price, D-N.C., said to Chertoff Thursday. ...

Bennie Thompson, Dingell, Conyers, Reyes, Ortiz, other Democrats support Sierra Club lawsuit over border fence (DHS, environmental waiver) - 4/08/2008

... Defenders of Wildlife are suing the Department of Homeland Security to prevent them from using apparently congressionally-mandated waivers that would let the DHS bypass environmental and related rules in order to build sections of the border fence. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee attempts to portray this as a Constitutional matter: this waiver by the Secretary of Home...

Michael Chertoff misleads, promotes immigration "reform" at Yale (New Haven) - 4/08/2008

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff visited New Haven, Connecticut yesterday to deliver a keynote speech at Yale Law School. That city offers its own ID card for illegal aliens, the city employee who pushed that plan (Kica Matos) use to head a group that was working with the Mexican government to pass out Matricula Consular cards, and their mayor (John DeStefano) may have a ...

DHS tries old "no-match" rule with new explanation (Judge Charles Breyer) - 3/22/2008

... ordered an injunction against the Department of Homeland Security's attempts to begin enforcing "no-match" letters, where an employee's Social Security number doesn't match up with their name, such as would be the case with many illegal aliens but also with some U.S. citizens who've changed their names for various reasons. A coalition of illegal immigration supporter...

Overview of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) failures - 3/06/2008

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post celebrates the DHS's fifth-year anniversary with this two-pager list of their problems and failures: ...the ever-growing list of troubled programs illustrates the extent to which each new crisis -- from the 2001 terrorist attacks to Hurricane Katrina to the Dubai ports scare to the Bush administration's push for comprehensive immigration policy revision...

Mexico-linked Peter Schey tries blocking border fence, may sue - 1/14/2008

Peter Schey of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law is an immigration lawyer with at least a few links to the Mexican government.

Michael Chertoff: Real ID will lead to "reconfiguring our society" - 1/11/2008

... Michael Chertoff, head of the Department of Homeland Security, announced a set of final revisions to the controversial Real ID Act in a press conference this morning.

Secure Fence Act: a hoax and a scam? (Kay Bailey Hutchison, DHS) - 12/10/2007

I haven't been following the issues with the border fence*, and this article was written almost a month ago so I don't know if things have changed since then, however: ...In the fall of 2006 when Congress passed and the President signed into law the Secure Fence Act, most Americans thought they understood what they were getting.

Ramos/Compean drug smuggler arrested (for 2005 case) - 11/15/2007

From this: Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, the drug smuggler who was shot in the buttocks by El Paso Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean in 2005, was arrested on drug charges at the Zaragoza Bridge this morning, officials with the U.S.

District Judge Charles Breyer blocks DHS no-match letters (ACLU, CofC, AFL-CIO) - 10/10/2007

... reflects a major change in DHS [Department of Homeland Security] policy." The previous "policy" was to refuse to enforce the laws on the books. When they make a half-hearted attempt at enforcing the laws, corrupt businesses and far-left "civil rights" groups - together with a Clinton-appointed judge (fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=2719) - can't even let that happen. T...

Michael Chertoff/DHS "fisks" NYT/WaPo pro-illegal immigration editorials - 10/07/2007

... (dhs.gov/journal/leadership/2007/10/its-law.html) from the Department of Homeland Security "Leadership Journal", aka DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff's blog: Two editorials in today's Washington Post and New York Times offer a good illustration of the kind of obstacles our Department faces in dealing with the problem of illegal immigration. The Washington Post writes [link] ...

DHS revamping agriculture guest worker programs (crops rotting in fields, redefining "temporary") - 10/07/2007

... face punitive action from the Department of Homeland Security. When Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the enforcement push, he also acknowledged the problems that agriculture reported. ...Industry lobbyists have sent the Bush administration a set of detailed suggestions for overhauling the H-2A program through administrative changes, which could take weeks to put in place,...

Eliot Spitzer jeopardizes New Yorkers safety for votes (drivers licenses for illegal aliens) - 9/23/2007

New York governor Eliot Spitzer will allow illegal aliens to get New York driver's licenses beginning in 2008. You may recall New York City as home to a terror attack that took place on 9/11/01 and whose perpetrators were able to obtain 35 or so driver's licenses from various states.

UFCW, Mexico-linked Peter Schey sue DHS over immigration raids (4th Amendment, yeah sure) - 9/14/2007

From a UFCW press release (link): The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), today, sought court intervention to protect the 4th Amendment rights of all Americans and enjoin the government from illegally arresting and detaining workers including U.S. citizens and legal residents while at their workplace. The lawsuit - filed in the U.S.

GAO report: DHS not meeting goals - 9/07/2007

From this: A report by the U.S.

Illegal alien crime victims get U-visas (Mexico-linked Peter Schey, Anna Gorman) - 9/06/2007

Anna Gorman of the Los Angeles Times informs us that due to a lawsuit brought by the Mexico-linked Peter Schey of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, some illegal aliens who've been victims of violent crimes will get U visas.

Judge Maxine Chesney blocks no-match (ACLU, AFL-CIO) - 9/01/2007

... San Francisco, prohibits the Department of Homeland Security from starting to mail notices to 140,000 employers about suspect Social Security numbers. The "no- match" letters warn of penalties employers face by having discrepancies in their paperwork. Another group involved in the TRO request was, naturally, the American Civil Liberties Union, a group indirectly linked to the Mexican g...

AFL-CIO, ACLU, NILC sue DHS over no-match letters; EWIC - 8/30/2007

... this: ...a lawsuit filed against the Department of Homeland Security this week contends that the new rules are discriminatory and will lead to mass firings of legal workers.

Judge Michael Bennett: using false identity results in no deportation order - 8/25/2007

I'm sure there are hundreds or thousands of U.S. citizens in prisons for purchasing birth certificates of those who died as children, assuming their identities, and then obtaining other identity documents such as SSN cards and passports. However, I guess there were "mitigating circumstances" in this case: [U.S.

24Ahead.com

Independent, in-depth coverage of immigration, politics, and media bias since 2002. Also: multiculturalism, Los Angeles, California, privacy, and occasionally celebrities and wacky humor...

If you can't find what you're looking for, see the About page or use the navigation features to the right.

Start here