michael chertoff

Michael Chertoff

Buffoonish former director of the Department of Homeland Security. Supposedly was in charge of enforcing our immigration laws, but in the Bush administration that translated into looking like he was enforcing our immigration laws at the same time as not really enforcing them in order to ensure a ready supply of cheap labor for crooked businesses. Under George W Bush's orders he frequently promoted comprehensive immigration reform, misleading in the process (also here). In 2007, he almost admitted that one of the ways they would try to get CIR would be to stage show raids designed to inflame the left. Many on the left oppose him, without realizing that he was in effect helping them.

Last modified Jun 11, 2011
Discussed in (click each link for the full post):

Obama meets with "stakeholders" for amnesty propaganda push ("immigration reform") - 04/19/11

Earlier today, Barack Obama met with a group of 70 "stakeholders" to discuss a new push for comprehensive immigration reform. The stakeholders in question represent only a small number of Americans; see the list below.

Michael Chertoff touted full body scanners, w/o noting one of his clients makes them - 01/05/10

From "Ex-Homeland Security chief head said to abuse public trust by touting body scanners" (link): Since the attempted bombing of a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day, former Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff has given dozens of media interviews touting the need for the federal government to buy more full-body scanners for airports. What he has made little mention of is that the Chertoff Group, his security consulting agency, includes a client that manufactures the machines. The relationship drew attention after Chertoff disclosed it on a CNN program Wednesday, in response to a...

Michael Chertoff grilled on CSPAN by sheer geniuses - 09/22/09

One of these days I'm going to get CSPAN and start calling in to their interview shows in an attempt to ask politicians questions that will make them look bad.

Shock: Michael Chertoff used cleaning company that employed illegal aliens - 12/10/08

Michael Hsu of the Washington Post offers the latest in that newspaper's attempt to undercut our laws: "Cleaning Firm Used Illegal Workers at Chertoff Home", link. The Maryland cleaning service 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 cleaned Chertoff's...

Heartless Obama throws poor, illegal alien aunt under bus; will return illegal donations; lies about not knowing? - 11/01/08

Barack Obama's Kenyan aunt Zeituni Onyango - called "Auntie Zeituni" in his memoirs - turns out to be an illegal alien living in a Boston slum who illegally donated part of her meager income to his campaign. And, now she joins a host of other former Obama associates under his bus. After it was discovered yesterday that she's an illegal alien, the Obama campaign has today released the following statement: "Senator Obama has no knowledge of her status but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws be followed." Now, let's parse that out, Clinton-like. 1. He's not offering to get her...

Villaraigosa, Dellums, Nickels don't want ICE immigration raids of "responsible employers" - 06/20/08

If you want examples of political corruption, illegal immigration is where you should look. The latest example is a resolution proposed by three west coast mayors at this year's Conference of Mayors meeting: they don't want ICE to conduct immigration raids of "responsible employers". Instead, they want them to only raid those companies that are abusing employees and the like.

Geraldo Rivera warns of immigration raids' devastating effects on nation's "orchids" - 05/27/08

Geraldo Rivera continues the struggle to help "his" people, littering the pages of the HuffPost with "Secretary Chertoff, Call Off These Raids" (link).

Texas Border Coalition sues to stop border fence; lead attorney is Mexico-linked Peter Schey - 05/18/08

The Texas Border Coalition - a group of cities, counties, businesses, chambers of commerce, and economic development committees 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. Others involved include Richard Cortez (mayor of McAllen), Pat Ahumada (mayor of Brownsville), Raul Salinas (mayor of Laredo), and Eddie Aldrete and Dennis Nixon of International Bancshares Corp./International Bank of...

El Paso BP chief Victor Manjarrez promotes immigration "reform", busboys-style (Alicia Caldwell) - 04/30/08

Alicia Caldwell of the Associated Press offers "El Paso border chief urges immigration reform" (link). The person in question is Victor M. Manjarrez Jr., chief of the U.S. Border Patrol's El Paso Sector.

David Price, Ciro Rodriguez question Michael Chertoff on fence waiver; "contingency miles"; hilarious posturing - 04/10/08

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. Price said Congress also instructed the department to conduct

AVWatch: Antonio Villaraigosa complains to Michael Chertoff about ICE raids - 04/10/08

Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa - a former leader of the racial separatist group MEChA - has sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff asking him to back off on recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the city. This is simply an attempt to a) grandstand to his base (Hispanics, whether citizens, legal immigrants, or illegal aliens as well as their employers), b) maintain said power base, and c) support said employers in their attempts to profit from illegal activity. Anna Gorman of the Los Angeles Times has the scoop (link): [He warned] that work-...

Michael Chertoff misleads, promotes immigration "reform" at Yale (New Haven) - 04/08/08

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff visited New Haven, Connecticut yesterday to deliver a keynote speech at Yale Law School.

CBP Commissioner Ralph Basham blackmails Congress on securing border; "virtual fence", real fence this year? - 03/06/08

From this: The United States may be unable to meet its timetable for essentially stopping illegal immigration across its border with Mexico by 2011, a Bush administration official told Congress on Thursday. Ralph Basham, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the government was working to meet the target set in November 2005 of having "operational control" of U.S.

Real border fence not built, virtual fence on hold - 03/05/08

A border fence wouldn't be necessary if we could discredit those politicians and others who support illegal immigration. And, it's currently being used by John McCain and was used by others such as Mike Huckabee as an example of how they were going to crack down on illegal immigration. However, from this: Over a year ago, Congress passed a law to spend over $7 billion to build a fence to secure our Mexican border.

Mexico-linked Peter Schey tries blocking border fence, may sue - 01/14/08

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" - 01/11/08

From this Secretary 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.

Less than 100 supervisors arrested on immigration charges in 2007 (+Spencer Hsu's pro-Dem spin) - 12/26/07

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post offers "Immigrant Crackdown Falls Short/Despite Tough Rhetoric, Few Employers of Illegal Workers Face Criminal Charges". While we should be thankful for that news, he also offers some pro-Democratic Party spin. Despite Bush administration blather (Michael Chertoff: "The days of treating employers who violate these laws by giving them the equivalent of a corporate parking ticket -- those days are gone. It's now felonies, jail time, fines and forfeitures."): Fewer than 100 owners, supervisors or hiring officials were arrested in fiscal 2007, compared with...

Secure Fence Act: a hoax and a scam? (Kay Bailey Hutchison, DHS) - 12/10/07

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.

Feds strike deal on Eliot Spitzer driver's licenses for illegal aliens (victory or defeat?) - 10/27/07

(Picture associated with UPDATE 3 below) From this: The Bush administration and New York cut a deal Saturday to create a new generation of super-secure driver's licenses for U.S. citizens, but also allow illegal immigrants to get a version. ...Saturday's agreement with the Homeland Security Department will create a three-tier license system in New York. It is the largest state to sign on so far to the government's post-Sept. 11 effort to make identification cards more secure [joining Arizona, Vermont and Washington]. ...Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he was not...

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

From our "what universe is this again?" file comes this entry (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] that our use of Social Security no

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

Nicole Gaouette of the Los Angeles Times offers "U.S. lets in more immigrants for farms" (link): With a nationwide farmworker shortage threatening to leave unharvested fruits and vegetables rotting in fields, the Bush administration has begun quietly rewriting federal regulations to eliminate barriers that restrict how foreign laborers can legally be brought into the country. ...On all sides of the farm industry, the administration's behind-the-scenes initiative to revamp H-2A farmworker visas is fraught with anxiety. Advocates for immigrants fear the changes will come at the expense of...

ThinkProgress misrepresents Chertoff comment about environmental damage on border - 10/01/07

The Clinton-linked site ThinkProgress offers the post "Chertoff: Immigrants 'degrade the environment'" [1] about the following comment from DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff (link): "Illegal migrants really degrade the environment. I've seen pictures of human waste, garbage, discarded bottles and other human artifact in pristine areas...

DOJ sues Illinois over statewide sanctuary policy (Blagojevich) - 09/24/07

From a U.S. Department of Justice press release [1]: The Department of Justice today filed a lawsuit in federal district court seeking to invalidate an Illinois state law that attempts to prevent employers from using DHS's E-Verify system, which allows them to check in real-time whether new hires are authorized to work in the United States. The lawsuit seeks a declaration that a law passed earlier this year by the Illinois legislature and signed by the Governor (Rod Blagojevich) that prohibits employers from enrolling in the Department's E-Verify system is invalid. "E-verify or the Basic...

UFCW, Mexico-linked Peter Schey sue DHS over immigration raids (4th Amendment, yeah sure) - 09/14/07

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.

Resolute Michael Chertoff vows to do something about sanctuary cities - 09/06/07

In a performance no doubt worthy of the over-acting evident in professional wrestling, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff vows to do something about those cities with sanctuary policies. He vowed to enforce the new no-match requirements (Basic Pilot Program): Mr. Chertoff told the House Homeland Security Committee: "I certainly wouldn't tolerate interference" by cities who attempt to block the program. "We're exploring our legal options," Mr. Chertoff said.

Lindsey Graham wants biometric Social Security card - 08/18/07

How ironic that the pro-illegal immigration efforts of "civil libertarians" like the ACLU will make it easier for those who want to control the populace to push through their schemes: U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday he will introduce legislation to replace all paper Social Security cards with plastic biometric cards that can't be duplicated, so employers can be certain of the legal status of their workers...

Media alert: Elvira Arellano has left the sanctuary (L.A., DC on tour) - 08/17/07

Elvira Arellano - the illegal alien who was ordered to be deported after being convicted of using a false Social Security number and who's been holed up in a Chicago church for a year and who's only a sympathetic figure to those on the far-left - has left her "sanctuary" and is currently on a road trip.

Michael Chertoff looked other way on Chiquita payments to terrorists - 08/02/07

From this: On April 24, 2003, a board member of Chiquita International Brands disclosed to a top official at the Justice Department that the king of the banana trade was evidently breaking the nation's anti-terrorism laws. Roderick M. Hills, who had sought the meeting with former law firm colleague Michael Chertoff, explained that Chiquita was paying "protection money" to a Colombian paramilitary group on the U.S. government's list of terrorist organizations.

Newt Gingrich: Bush administration is blackmailing U.S. (won't enforce laws unless gets amnesty) - 06/12/07

Welcome Newt Gingrich to the Clue Crew: The Attempt to Blackmail the American People by Threatening to Refuse to Enforce the Law Without a New Bill Is Disgraceful: A number of powerful figures in the Bush Administration and in the Senate have been saying that if we do not agree to pass this destructive bill, they will never enforce the law.

Shailagh Murray/Jonathan Weisman/WaPo insert infomercial into immigration coverage - 06/09/07

Shailagh Murray and Jonathan Weisman of the Washington Post offer "Talk of Resurrecting Immigration Bill Begins as Autopsy Goes On" (washingtonpost . com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/08/AR2007060802771.html). I see that Mickey Kaus has also pointed to this paragraph:

ICE raids New Haven (John DeStefano + Mexico) - 06/06/07

Drudge is linking to the story about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arresting dozens of illegal aliens in New Haven, Connecticut earlier today. This is apparently part of their occasional sweeps of fugitives and criminal aliens.

Is immigration reform an elaborate practical joke? (Chertoff USA Today interview) - 05/29/07

USA Today continues their obvious attempt to help the Bush administration push amnesty with a transcript (link) of part of the meeting USA Today's editorial board held with DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. After reading it, I know three things: a) there were no doubt tougher, less Soviet interviews in Izvestia, b) neither Chertoff nor Gutierrez are inhabiting the same universe as the rest of us (possible name of their universe: rubegoldbergia), and c) their scheme would be a bigger debacle than Iraq and Katrina multiplied together. First, it's worth...

Janet Napolitano endorses Senate immigration bill; "silent amnesty" - 05/27/07

Note that she's using the same term as Michael Chertoff; who used it first isn't known: Saying the only current alternative is allowing a status quo of "silent amnesty," Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano on Wednesday [5/23/07] tentatively endorsed a U.S.

Michael Chertoff: Mexicans aren't encouraging illegal "migration"; Senate bill is "straight with the American public" - 05/25/07

This CSPAN WMV file has DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff saying the following: "If we're going to change the dynamic here we've gotta be completely honest with the American people about what's practical and what's impractical, about how long it's going to take, about how much it's going to cost and about what the collateral consequences are going to be and this bill was an effort to really be straight with the American public...

LHF: Bush won't do job, shows how the Senate illegal immigration amnesty would fail miserably - 05/24/07

Criticizing Bush's endless stream of blather on immigration is just about the lowest hanging fruit possible, but let's look at his latest stream of semi-consciousness [1]. First, he sounds like Howard Dean ("scapegoating immigrants") when he accuses his opponents of targeting illegal aliens. Then, he enters his peevish/defensive mode with the next four sentences. Then, he offers a non-sequitur for the last: ...It's easy to hold up somebody who is here and working hard as a political target. I would like to get this bill done for a lot of reasons.

Chertoff: won't do job; going after bloggers; will stage show raids to inflame left - 05/24/07

DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, in a meeting with the editorial board of USA Today, admitted that he's not going to do the job he's supposed to be doing, said that the White House will be creating a "rapid response" team to counter criticism from the MSM and from bloggers, and implied that those immigration raids that he'll be conducting in the future will be designed to inflame the left and other illegal immigration supporters. Bottom line: Congress should try to get him fired. Since it's clear that he has not and will not do his job, that should be easy. Except, of course, most of them...

Senate immigration amnesty bill: the supporters - 05/21/07

Outside a number of Senators, there aren't too many who support the Senate's immigration amnesty/"guest" worker plan. This post will keep track of them, and I urge everyone to hold those below accountable whether the bill passes or not. I also urge everyone to keep calling Congress, but, even more importantly, follow the steps previously outlined to help stop amnesty. The supporters: * Of course: president Bush, Sens. John McCain and Ted Kennedy * From "Few senators support the illegals bill" (link): Sen. Arlen Specter, one of the Republicans who helped craft the deal, said it's the best they...

La Raza, MALDEF have "virtual veto power" over immigration bill - 05/16/07

From the article "Latino Groups Play Key Role on Hill/Virtual Veto Power in Immigration Debate" (link): When Sen. Edward M.

Chertoff tells locals to lobby against border fence - 05/09/07

Val Verde County Sheriff A. D'Wayne Jernigan and other border sheriffs went to Washington to speak to DHS chief Michael Chertoff: "When we met with Secretary Chertoff, he assured us there would be no action taken on the fence along the border without conferring with local officials... The Secretary told us that he believes that in some areas there does not need to be a fence, especially in places where there are natural borders like the ones we have here in Val Verde County.

Pages