department of homeland security

Department of Homeland Security: Page 4


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

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T.J. Bonner of Border Patrol union "underwhelmed" by Obama border plan - 03/26/09

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 border security, and said he is "in a word, underwhelmed" by Napolitano's plan. "We need to take more aggressive steps to stop that violence from spilling into the United States," he said, calling the strategy "showmanship in...

Janet Napolitano orders review of first immigration raid under Obama; bye bye raids - 02/26/09

After barely doing any immigration raids for several years, the Bush administration began enforcing the laws at workplaces in an attempt to get comprehensive immigration 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 Napolitano, who on Wednesday ordered...

DHS Dep. Asst. Sec'y for Policy is from CAP, United Nations, Ted Kennedy office (Esther Olavarria) - 02/23/09

Janet Napolitano has selected Esther Olavarria as Deputy 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 Fellow and their Director of Immigration Policy [1], [2] The first page has her bio containing more nuggets of great news: Esther comes to CAP/CAPAF from the UNHCR, the UN Refugee...

Thomas Perez to head Citizenship and Immigration Services? (close with Casa de Maryland) - 02/20/09

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 Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, has had a long association with (CASA de Maryland). Both Montgomery and Prince George’s counties pay CASA millions of dollars each year in social services contracts and have put up...

DHS fugitive teams mostly picked up non-fugitives (why is Nina Bernstein telling us this? MPI, Wishnie) - 02/03/09

Nina Bernstein of the New York Times (a paper part-owned by a Mexican billionaire) offers "Despite Vow, Target of Immigrant Raids Shifted" (link). In a way, it's a two part story. In the first part, there's the story itself, with the not-so-news news is that the 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...

DHS immigration directive: goal is comprehensive "reform"; biometrics - 01/31/09

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

Bush lifted "Auntie Zeituni Rule" after election - 01/26/09

Shortly before the election, it was learned that Barack Obama's aunt - Auntie Zeituni - had been living in the U.S. as an illegal alien for years. He quickly threw her under the bus and returned the small donations she'd illegally made to his campaign. Few but me were interested in using the incident to show he was heartless and calculating. She later got an immigration lawyer, something that Obama could have done but did not do. And, shortly before the news came out, the Department of Homeland Security reportedly required all deportations to be approved by high-level officials; the...

DHS Deputy Secretary was top United Nations official (Jane Holl Lute) - 01/25/09

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 announced Friday by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. ...At the U.N., Lute coordinates peace efforts among countries in conflict. ...In addition to her NSC work, Lute has served as vice...

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...

Janet Napolitano's immigration stance criticized (she doesn't really oppose illegal immigration) - 12/01/08

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 established a state task force to curb ID fraud. She was also the first governor to call for using the National Guard on the border, though she subsequently vetoed legislation to grant funding for more...

Obama cabinet might include Democrat titans: Gore, Napolitano, Vilsack, Howard Dean, Caroline Kennedy... - 11/11/08

The Barack Obama cabinet might include such Democratic Party titans as Al Gore, Arizona governor Janet Napolitano, former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack, Caroline Kennedy, Howard Dean, Bill Richardson, John Kerry, and many more truly titanic names. This link has a "transition flowchart", a PDF showing some potential picks and all of them are truly great figures who will help the Repu... er, I mean the Democrats. While this could all be a jolly joke, who knows since the head of the transition team is John Podesta and his think tank the Center for American Progress is as much a joke as the Harding...

Julie Myers to leave Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS) - 11/05/08

Ah, the end of an era. Just three years ago we were arguing over whether Bush's obvious nepotism pick of Julie Myers to head the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was qualified.

Bob Menendez, Teddy Kennedy still trying to hamper immigration enforcement (S.3594) - 10/02/08

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.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) calls DHS agents "Gestapo agents" (Gebe Martinez/Politico) - 08/07/08

Alleged U.S. Representative Luis Gutierrez - Democrat from Illinois - is quoted in the article "Push needed for immigration reform" (politico . com/news/stories/0808/12321.html) by ethnocentric hack reporter Gebe Martinez as saying:

Mexico-linked ACLU: immigration raids are "terrorizing communities" (Joanne Lin) - 05/22/08

Joanne Lin, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union - an organization collaborating with the Mexican government to possibly sue the U.S. government - on Monday appeared at a meeting of the Appleseed Foundation and said, in reference to local police playing a role in immigration enforcement under the 287g program: "Local law enforcement has been given the green light to engage in racial profiling... Massive immigration sweeps are terrorizing communities across the country, including those who are U.S. citizens, permanent residents and other lawful workers... It's always been the...

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) tries tying ICE's hands on immigration raids; Mexico-linked ACLU cheers - 05/20/08

Rep. Lynn Woolsey, Democrat from Petaluma, California and chairwoman of the Workforce Protection Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee (some background here), held a hearing this morning regarding ICE raids (link): Congress should enact legislation giving more teeth to existing federal guidelines aimed at ensuring that children's needs are considered when their parents are arrested in raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enfocement agents [Woolsey said]. The agency's November 2007 guidelines outlining humanitarian concerns to be addressed during raids "are not being...

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...

HuckPAC: Mike Huckabee launches his Political Action Committee (PAC) - 04/15/08

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 - 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

Bennie Thompson, Dingell, Conyers, Reyes, Ortiz, other Democrats support Sierra Club lawsuit over border fence (DHS, environmental waiver) - 04/08/08

A cast of Congressional characters (all Democrats; listed below) intends to file an Amicus Curiae brief in the case where the Sierra Club and the 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 Homeland Security is a direct challenge to Congress’s...

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.

10% of entire prison population are immigrants eligible for deportation - 03/29/08

According to Julie Myers, head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE"), around 10% of the total U.S. prison population are immigrants who could be deported (link).

DHS tries old "no-match" rule with new explanation (Judge Charles Breyer) - 03/22/08

In October, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer 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 supporters - the AFL-CIO, ACLU, the U.S.

Overview of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) failures - 03/06/08

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post celebrates the DHS's fifth-year anniversary with this two-pager list of their problems and failures:

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.

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.

Ramos/Compean drug smuggler arrested (for 2005 case) - 11/15/07

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.

National Council of La Raza hides behind children to oppose immigration enforcement (raids, trauma, identity theft) - 11/01/07

The extremist-funding National Council of La Raza ("The Race") has worked with the Urban Institute (info) to release a report entitled "Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America's Children" [1]. Reading it is to be transported into another universe.

District Judge Charles Breyer blocks DHS no-match letters (ACLU, CofC, AFL-CIO) - 10/10/07

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post offers "Judge Bars Bush Crackdown on Illegal Workers" (link): A federal judge barred the Bush administration today from launching a planned crackdown on U.S. firms that hire illegal immigrants, warning of the plan's potentially "staggering" impact on law-abiding workers and companies. Issuing a firm rebuke of the White House, U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer of San Francisco granted a preliminary injunction against the government's plan to pressure employers to fire up to 8.7 million workers with suspect Social Security numbers starting this fall...

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...

Curt Thompson: Urges Calm and Practicality - 10/03/07

link: galeo . org/story.php?story_id=0000003303 State Sen. Curt Thompson: Urges Calm and Practicality, "stay calm, stay put and get involved" Found in Mundo HispanicoWritten by Senator Curt ThompsonPosted on 2007-07-11 Originally published in Spanish in Mundo Hispanico on July 5, 2007. Posted on GALEO on 7/10/07 in English, courtesy of Sen. Curt Thompson. This version is unedited and is slightly different than the print version. The Spanish print version was edited for space.

Eliot Spitzer jeopardizes New Yorkers safety for votes (drivers licenses for illegal aliens) - 09/23/07

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) - 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.

GAO report: DHS not meeting goals - 09/07/07

From this: A report by the U.S.

Illegal alien crime victims get U-visas (Mexico-linked Peter Schey, Anna Gorman) - 09/06/07

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) - 09/01/07

Spencer S. Hsu of the Washington Post offers the falsely titled "Immigrant Crackdown Halted": A federal judge yesterday barred the Bush administration from launching a crackdown Tuesday on U.S. employers who hire illegal immigrants while she considers a lawsuit by the AFL-CIO that charges that the plan will harm citizens and other legal workers. The ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney in 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...

Waukegan: "immigrant rights groups" protest arrests of gang members - 08/31/07

From this we see the latest example of just how far "immigrant rights groups" are willing to go: Immigrant rights groups are holding a 24-hour prayer vigil to protest the arrests of 58 Mexican nationals. A crowd gathered outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office Thursday night in Waukegan. Some at the vigil are questioning why people who have already been through the legal system were targeted. ICE agents arrested 58 Mexican nationals with alleged ties to violent street gangs in the northern and northwest suburbs this week in the largest local dragnet targeting...

AFL-CIO, ACLU, NILC sue DHS over no-match letters; EWIC - 08/30/07

From 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. Even United States citizens will face discrimination if they look or sound foreign, according to the suit. Filed in a San Francisco federal court this week, the 17-page complaint [link] also names the Social Security Administration as a defendant because it says letters informing businesses of discrepancies between employee records and the agency's database would violate worker’s rights and impose burdensome...

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