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While there may be no legislative resolution to the thorny issue of illegal immigration this year, the next President and next DHS Secretary will have no choice. Technology is forcing the country to recognize the reality of illegal employment, and E-Verify is just one part of that new reality.

If there was any lingering doubts on whether DHS and ICE were committed to aggressively enforcing immigration laws at the workplace, ICE’s worksite enforcement operation at Howard Industries resulting in almost 600 arrests should eliminate them. The 600 arrests marks the largest historical arrest total at a single worksite, exceeding the recent record of 400 set at Agriprocessors in Iowa just three month ago.

The resignation of President Musharraf brings to an end an important yet turbulent chapter in US – Pakistan relations since 9/11. The United States faces today a Pakistan that lacks any form of consensus. The increasingly deteriorating situation in Pakistan can quickly get out of hand and make Pakistan an ungovernable country with potent insurgencies spreading to the various regions of the country, leaving the United States with limited options going forward.

Barack Obama picks political fight with immigration agents, accusing them of terrorizing illegal immigrants and calling for a “top-to-bottom” review of the policies of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

When all is said and done, some will argue that Denver PD had a hand in fueling the violence that ensued while the world’s attention was focused on the political drama unfolding in their city. Though we haven’t seen (much of) anything yet, violent conflicts seem increasingly likely. We are only entering Day 2 of the Convention, and already there is footage of police violence, the threats of lawsuits and the very negative PR stories of the elderly being gassed

ICE’s Scheduled Departure program — or any voluntary immigration deportation program — will fail until Congress reforms immigration law to provide some incentive for illegal immigrants to voluntarily participate. As it stands, Congress has created incentives for just the opposite.

Lawmakers’ use of “Gestapo” tag is wildly out of line, former immigration official Chris Battle (and Security Debrief contributor) writes in US News & World Report.

In light of the recent controversies provoked by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement more aggressively pursuing its mission with regard to worksite enforcement, this article in the current issue of Business Week is worth reading.

When agents at ICE aren’t being criticized for not being aggressive enough, they’re being attacked for being too aggressive. A columnist on the West Coast attacks ICE as a “do nothing” agency even as politicians on the East Coast are accusing agents of being terrorists and Nazis. What’s wrong with this picture?

The latest criticism of Congressman Luis Gutierrez for his outrageous comparison of ICE agents to Nazis comes from the Anti-Defamation League. In an August 14 letter to Gutierrez, the ADL calls upon the congressman to repudiate his “inappropriate and insensitive” remarks.

Like a lot of families around the world, my family has spent the past week enjoying the Olympic Games. From the breathtaking pageantry of the Opening Ceremonies to the ‘Gold-palooza’ of Michael Phelps performances, all of us have found ourselves in awe of what we have watched. I’ll be honest – at the outset of the Olympics my wife and I found ourselves wrestling with how we were going to handle these Games. Neither of us thought we would restrict our kids from watching the athletes compete but we did wrestle with what we would tell them about the Games’ host country.

Former Homeland Security NY Special Agent in Charge joins discussion of spike in terror-related tips as Olympics and elections raise concerns.

In the 2007 run-up to the vote on legislation mandating that 100 percent of all cargo be scanned before entering the United States, many in the private and public sectors were surprisingly quiet, especially considering the damage such a mandate will inflict on American trade. Looking back, it is clear that too many folks in both the private and public sectors were overly confident that Congress simply would not pass such an obviously self-destructive piece of legislation. Unfortunately, that confidence was misplaced. In Washington, political posturing often trumps common sense.

Trained terrorist organizations seek to win popular support by provoking governments into over-reaction — shutting down freedoms and liberties, and otherwise taking actions that open them to charges of tyranny. By being fully prepared for all contingencies, while also maintaining proper respect for the law and civil liberties and the reasonable (meaning restrained) use of force, governments and security planners eliminate one of the most powerful tactics of terrorist organizations.

The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) recently sent an angry letter of protest to presidential aspirant Barack Obama challenging his characterization of ICE agents who enforce immigration law as terrorists. And today, ICE Assistant Secretary Julie Myers sent a letter to Congressman Luis Gutierrez requesting an apology for calling ICE the “Gestapo.”

A week after dressing down TSA for suggesting that Congress did not really mean for all air cargo to be scanned, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson followed up with a letter to DHS accusing it of trying to undermine congressional intent to fully scan 100 percent of all cargo — both air and maritime.

Denver PD, a 660 strong force that will be swelling with reinforcements under mutual aid arrangements to around 3,000, is coming under increasing scrutiny before the Democratic National Convention hits town late in the month. There are discussions about how the budget has been spent, speculation about whether the police are using the security restrictions to stifle free speech, and wonderment about how the Convention will be policed.

It boggles my mind that China can beat down monks like rented mules, rack up enough air pollution to choke an elephant, restrict the “free” press without batting an eye, and attack our nation’s networks through repeated cyber attacks without suffering any consequences. How is it that they get a free ride where other countries wouldn’t?

On Wednesday, The Heritage Foundation hosted Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Alabama) and a panel of commentators to discuss the chaos in Congress’ oversight of the Department of Homeland Security. Congressman Rogers, who is the ranking member on the Management, Investigations and Oversight subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee, did an outstanding job of setting out the foundation for why the current system of oversight is broken and why that creates unnecessary vulnerabilities. The panel discussion involved some interesting questions about the partisan nature of the problem, as well as the Department’s push-back to Congress’ neverending demands.