Adfero Group HSPI

The dawn of new leadership in the White House and throughout the executive branch offers a singular opportunity to examine the policies and performance of an immigration system that is, by turns, the most generous in the world but also widely viewed as dysfunctional and unresponsive to the interests of society, the economy, and immigrants themselves.

Technology is worthy and more of it can only help, but technology alone cannot stop a terrorist. We know the terrorists are still interested in US aviation. The human factor is an essential part of the layered security recipe in the aviation environment. That is why the TSA is in the process of a transformational culture change to empower officers to rely on their experience.

According to the AP’s Eileen Sullivan news story, “Obama’s top choice for FEMA director are Florida, Iowa emergency managers,” the finish line is in sight for the announcement of the next FEMA Administrator. After several weeks of rumors and speculation it appears to have come down to two people: the State of Florida’s Emergency Management Director, Craig Fugate and Ellen Gordon who served in a similar capacity for the State of Iowa.

Homeland Security Today interviews Security Debrief contributor Vance Taylor about his involvement in a new report outlining security metrics for the water infrastructure sector’s Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC), the first industry sector to release such a review.

The impulse of any new Administration is to conduct grand reviews of existing efforts, issue sweeping strategies, centralize management, and reorganize operations and responsibilities. That is a mistake. Such moves are as likely to stunt momen­tum and slow innovation as they are to achieve any efficiencies of operation.

Mary McIntire Peters has posted a concise and well-crafted column in the Management Matters section of Government Executive entitled “Walking the Talk,” profiling the experience and understanding that new DHS Sec. Napolitano brings to what has been an ongoing and thoroughly complex problem – America’s borders, the escalating violence coming from Mexico and illegal immigration.

DHS announces a “Special Advisor on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Detention & Removal.” … Hmmmm, isn’t this pretty much the job description of the Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement?

You might ask: how can anyone not be in favor of 100% cargo screening? It’s more security, right? The critical question we should be asking is whether it is enhancing security or is it just creating additional work for cargo handlers and reports for TSA?

Everybody wants homeland security that keeps Americans safe; protects individual freedoms; promotes economic growth; and improves the nation’s image around the world. Achieving this lofty objective in real life is no easy task. Every once in a while, however, Washington gets it right…and so it goes with congressionally mandated reforms to the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).

Last year in California, police determined that someone had accessed the water in a tower. They then had to go door-to-door in the middle of the night to deliver a boil advisory to local residents. In addition, the water company had to drain a significant amount of water from the tower and clean the tank. How long people had been drinking this water before the discovery was made is anyone’s guess.

While I still think putting a cyber czar in the White House will be an exercise in futility, putting Melissa Hathaway in charge gives me hope that the Obama Administration is going to move out quickly to address the cyber issue seriously and competently. If she is indeed tapped by the President to lead this initiative, the Administration could not have found a better communicator or a more candid, collaborative leader to address the most complex and serious threat we have to our country’s national and economic security today and in the years to come.

This country is faced with a renewed commitment to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Our immediate answer is for more fuel-efficient cars. Well let me remind everyone that we already have the technology to move large numbers of people and things on our train system while greatly reducing the consumption of fuel. The problem is that we need more investment in the tracks and equipment that has served the nation for 150 plus years.

Even as our nation is in peril on the economic front, the airline industry is facing onerous unfunded mandates and government taxes that could be crippling. With more jobs disappearing and more businesses failing, this critical industry needs leadership that is well-grounded in understanding the operations and policies that will enable a robust enterprise.

Security Debrief contributor James Carafano of the Heritage Foundation does a guest interview on the respected emergency preparedness blog: “In Case of Emergency, Read Blog.” Carafano discusses a report he co-authored with David Heyman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Security Debrief contributor James Carafano of the Heritage Foundation does a guest interview on the respected emergency preparedness blog: “In Case of Emergency, Read Blog.” Carafano discusses a report he co-authored with David Heyman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

It appears DHS transition pains have reared their head in the obscure land of I-9s, resulting in the last minute postponement of a new revised Form I-9 that was scheduled to take effect this past Monday, February 2, 2009. This week, however, many employers proceed with confusion while many others will be using the wrong Form I-9.

Several recent amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) will sunset on December 31, 2009.

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Congress has focused considerable attention on how intelligence is collected, analyzed, and disseminated in order to protect the homeland against terrorist threats. Prior to 9/11, it was possible to make a distinction between “domestic intelligence”—primarily law enforcement information collected within the United States—and “foreign intelligence”— primarily military, political, and economic intelligence collected outside the country.

Chris Strohm reports in Congress Daily that the democratic leadership in the House Homeland Security has finalized their legislative agenda for the year. And the news is not good.

Dr. David Eisenman, a scholar in the field of terrorism preparedness at UCLA, reports on a study he recently published with colleagues documenting the disproportionate fears caused by terrorism and terrorism preparedness/response policies among minorities, individuals with mental illness, and individuals with physical disabilities.