Adfero Group HSPI

Normally, the story below would be posted in the “Homeland BlogWatch” section of Security Debrief, which links to stories pinging about in the blogosphere and online media. However, the article written below, by former CIA Middle East field officer Robert Baer, is so insightful, we thought we should post it here in our main section.

Some very good news from DHS has lit up the border with a new sense of optimism. Secretary Napolitano has apparently tapped, Maria Louisa O’Connell as the new Assistant Commissioner of Public Affairs at CBP.

It is obviously way too soon to articulate possible recommendations; after all the strength of a task force is that we bring diverse perspectives and experiences to bear on the problem. However, for those of you who know me, you know that I am an advocate of resilience as foundational principal on how we should think about homeland security.

Last year DHS asked the President’s private sector advisors on the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) to examine what impedes the nation’s ability to respond and recover from a major disaster resulting in the prolonged loss of infrastructure service. On Tuesday, the Department and the President received their answer.

Kudos to Politico, and in particular Sarah Laskow of the Center for Public Integrity for their FRONT PAGE story in today’s issue on the perpetual and ongoing train-wreck that is Congressional oversight of the Department of Homeland Security. In the end though the only thing that matters is action. If that is the metric we have to use, the grade is obvious. It’s an F.

In a chance to turn the table on the media, a group from the private sector engaged in homeland security work were able to grill some top-notch beat reporters who cover homeland issues. One point of discussion that arose was that while DHS seems more low key and less visible than it was under the previous administration, many of the previous administration’s policies are being carried into the Obama era.

It seems that every time we have an incident, the cry goes up for “more and better”. Well, that does not work well with the Cyber space. If you are not steadily moving in a positive direction, you will go backward, and you never go fast.

By Edward Alden
Some have labeled the recommendations of the Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy as “amnesty.” It’s a rhetorically convenient but hollow charge. To label any proposal that envisions less than a complete removal of the current illegal immigrant population as “amnesty” offers no reasonable way forward.

The United States of America has been in a state of uninterrupted “elevated” alertness – or Yellow on the Department of Homeland Security’s color coded national advisory system – for nearly seven years now. Seven years straight of strained, eyeballing-fellow-passengers-on-airplanes, nerve-jangling elevated alertness. I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. I can barely handle uninterrupted parenting for seven years straight, but looking down the grim kaleidoscope of yellows and oranges and reds – the primary colors of terrorism – is just too much. Will the government ever tell us we can relax?

To say my trip to the UK was an eye and mind opening experience would be an understatement. Between attending two conferences and having the opportunity to meet with government, national security and public safety officials and private sector leaders as well as take in the amazing sights of London, you might say I had a bit of sensory overload – all in a positive sense. While there is no doubt about the ‘special relationship’ that exists between the UK and the US, I did leave London cognizant of how the same world can look very different from ‘across the pond.’

By Jena Baker McNeill
The report recently issued by the Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy, an immigration reform effort sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, is not the first to tout legalization, and it probably won’t be the last. And while its ‘bi-partisan’ nature is certainly attractive, it doesn’t make legalization anymore than a costly amnesty.

By Jena Baker McNeil
Sen. Sessions’ amendment to make E-Verify permanent and mandatory is a good step forward in terms of maintaining immigration enforcement efforts.

One has come to expect the standard assertions from apologists for Middle Eastern autocrats that American media are controlled by the U.S. government. And certainly CNN and the New York Times take their hits in this article. What is fascinating, however, is how quickly new media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have achieved the same level of fear and loathing from these apologists in such a short amount of time.

Wednesday’s Senate hearing on security lapses at federal government buildings around the U.S. brings up the need for better technology at those security checkpoints, not unlike the upgrades underway at U.S. airports.

Immigration is once again creeping to the forefront of the national agenda. Decisions yesterday by DHS to implement E-Verify for federal contractors, on the one hand, while killing the Social Security “no match” letters to businesses on the other has sparked renewed and vigorous debate on worksite enforcement issues. What does this all mean for the business community?

The most recent attacks on numerous Cyber infrastructure targets have once again raised issues of the vulnerability of the US to this sort of attack. It is back on the front pages of newspapers, and back in the first few minutes on broadcast news. Several details of the attacks are illustrative and hopefully instructive.

FPS does not fully ensure that its guards have the training and certifications required to stand post at federal facilities.

Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released its most Orwellian pronouncement yet. They plan to rollback responsible, reasonable workplace verification rules and replace them with unworkable, intrusive, expensive and likely no more effective verification rules.

My previous columns discussed four of the seven deadly sins (greed pride, gluttony, and sloth). Today’s Sunday school lesson focuses on the sin of Envy and the role it plays in DHS dis-functionality. Those who commit the sin of envy resent that others have something they perceive themselves as lacking. So, let’s take a deeper dive and see how the sin of Envy has hurt DHS.

Looking tough on immigration law isn’t the same as being tough and Obama has yet to clearly layout an immigration plan. The right approach to immigration is one that enforces the law, protects Americans, brings in new legal immigrants, and keeps everyone safer. Obama’s strategy should include all of the above.