Yesterday, Colombian officials announced that they were extraditing 14 suspected drug traffickers to the United States to face a host of charges ranging from conspiracy to import to cocaine manufacturing. Within the law enforcement and drug control community, the Colombian government’s move is unprecedented. The country has long maintained a tradition of refusing to extradite even its most notorious drug cartel leaders.
Despite the stereotypes in the media, not every terrorist is going to look like he or she comes from Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan. They don’t have official “Member of the International Brotherhood of Terrorism” identification cards. They will say things like, “I just need to get a job to feed my family” rather than “Will you help sneak me across the border so that I can blow up the Pentagon?” They will look like Middle Eastern in some cases, yes, but they will also look German or French or Canadian or American or Mexican in others. They will look like me and you.
We see the “100 Percent” debate playing itself out between DHS and Democrats on the Hill — in the areas of employee screening at our nation’s airports, the screening of air cargo, and the screening of shipping containers coming from overseas. In all these instances, Democrats have passed legislative mandates requiring DHS to implement the costly solution of 100% scanning. DHS has been correct to push back, and they should do so more forcefully.
Spike TV announced today the launch of a reality show that chronicles the real-life battles faced by the nation’s premier drug cops at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. In allowing cameras to get this close to the action, the DEA is shedding its traditionally tight-lipped persona and breaks new ground in educating the public about the risks its agents face every day. Check out a trailer for the show, called simply “DEA,” on Spike TV’s website.
I’ve been accused of many things in my public career, but as a former U.S. Attorney and head of the DEA, nobody has ever accused me of being soft on crime – particularly drug crime. So you may be surprised to find me coming down on the other side of our respected Attorney General with regard to sentencing guidelines on crack and powder cocaine.
As of January 31, 2008, all individuals seeking to enter the U.S. at land borders will have to present documentary proof of citizenship. Until this change in policy takes effect, any individual in the Western Hemisphere can enter the United States by attesting they are a United States citizen and presenting a driver’s license. This approach places entry into our country into the realm of the honor system – a concept that has failed in our immigration policies – and relegated DHS Inspectors to the realm of bartenders attempting to distinguish a phony driver’s license from a real one.
As the former head of the DEA, I applaud the decision of the U.S. Sentencing Commission to reduce the disparity and unfairness between penalties for convictions associated with crack cocaine and powder cocaine. I have been a long time advocate for reducing the 100 to 1 disparity on sentencing of crack and powder cocaine convictions because it offends the high principle of equal treatment under the law.
Given the critical role of the DEA in the nation’s federal law enforcement constellation, it’s disappointing that the White House has not announced a successor to Karen Tandy, who has already left the agency. There are a number of qualified candidates – qualified from an operational perspective as well as a political perspective.
Top among such candidates is the current Deputy Administrator and Acting head of the agency:Michele Leonhart.
With Lieberman and Collins both supporting Myers nomination, the nation’s chief immigration and smuggling enforcement officer wins the patina of bipartisanship. This will make it more difficult — though by new means impossible — for senators like Claire McCaskill of Missouri to rally enough opposition to block her nomination.
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