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Border Security

Rand Beers commits candor – and it was refreshing

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March 4, 2010

Following his testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee where he testified about chemical security, DHS Under Secretary Rand Beers met with national security bloggers for an “on the record” session hosted by the Heritage Foundation. It was a remarkably refreshing session – not only because Beers acknowledged the importance of reaching out to a wide range of critical thinkers (which occasionally includes bloggers), but also because he was characteristically candid. Would that other DHS officials followed his lead.

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E-Verify: Best Practice? Yes. Failsafe? No.

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March 4, 2010

By Julie Myers Wood and Dawn Lurie
A recent report conducted on behalf of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) by Westat highlighted what some employers using E-Verify know all too well – when unauthorized workers roll the dice and try to get a job, far too often the E-Verify system lets them win. The report estimates that the inaccuracy rate for unauthorized workers on E-Verify is 54 percent. 54 percent! Those are incredibly tempting odds for those seeking employment. Considering all of the improvements made to the E-Verify system over the past two years, this report is disappointing but will surely serve as a motivator for the government to place additional focus on the number of false positives passing through the system.

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Burning Question: Will full-body scanners get TSA in hot water with the Pope?

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March 3, 2010

Burning Question: Will full-body scanners get TSA in hot water with the Pope? – Government Executive
The Associated Press has reported that the first of 150 full-body scanners slated to be deployed by the Transportation Security Administration at U.S. airports will be installed next week. The scanners have attracted their share of criticism on privacy grounds–and the latest has come from the Vatican.

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Lessons from the Napolitano Budget Hearings

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February 26, 2010

Someone needs to buy Janet Napolitano a beer. Or at least give her a double of whatever she wants. After two consecutive days on Capitol Hill testifying in front of four different Congressional Committees, she’s earned it. In defending the Administration’s proposed 2011 budget, she took on a whole set of bipartisan punches and barbs from an array of political players who weren’t exactly happy with what she was trying to sell them.

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Napolitano Takes Bipartisan Hits on Border Budget Proposals

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February 26, 2010

Napolitano Takes Bipartisan Hits on Border Budget Proposals – CQ Homeland Security
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano defended the border security aspects of President Obama’s fiscal 2011 budget request against criticism from the right and left Thursday. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., raised concerns about the inability of the department to implement provisions of the Sept. 11 commission recommendations (PL 110-53) that mandated the screening of all maritime cargo entering the country.

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Napolitano Faces Questions About Screening Technology Funding

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February 25, 2010

Napolitano Faces Questions About Screening Technology Funding – CQ Homeland Security
Both the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday questioned a request for technologically advanced airport scanners in President Obama’s fiscal 2011 budget request, but for seemingly opposite reasons.

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Unmanned drone sought for Texas-Mexico border

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February 24, 2010

Unmanned drone sought for Texas-Mexico border – Congress Daily
House Homeland Security Border Subcommittee Chairman Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, has asked the Homeland Security Department to deploy a new unmanned aircraft along his state’s border with Mexico.

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1M Fewer Illegal Immigrants: DHS Secure Border Initiative Ended Catch and Release

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February 18, 2010

CBS News recently reported the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. is down by about one million from 2008 to 2009. The DHS report CBS cited also shows a striking difference in the number of illegal immigrants entering the U.S. in two different periods. From 2000 through 2004, 28 percent of the current population of illegal immigrants entered the United States, and only 8 percent entered from 2005 through 2008. Having worked with these DHS statistics for a number of years, I am keenly aware of their limitations. I suspect the economy has played a role in this decrease, but I also think we need to give some credit to improved border enforcement and particularly to a little heralded but successful effort to end “catch and release.”

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Number of Illegal Immigrants Plunges by 1M

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February 16, 2010

Number of Illegal Immigrants Plunges by 1M – CBS
The number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. has dropped by nearly 1 million, renewing the debate over what to do with those still in the country, according to a Los Angeles Times report Thursday.

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Sen. Schumer calls out Napolitano over elimination of anti-terrorist Coast Guard unit

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February 8, 2010

Sen. Schumer calls out Napolitano over elimination of anti-terrorist Coast Guard unit – NY Daily News
Sen. Chuck Schumer called out Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Sunday, protesting an Obama Administration plan to eliminate an anti-terrorist Coast Guard unit that keeps watch over the city’s harbor.

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