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?
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).
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.
As the honeymoon period for the new Administration fades, so too does the ability to avoid the proverbial third rail called immigration. The decision to further postpone implementation of the E-Verify rule marks one of the first decisions regarding immigration that the Obama Administration has taken.
New DHS officials, incoming National Security Council staff, and citizens interested in the perennial tensions between freedom and security should carefully read The Closing of the American Border and keep it near their desks. This book provides critical strategic lessons gleaned from seven years of hindsight for Americans and their leaders.
E-Verify is an Internet-based program that permits registered employers to verify a new hire’s legal ability to work in the United States. This report explores how E-Verify has been received by some public and private sector employers who have been required to use it.
One of the most misunderstood programs at DHS has been the US-VISIT program. In some ways, US-VISIT has been a victim of its own success. It is now facing new opposition as the program attempts to expand the program. Where US-VISIT has drawn the most criticism, however, is usually a result of some aspect of the original blueprint going unfunded or getting bogged down by Congressional pushback. Thus the idea of a single “person-centric” biometric database for all visitors visiting or working in the U.S. remains unfulfilled.
Today’s Washington Post has a startling revelation that Consistent Cleaning Services, a local cleaning contractor, may have assigned undocumented employees to work at DHS Secretary Chertoff’s home. This was done apparently after the company assured the Chertoffs that the workers had legal status. Even more startling is the company owner’s tact to go to the Washington Post after being investigated and fined by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in what can only be viewed as a desperate attempt to be excused for his own failure to comply with the basic requirements of immigration law.
Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security hosted the last installment of exclusive blogger roundtable events that Secretary Chertoff has been attending throughout his tenure. Below is a transcript from the event which covered the current state of DHS and future of the agency.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection plans on having 20 airports operational by the end of 2009. However, despite the solid nature of the program, enrollment numbers have been quite low – around 5000 at last count. To CBP’s great credit, they have recognized that bringing in one traveler at a time to the CBP offices in the basement of airports is not a way to grow the program quickly.
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