Nextgov – Governors, Napolitano discussing changes to Real ID law The nation’s governors expect this spring to unveil a package of changes they want made to a costly and controversial law requiring their states to issue new driver’s licenses — proposals that could include seeking legislative help from Congress. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, a […]
While DHS officials have been reluctant to provide details on the future of DHS’ E-Verify in the early stages of the Administration, President Obama’s just released “A New Era of Responsibility” outlining the President’s FY 2010 Federal Budget vision may provide an early indicator of the Administration’s support for DHS program.
By federal government standards, there has been a veritable frenzy of activity related to immigration at the Department of Homeland Security. With three high-profile appointments in the last couple of weeks, the Administration has sent mixed signals about the direction it intends to take on immigration policy from a public perspective, as well as how it intends to manage the effort from an internal perspective. Oddly, the mainstream media has missed or ignored these developments.
A new poll by the Pew Research Center indicates surprisingly low approval among Americans for the new president’s handling of the war on terror.
Congressman Lamar Smith of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, raised alarms today that E-Verify provisions may have been stripped from the massive stimulus bill that will soon face a final vote before going to President Obama’s desk.
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.
There were plenty of skeptics prior to Inauguration Day about the amount of security being implemented by the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies. And there are still some grumblers. However, the fact that that such a record-setting event went off without a security hitch is testament to the security plans put into place.
One of the primary roles of the police is to protect the population from crime, and to maintain order. Within a democracy that role should be achieved within the context of facilitating free speech within an orderly context. Order can be compromised by a wide range of situations, some more likely than others.
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.
In her 60 Minutes segment, Leslie Stahl suggests she can spot terrorists simply by eyeballing them. Old white lady? No. Young Arab man? Could be … If it were only that easy.
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