State of Arizona files Opening Brief in Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals – Homeland Security Newswire
Yesterday, 26 August 2010, the State of Arizona filed with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco its Opening Brief in seeking to overturn the decision of District Court Judge Susan Bolton enjoining enforcement of parts of Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070.
There are few places that you can drive in America where you can go over 50 miles and not hit a traffic light. Such is the stretch of highway along Louisiana Highway 23, running straight through the center of Plaquemines Parish. Located just south of New Orleans, Plaquemines is literally a peninsula with the mighty Mississippi River going right through the center of it. When Katrina struck, surges of water crossed over the levees, parking shrimp boats in the center of the Highway 23 and farmer’s fields while cattle and other farm animals were left dangling in the surrounding trees. It’s an open debate by many Plaquemines residents as to what is worse: the impact of Katrina, the BP oil spill or the drilling moratorium. One thing they can all agree on is their concern about their future.
Five years ago, my life, like the lives of millions of others, changed. I was one of the thousands of people who went to the Gulf Coast to try to help, to do anything to address what can only be called the summer of ultimate hell. Two monster hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, smashed into the coastlines of Mississippi and Louisiana killing hundreds, costing billions and forever changing our nation. This week I’ve come back to the Gulf Coast to retrace many of the steps I took five years ago. For as much as the news media will offer their five-year retrospectives on the anniversaries of these two unprecedented and tragic storms, it can’t begin to capture how much lives have changed here.
Border Patrol suicides are on the rise – GovExec
Since February 2008, 15 Border Patrol agents, 13 of whom were stationed in the Southwest, have committed suicide, the Associated Press reports. This marks an alarming increase for an agency that didn’t have any suicides for almost four years leading up to 2008, the report noted.
Fusion Centers are a fairly new concept in law enforcement, and many people don’t know the purpose they serve or how their local law enforcement agency should be engaging these centers. If you ask 20 people for a definition of “fusion center,” you’ll get 20 different answers. Some might even think these centers are making frozen coffee concoctions or protein drinks. But fusion centers are actually an attempt to deal with the fact that clues related to criminal activity often remain undiscovered in disconnected law enforcement databases.
The DHS Office of Immigration Statistics report “Immigration Enforcement Actions: 2009” is a must read for those interested in immigration enforcement. The report sheds an interesting light on the federal government’s argument against portions of Arizona law, S.B. 1070, and it also contains some positive long-term metrics that demonstrate the sustained work of law enforcement in this area. The American public’s view that the government does not have a long-term commitment to enforcement has been one of the biggest stumbling blocks to immigration reform. But results demonstrate some progress and a bipartisan commitment.
Politics and religion have always been lightening rods in life, and the twisting of both issues in the current debate over the proposed mosque two blocks from Ground Zero has proven true the standing axiom that you shouldn’t mix the two. In the sweeping rhetoric that has gripped the recent mosque debate, I’ve sadly not heard much distinction between those who are fighting for the soul of Islam against the extremist elements as those who seek to perpetuate it. The fault for this condition lies in the hands of everyone involved in the current debate. For as much as I believe that there is a right for the organizers and developers to have a mosque in lower Manhattan, I also believe the organizers and developers have failed in appreciating the sensitivities that people have for blood-stained soil.
By Dawn M. Lurie and Kevin Lashus
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Office of Investigations (OI) in Arizona released a snap-shot of its weekly operations. The report provides evidence of the increasing worksite enforcement activity affecting employers. Some may be questioning whether the snap-shot is representative of national trends: we are of the opinion it is. What should employers do? Be proactive. At a minimum, review and correct your I-9s before ICE does.
Next week, the Heritage Foundation will host “Homeland Security 2010: The Future of Defending the Homeland.” This will be a week-long series of panels aimed at providing a good background for Congressional Staffers new to Homeland Security issues. Heritage did this last year, and it was an excellent event. I will be sitting on two of the panels – maritime security and cybersecurity. The panels are open to the public and all are welcome. I highly recommend it.
Justice Charges 14 U.S. Residents With Aiding Al Shabaab – CQ Homeland Security
Department of Justice officials on Thursday announced charges against 14 U.S. residents — the majority of them American citizens — for allegedly providing money and services to the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab.
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