Tag: United States Department of Homeland Security

The Trump administration has opened the door to a seismic overhaul of immigration and asylum procedure that could lead to the indefinite detention of thousands of asylum seekers who cross the border illegally. The US attorney general, William Barr, on Tuesday issued guidance overruling a precedent set by George W Bush’s justice department in 2005, which enshrined asylum seekers’ right to bond, irrespective of how they entered the country. Barr stated in his updated guidance that the 2005 decision was “wrongly decided” and he would move to block immigration judges from offering people who have crossed the border illegally and have established a reasonable claim of torture or persecution the chance of release as their cases are decided in immigration court. A footnote included in Barr’s decision revealed that homeland security had requested that the attorney general delay his decision on bond “so that DHS may conduct necessary operational planning” to accommodate the change. Children seeking asylum are currently protected by a separate ruling from a federal court in California that ordered they must be released from detention after 20 days. The Trump administration, which has pledged to end the policy of so-called “catch and release”, has unsuccessfully tried to reverse this ruling. A justice department official did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the department would seek to use Barr’s new rules in cases involving families and children. Human rights groups met Barr’s decision with immediate condemnation. “Seeking asylum is a human right, not a crime, and families forced to flee for their lives shouldn’t be treated like criminals” said Charanya Krishnaswami, Americas advocacy director for Amnesty International USA. She argued the decision could force parents to decide to either be locked up with their children indefinitely, or relinquish custody of them for the duration of a months- or years-long approval process.

In short, the right and the left are seeing the president they always thought was there. April 10, 201901:36 There's nothing wrong with Trump using the powers granted to him by the Constitution or Congress' cession of authority to the executive, Rachel Bovard, policy director at the Conservative Policy Institute, said. "Congress has plenty of authority to take their authority back and they haven’t. And they believed, as many liberals do now, that the president's party in Congress was far too willing to let the executive run roughshod over the legislative branch. There’s abuse of legitimate power. Those were legitimate powers that have gone unused by the Bush and the Trump administrations and that progressives would want to utilize if we take back the White House." Rather than a question of policy, it's a matter of politics and law that leaves no room for the possibility that it was legitimate both to investigate the Trump operation's ties to Russia and questions about the obstruction of justice, and for Mueller to find no evidence of a conspiracy with Russia. From the South Lawn of the White House, the seat of executive power, Trump told reporters Wednesday that former government officials involved in starting and pursuing the investigation into his campaign were guilty of "treason" — a crime punishable by death — at nearly the same time Attorney General William Barr was telling Congress he believes the Obama administration spied on Trump's campaign. Zelizer noted that Trump's allegations are made without producing evidence and that he uses the standing of his office to put them into the public discussion. It remains to be seen what comes of the Barr investigation into the investigators.

USSS Director Randolph Alles, a retired Marine Corps major general who was appointed two years ago, is on his way out the door just the day after the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, resigned under pressure on Sunday night. Alles reported to her. In a statement to the agency's workforce on Monday, Alles denied being fired and said he was informed "weeks ago" that there would be across-the-board changes in leadership at DHS. I assure you that this is not the case, and in fact was told weeks ago by the Administration that transitions in leadership should be expected across the Department of Homeland Security," Alles said in a statement. He added, "It has been my great honor to serve as Director of the U.S. Secret Service. Your dedication and sacrifice continue to make the U.S. Secret Service an elite law enforcement agency; one that will remain so well into the future." CNN first reported Alles' departure. April 8, 201902:31 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called on Alles to testify before Congress about the Mar-a-Lago incident in a statement on Monday “The outgoing Secret Service director must testify before Congress as soon as possible about the potential security vulnerabilities at Mar-a-Lago involving a Chinese national arrested with malware, and other counterintelligence and national security threats," Schumer said. Meanwhile, Trump may remove or reassign Claire Grady from her current role as acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, in order to install Kevin McAleenan, the current commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as the Acting Secretary for DHS, according to three administration officials. But Trump announced on Sunday that he planned to make McAleenan the acting secretary.

That type of shock-jock identity politics may work in elections, but it doesn't offer clarity on what happened between the president and his former fixer or what any of that means for a congressional investigation into the matter. Anti-truthism On Friday, the president told reporters: "The Democrats have become an anti-Israel party. It must be pointed out that 23 members of the Republican Party voted against the resolution because they said the resolution wasn’t aggressive enough in critiquing Omar. And the same publication recently pointed out that there are now 34 Jewish members of Congress and “all of the Jews in the Senate are Democrats, as are all but two in the House.” Kelly breaks silence... and facts On Tuesday, President Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly, who finally broke his silence months after leaving the White House, blamed the fallout from the controversial "zero tolerance" policy of separating migrant children from their parents squarely on then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. On Tuesday, President Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly, who finally broke his silence months after leaving the White House, blamed the fallout from the controversial "zero tolerance" policy of separating migrant children from their parents squarely on then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Kelly's recent comments contradict his own arguments on behalf of the separation policy in the days after it was announced by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in which he argued it could be an effective deterrent to stem the flow of migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. "It could be a tough deterrent — would be a tough deterrent," Kelly said in a May 2018 interview with NPR. Nielsen's truth ratings Appearing before a Democratically controlled House committee for the first time, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen falsely suggested that every migrant family who was deported during her tenure was given the opportunity to take their children with them. Jesus, a migrant from Honduras who requested his family name not be published, told ABC News he was tricked into being deported without his 6-year-old son, Ariel. The Department of Homeland Security would not comment on Jesus's claims, but that there could be as many as 471 cases in which parents who were removed from the country without their children and without being given the opportunity to elect or waive reunification.

That type of shock-jock identity politics may work in elections, but it doesn't offer clarity on what happened between the president and his former fixer or what any of that means for a congressional investigation into the matter. Anti-truthism On Friday, the president told reporters: "The Democrats have become an anti-Israel party. This is obviously an egregious lie. It must be pointed out that 23 members of the Republican Party voted against the resolution because they said the resolution wasn't aggressive enough in critiquing Omar. Kelly breaks silence... and facts On Tuesday, President Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly, who finally broke his silence months after leaving the White House, blamed the fallout from the controversial "zero tolerance" policy of separating migrant children from their parents squarely on then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. On Tuesday, President Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly, who finally broke his silence months after leaving the White House, blamed the fallout from the controversial "zero tolerance" policy of separating migrant children from their parents squarely on then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. "It could be a tough deterrent - would be a tough deterrent," Kelly said in a May 2018 interview with NPR. Nielsen's truth ratings Appearing before a Democratically controlled House committee for the first time, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen falsely suggested that every migrant family who was deported during her tenure was given the opportunity to take their children with them. Jesus, a migrant from Honduras who requested his family name not be published, told ABC News he was tricked into being deported without his 6-year-old son, Ariel. The Department of Homeland Security would not comment on Jesus's claims, but that there could be as many as 471 cases in which parents who were removed from the country without their children and without being given the opportunity to elect or waive reunification.

Immigration hawks slammed the border security compromise President Trump signed into law Friday for containing last-minute provisions that they argued give "amnesty" to many – but a Department of Homeland Security official insisted to Fox News that’s a misunderstanding of the bill. "This 'deal' provides de facto amnesty for anyone claiming to be even in the household of a potential sponsor of an unaccompanied alien minor," Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on Twitter Thursday. But a DHS official told Fox News that terms like "potential sponsor" have precise meanings in Department of Homeland Security regulations -- meanings that severely limit the number of people the budget keeps safe from deportation. Further, because the bill only applies to kids who are unaccompanied, it does not provide protection for those bringing kids into the US. That would significantly limit the number of people to whom the no-deportation provision applies. Chris Chmielenski, the deputy director of NumbersUSA, which fights for lower immigration levels and which urged President Trump to veto the budget, told Fox News that the provision is still problematic despite DHS’s clarifications. That’s not a precedent we should be setting.” He noted that, despite the paperwork DHS demands of someone to become a “potential sponsor,” some might still try to game the system and that it could still encourage “unaccompanied” kids to be sent over the border. If those blue municipalities don't agree with DHS, the fence can't get built.” But the DHS official told Fox News on background that the exact language in the budget -- "confer and seek to reach mutual agreement" – nowhere requires the federal government to actually reach an agreement before building fences. “I hope DHS is right, I just think it’s wishful thinking,” he told Fox News. Gorka says the claims of the sky falling are overblown, and also told Fox News that it was silly to call anything in the budget “amnesty” because it’s just an annual budget.

The Department of Homeland Security’s chief watchdog is calling for disciplinary action against a Trump administration political appointee who has refused to cooperate with an investigation into alleged retaliation against career civil servants, according to a memo released Thursday. Christine Ciccone, a former senior official at the State Department and now an assistant secretary of legislative affairs at DHS, has failed to agree to an interview with investigators “despite repeated requests made to both her and her attorney over many months,” DHS Acting Inspector General John Kelly wrote to Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in a Feb. 13 memo. The State Department Office of Inspector General said a senior official's refusing to submit to an interview is “unprecedented.” That office is looking into allegations of retribution against career State Department employees, and has tried to speak with Ciccone as a “key witness” in that inquiry since September, Kelly wrote in a memo released by three Democratic lawmakers. When asked about the memo, the Department of Homeland Security did not say whether Nielsen would take any disciplinary action against Ciccone. The secretary “is reviewing the issue,” DHS Press Secretary Tyler Houlton told NBC News in an email. Ciccone is just one of several officials who have come under scrutiny over allegations that career diplomats and civil servants have faced retribution from political appointees at the State Department since President Donald Trump entered office. In a joint statement, the three lawmakers called Ciccone’s behavior “outrageous.” The three lawmakers demanded Nielsen take prompt action to uphold the inspector general office's legal authority and to report back to their committees by Friday to update them on the case. A Democratic congressional aide, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the case was “another example of how Trump administration political appointees believe that the rules don’t apply to them.” The State Department has said previously that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would not tolerate political retribution against career employees. She wrote to her supervisor Brian Hook, then the director of the policy planning staff and now overseeing Iran policy at the State Department, asking for his help to “correct the record,” according to the emails. Hook forwarded her email to other political appointees at the State Department, who then passed it along to the White House.

At a cabinet meeting prior to the briefing, Trump warned that parts of the government would could remain closed for a “a long time” without a deal. “We’re asking the president to open up government,” Nancy Pelosi, who is expected to assume the speakership of the House of Representatives on Thursday, said after the briefing with Trump. Why would he not do it?” The shutdown was triggered by Trump’s demand that Congress allocate more than $5bn in taxpayer money to build a wall along the 2,000-mile border between the US and Mexico – a concession Democrats refuse to make. The shutdown, which entered its 12th day on Wednesday, has affected nearly 800,000 federal workers. The incoming House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, said Trump invited leaders back to the White House on Friday. The Republican-controlled Senate passed a spending bill last month that would have funded the government through 8 February without money for a border wall. But Republican leaders in the House refused to hold a vote on the measure. On Capitol Hill after the briefing on Wednesday, Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, told reporters that it could take “weeks” to break the stalemate and that Wednesday’s meeting did not produce “any particular progress”. Schumer said he implored Trump to reopen the government while they debated their differences over the border wall. “We asked him to give us one good reason – I asked him directly,” Schumer said.

J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press WASHINGTON — America will get its first taste of divided government under President Trump this week when a Democratic House tries to wrest control of the political agenda from Mr. Trump, who appears determined to keep the focus on border security, immigration and his “big, beautiful” wall. “Border Security and the Wall ‘thing’ and Shutdown is not where Nancy Pelosi wanted to start her tenure as Speaker!” he said Tuesday on Twitter. But their first order of business will be reopening the government, as Ms. Pelosi said Tuesday on Twitter in response to Mr. Trump. The Democrats plan to pass two bills on Thursday. With the plan facing a shaky future in the Senate and an intransigent president, some rank-and-file lawmakers in both parties are suggesting that a deal to revamp the nation’s immigration laws, pairing border security and protections for some undocumented immigrants, may be the way out of the stalemate. “Democrats, come back from vacation now and give us the votes necessary for Border Security, including the Wall. That bill passed the Senate with 68 votes but did not make it out of the House. Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the new chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said in an interview on Tuesday that Democrats would not again broach immigration before the government is reopened. “However, it’s impossible to have a mature conversation about comprehensive immigration reform in the midst of a reckless Trump shutdown sparked by his desire to build a medieval border wall.” Democrats have not forgotten that a year ago, when they talked to Mr. Trump about DACA, he promised to work with them on a “bill of love,” only to back away, prompting Mr. Schumer to declare that negotiating with Mr. Trump was like “negotiating with Jell-O.” Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, said the challenge lies with the Republican majority in the Senate. “If you want to get a bipartisan immigration bill in the coming months, you’re going to have to have Republican senators willing to work across the aisle to get things done,” Mr. Van Hollen said.

Representative Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader, has asserted that Democrats would not cave on the issue of wall funding. Erin Schaff for The New York Times WASHINGTON — House Democrats are putting forward a proposal to reopen the federal government by severing funding for the Department of Homeland Security and border security from other spending bills that enjoy bipartisan support — a gambit aimed at forcing President Trump to negotiate or to shoulder the blame for a protracted shutdown. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, who is expected to be sworn in as speaker on Thursday, challenged Republicans in a joint statement on Monday. “If Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans refuse to support the first bill, then they are complicit with President Trump in continuing the Trump shutdown and in holding the health and safety of the American people and workers’ paychecks hostage over the wall,” the statement said, adding that rejecting the bill would be “the height of irresponsibility and political cynicism.” Mr. Trump continued to dig in on New Year’s Eve, venting his frustrations in tweets and in a Fox News interview as the shutdown stretched into its 10th day and as furloughed federal workers were about to miss their paychecks on Wednesday. “He’s not going to get a wall,” Ms. Pelosi said in a recent interview. The Democrats’ two-pronged plan will also complicate life for Mr. McConnell, who has said he will not bring up any measure that does not have the president’s support. Once the bills pass the House, as expected, Mr. McConnell will have to decide whether to put one, both or neither on the Senate floor for votes. The Senate is not going to send something to the president that he won’t sign.” By passing only a short-term funding extension for the Homeland Security Department, Democrats would effectively prolong the divisive debate over the wall — and potentially open a path for a broader immigration overhaul. It also includes the stopgap measure for the Homeland Security Department. In several instances, the bills rebuff funding cuts proposed by the administration and instead pour more funds into programs Mr. Trump either suggested reducing or eliminating.