DHS News
The Daily Signal covers Department of Homeland Security (DHS) news with reporting, analysis, and commentary on immigration, security, and policy decisions.
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opinion
This Plan for Streamlining Oversight Would Enhance Homeland Security
Key government officials are ready to reform congressional oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, something that is long overdue. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, has suggested in recent days that he would like to streamline that oversight. While it may sound strange, the homeland security committees in the… -
opinion
Exposing Waste and Mismanagement at the Department of Homeland Security
Now more than 10 years old, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) no longer can blame its continued program failures, employee misconduct, and lingering management challenges on “growing pains.” The Department of Homeland Security no longer can blame its continued program failures, employee misconduct and lingering management challenges on “growing pains.” Since its inception, DHS has… -
opinion
Homeland Security Starts Overseas
The American people are concerned. Worries surround the Visa Waiver Program, the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe, and the ever increasing number of domestic terror plots. A recent Gallup poll lists terrorism as the number-one concern of Americans. While most Americans want to see more homeland security protections, it is critical they understand that… -
opinion
The Passing of Homeland Security Visionary Mike Wermuth
This week, the homeland security community lost of one of its original architects. Michael Wermuth, whose contributions to the field began before 9/11 and continued for the past fifteen years, passed on Nov. 1 at age 69. When Mike joined the RAND Corporation in 1999, his first task was to serve as executive director of… -
opinion
House Homeland Security Committee Task Force Releases Report on ISIS Foreign Fighters
Following the completion of a six-month investigation, the House Homeland Security Committee’s Task Force on Combatting Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel released a final report on Tuesday, September 29. The bipartisan Task Force was formed in March with the primary purpose of reviewing both classified and unclassified information regarding the increased number of foreign fighters… -
opinion
DHS Should Proceed With Caution on Detention Center “Reforms”
Nearly a year after the U.S. experienced a surge of illegal immigration from Central America, public officials are still grappling with the fallout. Under significant political pressure, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson announced last week that his agency would be making “important reforms” to its detention policy. Specifically, the Secretary declared that… -
opinion
Homeland Security Official Used His Office to Give Visas to High-Ranking Politicians
Alejandro Mayorkas, a deputy secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, gave favorable treatment to high-ranking political officials in helping them secure special EB-5 visas, according to the department’s inspector general. According to the inspector general, Mayorkas “exerted improper influence in the normal processing and adjudication of EB-5 immigration program benefits.” The inspector general found… -
opinion
Labrador on Homeland Security Funding: ‘We Lost Because’ Democrats, White House ‘Outsmarted Ineffective GOP Leadership’
On Tuesday, 75 Republicans pressured by our leadership and a weak-kneed Senate joined 182 Democrats in abandoning a provision blocking President Obama’s executive actions on immigration in the Fiscal 2015 Department of Homeland Security spending bill. Without a doubt, Congress ceded its constitutional authority when it gave up the fight to ensure the president faithfully executes the… -
news
‘A Strategy Doomed to Failure’: Conservatives Fault GOP Leadership After Homeland Security Funding Fight
Days after President Obama delivered his Nov. 20 speech outlining executive actions on immigration, conservatives pressed Republican leaders to wage a fight while the issue was fresh on the minds of voters. “From the onset, we really believed it was a poor strategy,” says @RepMattSalmon Republicans had just made historic electoral gains in the House… -
news
Homeland Security Funding Expires Friday. Is Congress Any Closer to a Solution?
As the Feb. 27 deadline for funding the Department of Homeland Security looms, Congress appears no closer to a resolution to the ongoing funding dispute. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told George Stephanopoulos today on ABC’s “This Week” that it’s “imperative that we get it resolved.” “Because if we don’t, by Friday at midnight, the… -
opinion
Cartoon: The Fight Over Department of Homeland Security Funding
From Daily Signal senior contributor Genevieve Wood's column earlier this week: Are Senate Republicans caving? House Republicans successfully passed a bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security, but ensures President Obama’s amnesty, engineered in an executive action in November, won’t be funded. Senate Republicans have tried three times to bring the bill up for… -
news
Conservatives ‘Aren’t Scared’ to Hold Their Ground on Homeland Security Bill
A group of conservative members of Congress are urging Senate Republicans to stand their ground in the high-stakes standoff with Democrats over funding the Department of Homeland Security and rolling back President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. “I would strongly encourage … Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hold the line on this,” said Rep. Mark… -
opinion
Why Are Democrats Blocking Homeland Security Funding Bill?
We have heard this story before: A funding deadline is approaching and Congress must act quickly to pass a bill to address the issue. In a twist, the chamber continuously labeled by the left as filled with “obstructionists,” passes a bill that simply funds the program in question. All should be in agreement that this… -
news
County Sheriffs Push Back Against Homeland Security’s ‘Not-So Veiled Threat’
Hundreds of miles from the nation’s capital, local sheriffs are feeling reverberations from Congress’ fight over Department of Homeland Security funding. This week, Secretary Jeh Johnson delivered what one sheriff views as a “not-so veiled threat” on what could happen if an agreement isn’t reached. Johnson’s statement, released Tuesday, explains why Congress needs to pass… -
opinion
Congressional Oversight of the DHS: Time for a Change
What happens when a federal agency must answer to over 100 different congressional committees and subcommittees? Duplication, contradiction, inefficiency—and more duplication. That has been the fate of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since its creation in 2002 following 9/11. Congress created the DHS from 22 different agencies or parts of agencies that each had… -
opinion
What’s Really Happening: Democrats Are Blocking Homeland Security Funding
The headline in one Washington newspaper read: “Senate Dems block legislation reversing immigration actions.” That’s one way to see it. A more accurate headline would have been: “Senate Democrats block debate over legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security.” The latter is exactly what all 44 Senate Democrats (and two Independents) did Tuesday and again… -
news
‘Clock Is Ticking’: Homeland Security Chief Warns Congress to Fund His Agency
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson urged Congress today to stop using his agency’s budget as “political football,” warning that without more funding soon, it would make the job of securing the border more difficult. "The clock to Feb. 27 is ticking," he said in a speech at the Wilson Center in Washington, referring… -
news
Watch Homeland Security Chief Struggle to Explain How ‘Amnesty’ for Illegals Is Good for Americans
Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., asked Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson a seemingly simple question yesterday in a House hearing: How will President Obama’s move to grant “de facto amnesty and work permits” to up to 5 million illegal immigrants affect the 20 million American citizens who are unemployed or underemployed? Johnson, author and champion of… -
opinion
As DHS Morale Continues to Fall, Congress Should Fix the Way It Handles Oversight
Employee morale at the Department of Homeland Security has sunk to new lows, despite new leadership under Secretary Jeh Johnson and other senior DHS officials. The 2014 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey found that only 21 percent of employees in the DHS Science and Technology Directorate had confidence in their leadership’s ability to “generate high levels… -
news
Former Homeland Security Chief: US Can’t Take ‘Chainsaw’ to Visa Policy Because of Terrorists
A program that allows citizens from allied European countries to visit the U.S. without a visa has drawn new concerns from lawmakers who worry that radicalized Western Muslims will easily travel here to commit acts of terror. But Michael Chertoff, the former secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security who helped expand the program,…