Homeland Security

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Along the Border, an 'Unexpected Reprieve' for Biden

Illegal migrant crossings have plummeted 54% since December, per government figures

(Newser) - News along the southern border is offering the Biden administration "an unexpected reprieve" as the November election looms. Internal government stats show that illegal migration from Mexico into the US has fallen 54% from December to May, with US Border Patrol officials recording a daily average of 3,700...

GOP Senators Ask for Delay on Mayorkas Impeachment Articles

They're trying to build support for holding a full trial

(Newser) - Speaker Mike Johnson will delay sending the House's articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate this week as previously planned. Republican senators requested more time Tuesday to build support for holding a full trial. The sudden change of plans cast fresh doubts on the...

House Preps for Historic Cabinet Impeachment Vote
House Preps for Historic
Cabinet Impeachment Vote
the rundown

House Preps for Historic Cabinet Impeachment Vote

Republicans hope to impeach DHS secretary Mayorkas, but the margin is slim

(Newser) - With an unprecedented vote, lawmakers will decide Tuesday evening whether Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas becomes the first Cabinet member impeached by the House in nearly 150 years. The House will vote on two articles of impeachment advanced by the Republican-controlled House Homeland Security Committee. Here's what to know:...

House GOP Pushes Ahead With Mayorkas Impeachment

Panel debates sending articles to full House

(Newser) - "The actions and decisions of Secretary Mayorkas have left us with no other option but to proceed with articles of impeachment," Republican Rep. Mark Green said Tuesday at the start of a daylong hearing on sending the articles detailed Sunday to the full House. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro...

Anti-Terrorism Database Was Used Against Journalists

Federal watchdog finds unit called up records of congressional staff members, as well

(Newser) - A special Customs and Border Protection unit used sensitive government databases intended to track terrorists to investigate as many as 20 US-based journalists, including a Pulitzer Prize-winning AP reporter, according to a federal watchdog. Yahoo News, which published an extensive report on the investigation, also found that the unit, the...

Migrants Made to 'Remain in Mexico' Will Soon Arrive in US

Biden administration rolls back Trump DHS program, will start letting asylum-seekers trickle in

(Newser) - Starting next Friday, asylum-seekers languishing south of the border will start to see a respite. Under the Trump administration, Central American migrants trying to cross into the US from Mexico were made to "Remain in Mexico"—Trump's name for the Migrant Protection Protocols program , set up in...

DHS Made 'Incredibly Dumb' Move on Protest Journalists

'Intelligence reports' were shared with law enforcement agencies

(Newser) - In what former Department of Homeland Security general counsel John Sandweg calls an "incredibly dumb" move, the department compiled "intelligence reports" on journalists covering the Portland protests—and shared them with state and local law enforcement agencies. The reports, which usually deal with security threats, noted that the...

Immigration Chief Unlawfully Named, Lacks Authority: Judge

Ken Cuccinelli didn't have right to give asylum seekers less time to prepare for interviews

(Newser) - A federal judge has ruled that Ken Cuccinelli was unlawfully appointed to lead the US Citizenship and Immigration Services agency and, as a result, lacked authority to give asylum seekers less time to prepare for initial screening interviews. Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general and an immigration hardliner, was named...

Ex-DHS Chief Nielsen Reveals Why She Resigned

At 'Fortune' summit, Kirstjen Nielsen also says has no regrets on 'enforcing law' that separated families

(Newser) - "These conversations can be tough, and arguably should be tough, as I'm sure this next one will be" is how the intro for Kirstjen Nielsen went at Tuesday's Most Powerful Women Summit sponsored by Fortune magazine. And interviewer Amna Nawaz got right into it with the former...

Acting Homeland Security Chief Is Out

Kevin McAleenan is stepping down

(Newser) - Kevin McAleenan, a career civil servant who became the unlikely point man for President Trump's hard-line immigration policies, is stepping down as acting Homeland Security secretary after six months on the job. McAleenan told the AP he's leaving on his own terms—a contrast to other top administration...

Trump Officials Divert FEMA Funds to Border

Disaster relief cash pulled to pay for courtrooms

(Newser) - The Trump administration is shifting money from disaster relief to immigration enforcement—even with Tropical Storm Dorian threatening a direct hit on Puerto Rico. Officials confirmed Tuesday that $271 million in Homeland Security funding is being diverted to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pay for detention beds and temporary courtrooms,...

Trump Wants to Charge Asylum Seekers to Apply

President orders crackdown on 'rampant abuse'

(Newser) - President Trump is proposing charging asylum-seekers a fee to process their applications as he continues to try to crack down on the surge of Central American migrants trying to cross into the US. In a presidential memorandum signed Monday, Trump directed his attorney general and acting homeland security secretary to...

Pentagon, DHS Thinking of Naming New WMD

'Because of its strength, it's like nothing else that we've seen'

(Newser) - Fentanyl is already killing a staggering number of Americans—30,000 in 2017 alone, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse—and authorities say it would be "disturbingly easy" to use the synthetic opioid in a terrorist attack. Pentagon and Homeland Security officials are considering designating the drug...

Heads Keep Rolling at Homeland Security

Nielsen praises 'steady force' No. 2 Claire Grady, who is leaving Wednesday

(Newser) - Wednesday is Kirstjen Nielsen's final day as Homeland Security chief —and her second-in-command will be leaving with her. Nielsen, whose abrupt departure comes as part of a wider shakeup of immigration officials, tweeted Tuesday night that Acting Deputy Secretary Claire Grady has handed in her resignation, effective Wednesday,...

Report: Kirstjen Nielsen Was Forced to Step Down
Report: Kirstjen Nielsen
Was Forced to Step Down
THE RUNDOWN

Report: Kirstjen Nielsen Was Forced to Step Down

Sources say hardliners are demanding DHS shakeup

(Newser) - Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's abrupt resignation Sunday wasn't her idea, reports the Washington Post , which cites "two senior administration officials." The sources say Nielsen wasn't planning to resign when she went to a meeting with President Trump on Sunday, two days after...

ICE Set Up a Fake College. Then Came the Arrests

The 'University of Farmington' was used to nab recruiters of undocumented immigrants

(Newser) - A federal indictment unsealed Wednesday names eight suspects accused of "harboring aliens for profit"—and it was a phony university set up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement that nabbed them. NBC News reports on the fake "University of Farmington," which set up shop in 2015 near...

Mexico Just Made a Big Change on Migrants

People seeking asylum in US will be returned to Mexico to wait out the process

(Newser) - Mexico has agreed to a fundamental change on how it deals with migrants seeking asylum in the US. Instead of being allowed to cross into America, they will now be returned to Mexico to wait out the legal process, reports the AP . The Homeland Security Department calls Mexico's agreement...

Nielsen: This Is What Happens 'When Migrants Come Illegally'

Homeland Security chief calls the death of 7-year-old girl 'heart-wrenching'

(Newser) - The Trump administration views the death of a 7-year-old girl in the custody of US Border Patrol as "a very sad example of the dangers" migrants face during illegal border crossings. "We cannot stress how dangerous the journey is when migrants come illegally," Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen...

Report: Trump Has Had It With Homeland Security Chief

He's seeking Nielsen replacement, sources say

(Newser) - Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has fallen out of favor with President Trump and could be replaced before she makes it to the one-year mark on Dec. 6, the Washington Post reports, citing "five current and former White House officials." The sources say Trump has grown frustrated with...

Judge Orders Government to Restart DACA

He says decison to end program was unlawful

(Newser) - A federal judge ruled Tuesday against the Trump administration's decision to end a program protecting some young immigrants from deportation, calling the Department of Homeland Security's rationale against the program "arbitrary and capricious." US District Judge John D. Bates in Washington wrote that the decision to...

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