Department of Homeland Security

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Texas Battles Ike Blackouts, Floods, Looting

FEMA struggles to keep Houston, Galveston supplied

(Newser) - Federal officials were working yesterday to move emergency supplies and fresh water to distribution centers in beleaguered Houston, where residents were struggling to cope with continued flooding, blackouts and looting. Millions are still without power and a curfew is in force, reports the Houston Chronicle. Officials in Galveston, meanwhile, appealed...

Boy, 8, Makes 'Terror Watch List'
 Boy, 8, Makes 'Terror Watch List'
Aug 20, 2008 5:05 AM CDT

Boy, 8, Makes 'Terror Watch List'

Third grader joins many others on flaw-filled 'no-fly' list

(Newser) - James Robinson, 8, shares more than a name with a pilot and a former assistant attorney general, CNN reports. All three have found themselves on the government's terrorist watch list and must verify they're not James Robinson, suspected terrorist, before they can fly. Little James was first held up at...

Feds Compile Database on Border-Crossing US Citizens

Agents will track crossings and store info for 15 years

(Newser) - The federal government has begun tracking the border crossings of US citizens and building a huge database with the information, the Washington Post reports. The data collection, made possible by machine-readable documents, has alarmed privacy groups. The government plans to keep the information for 15 years and share it with...

US Seeks to Weaken Hurricanes
 US Seeks to Weaken Hurricanes
Aug 2, 2008 1:42 PM CDT

US Seeks to Weaken Hurricanes

Scientists propose techniques to modify the weather

(Newser) - The Department of Homeland Security is hoping that weather-altering techniques can lessen the devastation caused by hurricanes, the Daily Telegraph reports. A hurricane reduction program likely to begin in October will devote $64 million to efforts such as spreading tiny salt particles in the storms to drain them of much...

Border Agents Have Right to Seize Any Traveler's Laptop

Homeland Security 'update' outlines sweeping powers

(Newser) - US border agents can seize laptop computers or other electronc devices from any traveler entering the country and keep them indefinitely, even without suspicion of wrongdoing, the Washington Post reports. A policy update released by Homeland Security, dated July 16, says agents can keep any information-storing device they please and...

Could Stun Bracelets Replace Boarding Passes?

Homeland Security researches extreme measures

(Newser) - A bracelet that would track airline passengers and shock them if they get out of hand might be under consideration by the Department of Homeland Security, the Washington Times reports. The Electronic ID Bracelet could someday replace boarding passes. We "are interested in … the immobilizing security bracelet, and...

Supreme Court Will Hear Navy Sonar Appeal

Justices also reject environmentalists' challenge to US-Mexico border fence

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today agreed to hear the US Navy's objection to a court order that ships may not use sonar within 12 miles of the California coast because high-frequency signals are harming whales and other marine life, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Bush administration argues that the judge...

Big Brother Sees Washington
 Big Brother Sees Washington 
Jun 16, 2008 1:55 PM CDT

Big Brother Sees Washington

City develops extensive CCTV surveillance network

(Newser) - If you plan to go outdoors in Washington, DC, comb your hair first, because someone's probably going to see you. The capital is ramping up a video surveillance system that puts most others in the entire world to shame, the LA Times reports. Unsurprisingly, the 5,625-camera network has captured...

US Visitors Face Tough New Rules

Tourists must register online information 3 days before trip

(Newser) - Visitors to the US who don't need visas will have to register personal information online before traveling this summer, reports ABC News. The information will be used for background checks and scrutiny of travel plans. European officials have threatened to introduce similar rules in retaliation. The new regulations would apply...

Rogue al-Qaeda Backers Call for Nuke Attack in Online Video

But no evidence of specific plot, says FBI

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda supporters will use an Internet video to call for the use of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons in a new attack on civilians in the West, reports ABC News. FBI officials have alerted US law enforcement of the tape, said a spokesman, but emphasized that there is no evidence...

Docs Get List of Who to Let Die in Pandemic

Don't waste resources on the elderly, handicapped: report

(Newser) - If the US were to suffer a devastating pandemic, and doctors didn’t have resources to save everyone, who should die? A number of universities, government agencies, and other groups mulled that grim scenario recently, sending doctors a brutally ruthless list of who to let die. The report ensures “...

Immigration Chief Covered Up Racist Pics, Dems Say

Myers report highlights worries about diversity

(Newser) - The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement tried to hide pictures of her giving an award to an employee in a racially insensitive Halloween costume, House Democrats say. Julie Myers was photographed smiling and standing next to an employee in prison garb and wearing blackface, whom she awarded the night's...

Workers Charge Laptops to Lingerie on Fed Credit Cards

Audit: Nearly half of purchases broke rules

(Newser) - Millions of dollars government employees charged to federal credit cards went for less-than-appropriate perks ranging from digital cameras to dating services, sexy lingerie, laptops, and a $13,000 postal party, reports the Washington Post. An investigation by the Government Accountability Office found that 48% of major purchases on federal credit...

The Most Vulnerable Western City: Boise. Really?

City 'surprised' by terror response ranking

(Newser) - Boise, Idaho, may be better known for hosting the World Potato Congress than topping terrorist target lists, but it was the only city west of the Mississippi to make the top 10 in a Homeland Security-funded study ranking cities by vulnerability to terror attacks, the Washington Post reports. "To...

Border Fence Will Skirt Environmental Laws

Dozens dumped to speed building

(Newser) - Homeland Security is ditching environmental laws in a push to finish 670 miles of border fence along Mexico by the end of this year, reports the Los Angeles Times. Congress has approved a waiver for more than 30 environmental and cultural laws to accelerate building. Critics say the plans are...

States Fume on Eve of REAL ID Deadline

Montana leads fight against unfunded federal law

(Newser) - Washington is locked in a standoff with states over REAL ID, an anti-terror law that aims to make driver's licenses harder to dupe or obtain. But no states are near complying and Montana, New Hampshire, and Maine have all balked at the unfunded plan. What's more, REAL ID is just...

Visitor Fingerprinting Expanded
 Visitor Fingerprinting Expanded 
Mar 27, 2008 8:28 PM CDT

Visitor Fingerprinting Expanded

Homeland Security hopes scans of all 10 digits will improve tracking, monitoring

(Newser) - Visitors to the US entering through New York's John F. Kennedy airport will have all 10 fingers scanned under a new program of the Department of Homeland Security, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Officials hope the program, called US-VISIT, will allow customs—which currently collects just two prints from non-citizen...

Renegade Geek to Head Cyber Security

DHS taps outsider as Silicon Valley ambassador

(Newser) - Outre tech entrepreneur Rod Beckström will top the White House’s new secretive cyber security initiative, the Wall Street Journal reports, to the surprise of many Washington insiders. Beckström is a Silicon Valley transplant without security experience, but he has developed a cult following in the security and...

Montana Gov Rips Real ID Law
Montana Gov Rips Real ID Law
Mar 9, 2008 8:19 AM CDT

Montana Gov Rips Real ID Law

Calls scheme 'kooky' and 'hare-brained'

(Newser) - NPR Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and every single state legislator have refused to implement the Real ID Act, a congressional mandate to create standardized identification documents. Schweitzer tells NPR the law is "kooky" and "hare-brained," asserting that half a dozen high school students and a Kinko's are...

Feds Forge National Crime Dragnet
Feds Forge National Crime Dragnet
Mar 6, 2008 11:23 AM CST

Feds Forge National Crime Dragnet

Link data of local police agencies for instantaneous search

(Newser) - Law enforcement agencies all over the country are building a new information "dragnet" that will dramatically boost data-sharing,  the Washington Post reports. This month the Justice Department will begin hooking up local and county police forces to the new federal National Data Exchange, creating a "one-stop-shop" that...

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