|
Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'DHS'.
Found 2 results
-
http://www.naturalnews.com/040442_immigration_reform_Department_of_Homeland_Security_Janet_Napolitano.html DHS to be granted total dictatorial power in immigration bill, all laws nullified, voters silenced Wednesday, May 22, 2013 by: J. D. Heyes (NaturalNews) There has been a lot of rhetoric on both sides of the issue regarding the current "immigration reform bill" that the Senate has taken up, but one thing you likely haven't heard about at all is the scope and breadth of power the massive 850-page-plus measure contains. Simply put, if it becomes law, it will give the Department of Homeland Security near-dictatorial powers. Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, has entered a letter into the congressional record from law enforcement personnel around the country who are warning S.744, officially titled the "Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act," would grant sweeping, discretionary powers to "political appointees" - bureaucrats - while stripping law enforcement of authority. 'Virtually unlimited discretion' The letter, from the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Council of the American Federal of Government Employees Affiliated with AFL-CIO, states: Congress can and must take decisive steps to limit the discretion of political appointees and empower ICE and CBP to perform their respective missions and enforce the laws enacted by Congress. Rather than limiting the power of those political appointees within DHS, S. 744 provides them with nearly unlimited discretion, which will serve only to further cripple the law enforcement missions of these agencies. The members warn that the bill conveys to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano "virtually unlimited discretion to waiver" prohibitions on getting legal status, such as previous deportations or criminal activity: This same section (Section 2101 of S. 744) gives the Secretary of Homeland Security virtually unlimited discretion to waive any manner of crimes that would otherwise make an individual ineligible for legal status - for such expansive reasons as family unity, humanitarian purposes, or what the Secretary believes is in the public interest. ICE agents would become 'powerless' The letter continues: At least two of these standards appear undefined by S. 744 or current law, providing political appointees with broad authority to establish their own definitions of these terms and pardon criminal acts under almost any circumstance. The bill states that individuals who have previously been deported or otherwise removed from the country are ineligible to apply for legal status. However, the Secretary is given the 'sole and unreviewable discretion' to waive that ineligibility for large classes of qualifying aliens. CNSNews.com noted that in seven instances, the measure grants "unreviewable" powers (see them here). "Congress can and must take decisive steps to limit the discretion of political appointees and empower ICE and CBP to perform their respective missions and enforce the laws enacted by Congress. Rather than limiting the power of those political appointees within DHS, S. 744 provides them with nearly unlimited discretion, which will serve only to further cripple the law enforcement missions of these agencies," the letter continues. Crafters of the letter went on to conclude that ICE agents would essentially become "powerless" to protect the general public, or be able to perform their duties as required, if the bill passes the House. "If this legislation were enacted tomorrow, ICE officers would continue to be powerless to effectively enforce our nation's laws and provide for public safety as S. 744 does nothing to end these dangerous agency- and department-level directives," the letter said. Oh, and there's a privacy concern as well UPDATE: Here's another reason to oppose the measure, according to Wired: The immigration reform measure the Senate began debating yesterday would create a national biometric database of virtually every adult in the U.S., in what privacy groups fear could be the first step to a ubiquitous national identification system. As you probably guessed, this little Fourth Amendment violation is buried in the hundreds of pages of text and innocuously named (in this instance, the requirement is called a "phone tool"). The provision called for "a massive federal database administered by the Department of Homeland Security and containing names, ages, Social Security numbers and photographs of everyone in the country with a driver's license or other state-issued photo ID," Wired reported. No agency of the U.S. government deserves or should have this kind of unchecked power. And along that line, our laws should not be several hundred pages long. The founders believed laws should be simple and straightforward, not so complex they couldn't be read and understood by regular citizens who then have to live under them. -
Are We Really This Naive? Posted 03.20.13 by Jennifer Burke, TPNN Contributor When the Department of Homeland Security was established by then President George W. Bush after September 11, 2001, we were told it was for our own good. We were told that such an agency was necessary in order to protect our nation and its citizens from acts of terrorism. In accepting this rationale, we as Americans have found ourselves being treated as if we are the ones who are a threat to this country. From the banning of liquids to the necessity to take of our shoes and put them through the scanner, the change in the way of life when flying started off subtly. These small changes allowed the government to push the envelope just a little bit to see how much we would accept. For seven years under the presidency of George W. Bush, DHS was a nuisance, but accepted as a ‘necessity’. When Janet Napolitano took over as the third Secretary for DHS on January 21, 2009, little did we know that the nuisance of DHS would turn into Big Sister with no sense. Americans have been subjected to unsettling ‘See Something, Say Something’ campaigns at Wal-Mart with Big Sister Janet Napolitano creepily coming onto a screen just like a scene out of 1984. Americans’ privacy have been violated with the radiation exposing body scanners that takes pornographic pictures as we go through security. Americans have been fondled, inappropriately touched, and humiliated with pat-downs in lieu of or in addition to the body scanners. All of this was done in the name of ‘safety’. We were made to accept living in a police state as DHS conducted their security theatrics. Tea Party groups and other groups on the right have been labeled as right wing extremists. Terrorists have been depicted in videos as white Americans. We have been encouraged to defend ourselves against a shooter with a pair of scissors, then months later learn that DHS is arming itself with 1.6 billion rounds of ammo, more ammo than any department needs simultaneous with Obama’s gun grab. After years of these egregious violations of freedom and questionable acts, we learned today that Big Sis has such little sense that she has approved the ‘trusted traveler’ program for low risk flyers to be extended to people from Saudi Arabia. THIS is political correctness run amok. Have they forgotten that 15 of the 19 terrorists responsible for the murders of thousands of Americans on September 11, 2001 were from Saudi Arabia? Have they forgotten that these men unassumingly settled into American life, attending flight school just so that they could learn how to massacre Americans with a plane? Are they so naïve as to think that the low risk traveler program can be extended to ANY country in the Middle East other than Israel, our greatest ally? The stupid and dangerous naivety by our government never ceases to amaze me. Their belief that if we simply extend our hand and make nice, then countries that have hated us will now love us is foolish. It reminds me of the terrorist killer Major Nidal Malik Hasan who rose through the ranks of the military despite many red flags who then entered the Solider Readiness Processing Center, the place where soldiers soon leaving for or returning from their tour go for medical processing, and opened fire. These soldiers, remember, were unarmed at the time. Political correctness allowed Hasan to remain in the military because those around him were afraid that reprimanding him would be construed as bigoted since Hasan was Muslim. (Now, I have surmised that conclusion myself, but to me it is obvious.) After nearly a decade of existence with DHS’s antics ramped up under President Obama all in the name of ‘security over freedom’, we find out the body scanners that are supposed to have no privacy concerns actually do, so they are being removed. We find out that these same scanners have a greater radiation output that we were told. We learn that the groups being looked at the most as a terroristic, extremist threats are ‘right-wing’ groups who simply believe in and support the Constitution. And now, we find out that citizens of a country that produced 15 of the 19 killers on 9/11 will be given a way to easily board planes. The Department of Homeland Security which has as its first core mission to ‘prevent terrorism and enhance security’ obviously has allowed political correctness to jeopardize the one thing that should be their top priority — to protect America and her citizens.
