SubscribeHomeland Security Secretary Chertoff warns of border violence surge
January 22, 2008
“Violence along the border with Mexico will likely increase this year as the administration bolsters Border Patrol 
staff and adds more fencing and technology to catch illegal immigrants, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday.
Chertoff’s comments came after the death Saturday of Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar in California. Aguilar, a 32-year-old father of two, was hit by a Hummer driven by suspected drug smugglers as he tried to place spike strips in front of the escaping vehicle.” (LA Times)
Homeland Security Prepares for Its First Transition
January 21, 2008
“The handoff to the next administration is a year off, but Paul. A. Schneider, the acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security, is making plans and keeping track of key lieutenants with a color-coded chart.
The chart shows critical jobs at 25 agencies and offices in the department. Schneider’s goal is to make sure that either the No. 1 or No. 2 in each post is a career civil service employee. When Bush administration political appointees go out the door next January, the career employees will provide for continuity of operations on the borders, at airports and in the headquarters.” (Washington Post)
Chertoff: Border rules to bring lines at first
January 17, 2008
“Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Thursday that new border crossing rules to take effect this month will mean longer lines for those entering the United States, but he said it was necessary to prevent another Sept. 11-style attack.
Critics of the effort need to “grow up,” he told the Associated Press in an interview.” (AP)
U.S. to Deploy 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan
January 15, 2008
“About 3,200 U.S. Marines will be sent to Afghanistan this spring on a one-time deployment to help NATO forces there 
expand on successes gained against the Taliban over the past year, according to a Defense Department news release issued today.
President Bush has approved the deployment of Marines that was recommended by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, the release said.” (U.S. Department of Defense)
Gates recommends additional troops for Afghanistan
January 14, 2008
“U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has recommended additional troops
be sent to Afghanistan to augment NATO forces, but no final decision has been made on the deployment, defense officials said on Monday.
Gates last week was considering the option of sending some 3,000 Marines to Afghanistan to thwart an expected spring offensive by the Taliban.” (Reuters)
Bush says Iran threat to world security
January 13, 2008
“President George W. Bush said on Sunday that Iran was threatening security around the world by backing “extremists” and urged its Gulf Arab allies to “confront this danger before it is too late.”
Speaking in Abu Dhabi, the third stop of his tour of Arab allies, Bush said that Shi’ite Muslim Iran was the world’s number one sponsor of terrorism and accused it of undermining peace by supporting the Hezbollah guerrilla group in Lebanon, Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Shi’ite militants in Iraq.” (Reuters)
White House yet to fill homeland security vacancy
January 3, 2008
Today is the last day for the president’s top homeland security advisor, and the White House has not announced any replacement, raising questions about the future of the position. There is speculation that the office headed by Frances F. Townsend, the Homeland Security Council, might be brought under the National Security Council, the White House office created in 1947. Mrs. Townsend is receiving a sendoff from her White House colleagues today as she departs after four years presiding over the HSC, which was created following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The rumored reorganization would expand the NSC’s role somewhat to include disaster preparedness and counterterrorism. But it would also move some domestic issues, such as infrastructure protection, back to where they originally were. (Washington Times)
Domestic security advisor is latest Bush aide to resign
November 22, 2007
Frances Fragos Townsend, President Bush’s domestic security advisor, announced Monday that she was resigning — the latest in a series of senior officials to leave the administration as the president juggles a still-full agenda.
Townsend, who began working for the government as an assistant U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y., rose over two decades and the administrations of four presidents to become a fixture in the Oval Office and on Sunday talk shows — delivering confidential reports to the president and security warnings to the public as the domestic security threat evolved. (LA Times)
New case of bird flu found in UK
November 14, 2007
An outbreak of bird flu has been detected on a poultry farm in eastern England, British officials said Monday. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said tests had revealed avian influenza in turkeys on the premises near Diss on the border of Norfolk and Suffolk.
The agency said all birds on the infected premises will be culled, including approximately 5,000 turkey, 500 geese and over 1,000 ducks.
Initial tests revealed the H5 strain of the virus, the statement said. However, the agency said full confirmation results which would show whether this outbreak involved the far more contagious H5N1 strain were still being awaited. (CNN)
GAO exposes lax border, port security
November 8, 2007
Government inspectors guarding the nation’s ports of entry are understaffed, fatigued from excessive overtime, poorly trained and frequently fail to question visitors entering the country, according to an audit of U.S. Customs and Border Protection operations.
The Government Accountability Office, in an audit released this week, said that although CBP inspectors have had some success in identifying individuals not authorized to enter the U.S., they allowed ‘’several thousand” criminals and inadmissible immigrants to enter in fiscal year 2006. (Houston Chronicle)