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To the long list of things the Bush administration is willing to trash in its rush to appease immigration hard-liners, you can now add dozens of important environmental laws and hundreds of thousands of acres of fragile habitat on the southern border. On Tuesday, Michael Chertoff, the secretary of homeland security, waived the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act and other environmental protections to allow the government to finish building 700 or so miles of border fence by year’s end without undertaking legally mandated reviews of the consequences for threatened wildlife and their habitats. Will this stop or slow...

Secretary Chertoff is riding into the sunset—dragging the fence behind him. As mentioned in yesterday’s immigration blog by Steve Elliott the Sun Sets on the Border Fence On 12/31/08. This sunset provision of the Omnibus bill H.R. 2764 declares that the Secretary of Homeland Security loses all authority to build the fence—even if he wants to. However, even with the authority to build the fence, the Secretary has been lazy in using it. In a February 22, press release he claims that the Department of Homeland Security has built 302.4 miles of combination pedestrian and vehicle fencing and well on...

SAN FRANCISCO - The Homeland Security Department is appealing a judge's ruling against its proposal to force employers to fire workers whose names don't match their Social Security numbers, and promises to try to make the policy a law. A federal judge in San Francisco blocked the "no-match rule" in October, saying it would likely impose hardships on businesses and their workers. Employers would incur new costs to comply with the regulation that the government hasn't evaluated, and innocent workers unable to correct mistakes in their records in time would lose their jobs, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer wrote. In...

WASHINGTON - Homeland security officials on Friday hinted at a possible face-saving deal to end their standoff with a handful of states over new driver's license rules — a dispute that, left unresolved, could cause big air travel headaches. For weeks, the Homeland Security Department has been headed toward a showdown with some states over a law called Real ID, which would require new security measures for state-issued driver's licenses. Yet a late Good Friday letter from a top DHS official suggested Washington may be backing away from a messy fight. South Carolina, Maine and Montana are the only states...

The Department of Homeland Security, continuing to enforce what it calls a "strict policy of arresting, prosecuting and jailing" illegal immigrants, deported a record number of those caught on the nation's borders last year — more than 280,000 in fiscal year 2007 compared to 186,000 a year earlier. It was the largest number of illegals ever removed from the country in a single year. The increase is attributable to what veteran law enforcement authorities said is a revised apprehension process, adding that the department no longer is targeting only criminal aliens for removal, but seeks eventually to apprehend, charge and...

The US government is demanding the right to ban British air passengers from flying over America en route to other countries – even when the flights will not land in the United States. Under anti-terrorism measures due to come into force within two years, the US authorities insist they need to do background checks on all UK air passengers travelling to Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Direct flights to popular holiday destinations such as the Bahamas, Barbados, Toronto and Mexico City would all be covered by stringent US security checks examining people's passport details, travel plans and even...

WASHINGTON — Bristling at attacks from Texans opposed to building a fence along the Texas-Mexico border, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday that he will not be intimidated into abandoning the federal government's plans by harsh words or lawsuits. "I'm willing to have a fair and constructive discussion, but I'm not willing to have an endless discussion," Chertoff told reporters at a breakfast meeting. "Insulting me or attacking me does not cause me to go, 'ooh, I've been insulted and attacked, I'm going to stop doing what I'm doing.' " The Homeland Security Department has been on the...

It is often said in Washington circles that when it comes to reforming U.S. immigration or helping the world in fighting AIDS, President George W. Bush far surpasses the capabilities of many of his predecessors. Again on January 28, 2008, President George W. Bush delivered an important message on strengthening U.S. immigration in his State of the Union Address. While millions of Americans watched, he stated, "America needs to secure our borders -- and with your help, my administration is taking steps to do so. We're increasing worksite enforcement, deploying fences and advanced technologies to stop illegal crossings. We've...

WASHINGTON - Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff's eyes narrow and his voice develops a stern, urgent tone as he reveals America's biggest vulnerability to terrorism. "The great weapon they have is persistence and patience, and the one weakness that we have is the tendency to lose patience and become complacent," Chertoff tells WTOP. "It strikes me as hard to accept that anybody would believe the threat is over. There is nothing these terrorists are doing or saying that could lead a reasonable person to believe that they have somehow lost interest. Our biggest challenge is making sure we do not...

EDINBURG— The federal government and local officials in one border county announced Friday they had reached a compromise that would eliminate the need for the much-maligned border fencing there. Private land in Hidalgo County border towns such as Granjeno, where dozens of homes could have been lost behind the fence in a no-man's land between Mexico and the United States, would no longer be threatened by a land grab, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said. But the 22 miles of combined levee and border wall under the compromise would be a small portion of the 370 miles of border barriers...

WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday he is heading to Texas to tie up plans for a flood wall along the Rio Grande that could double as part of a border fence. Chertoff told The Associated Press he would be in McAllen on Friday, and that he's very close to reaching an agreement with county officials to build the wall and hoped to "tie the knot" on the plans. His department has been discussing with Hidalgo County a proposal to build a wall to beef up flood levees and comply with a 2006 law requiring 700 miles...

Sunday, 20 January 2008 Statement by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on the Killing of a Border Patrol Agent in the Line of Duty Earlier today the Border Patrol lost a brave agent assigned to the Yuma Sector in a heinous act of violence. The agent was struck and killed while attempting to stop two vehicles believed to have illegally entered the country and were absconding back into Mexico. Our thoughts and prayers are with the agent's family, and with the entire Border Patrol community. I am outraged by this tragic loss. I have spoken to the Mexican ambassador who...

WASHINGTON - New border crossing rules to take effect at the end of the month will initially mean longer lines for those entering the country, including returning Americans, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Thursday. But he said the rules are necessary to prevent another Sept. 11-style attack. Critics of the effort need to "grow up," Chertoff said in an Associated Press interview. Starting Jan. 31, a driver's license and oral declaration of citizenship will no longer be enough to enter the United States for Americans and Canadians age 19 and older. People will have to present proof of citizenship,...

WASHINGTON — Americans born after Dec. 1, 1964, will have to get more secure driver's licenses in the next six years under ambitious post-9/11 security rules to be unveiled Friday by federal officials. The Homeland Security Department has spent years crafting the final regulations for the REAL ID Act, a law designed to make it harder for terrorists, illegal immigrants and con artists to get government-issued identification. The effort once envisioned to take effect in 2008 has been pushed back in the hopes of winning over skeptical state officials.

The Homeland Security Department today released the 284-page final rule for implementing the Real ID Act that would standardize the handling of personal information for driver’s licenses. The release of the long-awaited final implementation regulations — the law was passed in 2005 — is expected to spur contracting activity on the program after months of uncertainty as federal officials were crafting the rule. (snip) The final rule also requires a 2-Dimensional Bar Code Machine Readable Zone, which DHS said is already used by 46 jurisdictions. Under the Real ID Act of 2005, states must meet new rules for collecting, verifying,...

"There comes a point in time where all the discussion and analysis has to stop. We are now six years away from 9/11. Simply kicking this problem further down the road is a time-tested Washington way of smothering a proposal with process," said Chertoff. "The time has come to bite the bullet." Or, as Jack Bauer might say (while in the midst of breaking half a dozen laws in the name of stopping an impending attack), "We're running out of time!" Chertoff summarized the major features of the final rules as follows: People must provide documentation that proves who they...

McALLEN — The Texas Border Coalition — the anti-border fence group made up of elected officials along the Texas-Mexico border — is demanding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security meet with local leaders in light of the appropriations bill Congress passed Wednesday. “The consultation we’ve been having with them up until now, it’s just been smoke and mirrors,” said coalition Chairman Chad Foster, the mayor of Eagle Pass. “Now, we’re getting the Texas congressional delegation involved to make sure DHS is sincere when they sit down.” The border coalition has been trying to get DHS to listen to alternatives to...

WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is giving Texas landowners opposed to a border fence one last chance to allow access to their land before he takes court action against them, a Texas senator said Thursday. Sen. John Cornyn said letters from the Department of Homeland Security are expected to go out Friday. But for those who refuse access, the department would likely seek a court order to enter the property, he said. "He assured me that negotiations would continue and his hope is the vast majority of these cases could be resolved without litigation, maybe in handful of...

Border wars Saturday, November 24, 2007 It is time to wrap the flag around U.S. Border Patrol Agents -- America's last line of defense. Vicious Mexican-based gangs are increasing their attacks on outmanned and outgunned law-enforcement authorities along the border. And The Washington Times reports the enemy arsenal includes assault rifles, high-tech radios, computers, cell phones, Global Positioning Systems and low-tech Molotov cocktails.

Sanctuary cities – whether their law enforcement personnel deliberately obstruct federal immigration enforcement or simply ignore such violations when they encounter them – soon could be facing the wrath of the federal government in court, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff recently told a congressional committee he didn't intend to "tolerate interference" by sanctuary cities that would block companies from participating in such programs as "E-Verify," which allows workers' IDs to be checked before hiring. "I intend to take as vigorous legal actions as the law allows to prevent that from happening, prevent that kind...