This is a perfect example of how the government wastes billions of dollars

In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, the government decided to build a brand new headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security in southeastern Washington, D.C. The idea was that a centralized physical location would help close up the gaps between national security and intelligence agencies that allowed the attack to occur. The project was supposed to cost $3 billion and be completed by this year.

But so far virtually nothing has been built, according to The Washington Post; indeed, there is talk that the project will be canceled altogether. And yet the bill has already ballooned to $4.5 billion. It is a classic case of Washington dysfunction:

Bedeviled by partisan brawling, it has been starved of funds by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress and received only lackluster support from the Obama administration, according to budget documents and interviews with current and former federal officials.

The crippling shortfall in funding has created a vicious cycle, causing delays that in turn inflated the projected price tag as construction costs escalated over time and DHS agencies — still scattered in more than 50 locations across the Washington area — have been signing expensive temporary leases. [The Washington Post]

Via: Washington Post

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OBAMA RELYING MORE ON IMMIGRATION RULE CHANGES

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration will allow some relatives of U.S. service members living in the country illegally to stay, according to a policy directive issued Friday.

The nine-page memorandum is the latest in a series of immigration policy changes made by President Barack Obama since he took office. The department has long had the power to stop deportations for relatives of military members and veterans, but Friday's memo lays out how and when it can be used.

The latest order gives U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials the power to "parole in place" immigrant spouses, children and parents of current U.S. service members, reservists and veterans. The change means that those immigrants can apply to legally live in the United States.

Margaret D. Stock, an Alaska-based immigration attorney and retired Army reserve lieutenant colonel, said the latest directive would likely impact thousands of military families. "It is very significant," Stock said. "It will ease the strain on so many families and military members."

Peter Boogaard, a Homeland Security Department spokesman, said the policy change would help "reduce the uncertainty our active duty and retired military personnel face because of the immigration status of their family members."

Via: AP

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University of California president earmarks $5M to help students living in US illegally

SAN FRANCISCO — University of California President Janet Napolitano said Wednesday she is devoting $5 million to provide special counseling and financial aid for students living in the U.S. illegally, a move aimed at disarming critics who worried she would be hostile to the small but vocal student population.

The former Homeland Security Secretary announced the initiative in her first public address since she became head of the 10-campus university system a month ago — an evening appearance in San Francisco organized by the Commonwealth Club. She also pledged $10 million for recruiting and training graduate students and research fellows.

“Let me be clear. UC welcomes all students who qualify academically, whether they are documented or undocumented,” she said in prepared remarks released by her office before the speech. “Consider this a down payment — one more piece of evidence of our commitment to all Californians.”

Napolitano said the money would be used “to support these students with resources like trained advisers, student service centers and financial aid,” but did not immediately offer details about its source or possible conditions on its use.

University officials estimate that out of a total student population of 239,000, the system enrolls about 900 students who were brought into the country illegally as children, a group of immigrants known as “Dreamers” because of the stalled U.S. Dream Act that would give certain youth a path to permanent residency.

As part of a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, California this year started allowing students who are not legal U.S. residents and are therefore ineligible for most types of federal financial aid to apply for state grants and scholarships.

Via: Washington Post

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WARNING: Our government is a threat to public safety by Michelle Malkin

Forget gun control. America needs government control. Have you noticed the common thread among several mass killings and homeland security incidents lately?

Time and again, it’s the control freaks in Washington who have fallen down on their jobs, allowing crazies, creeps and criminals to roam free and wreak havoc while ignoring rampant red flags. Let’s review:

Washington Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis: Despite gun-grabbing Democrats’ best efforts to blame a nonexistent “AR-15″ for this week’s horrific Navy Yard massacre, the truth is seeping out about shooter Aaron Alexis. The 34-year-old Navy veteran had been treated since August by the Veterans Administration for a host of mental problems that plagued him for up to a decade.

Officials say Alexis was paranoid, had a sleep disorder, suffered from schizophrenia and was “hearing voices.” He told Newport, R.I., police after an altercation just last month that he believed a “microwave machine” was sending vibrations through a wall into his body. Friends say he was a heavy drinker and violent video game addict. A ticking time bomb, he had racked up a string of misconduct incidents during his military stint ranging from absenteeism to insubordination to disorderly conduct. He was arrested in Seattle in 2004 and in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2010 for separate anger-fueled shootings that terrorized neighbors and innocent bystanders.

Yet somehow Alexis passed several military background checks, gained high-level security clearance and had access to multiple military installations. The civilian contractor who employed Alexis blasted the feds on Tuesday for failing to fully disclose his history. “Anything that suggests criminal problems or mental health issues, that would be a flag,” Thomas Hoshko of The Experts told The Washington Post. “We would not have hired him.” And 12 innocent people might still be alive today.

Via: Michelle Malkin

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Foxes in the henhouse: Napolitano gurus probed for meddling in Secret Service sex scandal

A Senate panel is investigating whether former Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano’s close allies pushed the department’s inspector general to tread lightly in its investigation of the prostitution scandal involving the U.S. Secret Service.

Government sources familiar with the probe say Senate investigators are looking into John Sandweg, the secretary’s former general counsel whom she recently promoted to acting chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and her former chief of staff, Noah Kroloff, who, shortly after the 2012 prostitution scandal subsided, formed a private consulting firm with Mark Sullivan, who retired in March as head of the Secret Service.

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The sources say the Senate panel received information that suggests Mr. Sandweg pressured Homeland Security Inspector General Charles Edwards to slow-walk his final report until after the November presidential election.

The investigation was spurred by whistleblower accusations that Mr. Edwards was “susceptible to political pressure” in issuing a favorable investigative report on the Secret Service, according to a June 27 letter to him from the panel, and that his investigators “changed and withheld” information that would have been damaging to the service.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, Missouri Democrat and chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security subcommittee on contracting oversight, and Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the panel’s ranking Republican, initiated the probe in May after receiving whistleblower complaints.

Via: Washington Times

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U.S. Marine Colonel Warns: “Homeland Security is Pre-Staging Gear and Equipment”

We live in a seemingly free country, so we’re told.

But that may be because the majority of us have never spent time in a war zone or highly secured police state-like environment.

Few of us understand what it looks like when military and state intelligence assets take over.

Those who do understand, and have themselves implemented such plans in other countries, see exactly what’s going on and they are sounding the alarm (often falling on deaf ears).

In Concord, New Hampshire the local police chief has filed a requisition with the Department of Homeland Security to beef up his police force with a Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck to quell any disturbances initiated by activists or other potential domestic terrorists.

In response, the residents held a city council meeting, prompting a retired Marine Colonel to weigh in.

He was formerly a coordinator tasked with manning, training and equipping the Iraqi Army throughout the northern provinces, and he candidly shares his insights and compares the nationwide lock-down in Iraq to what’s happening right here at home.

This is coming from someone who knows – someone who has seen exactly how a population is put under control by means of surveillance and force – and he suggests that what they did in Iraq is child’s play compared to what’s happening in the Land of the Free today..

Via: Survival Life

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[MUST READ] This Homeland Security Employee Is Preparing for a Coming Race War

A Department of Homeland Security employee who works on, among other things, the procurement of guns and ammunition for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, spends his nights and weekends preparing for a coming race war and advocating for anti-gay causes, according to a new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Meet Ayo Kimathi, a.k.a. “the Irritated Genie," who told his bosses at the DHS that his anti-white, anti-gay site, "War is on the Horizon," was just an entertainment site that sells concert and lecture videos. 

You see, DHS employees, even those with office jobs like Kimathi's, have to get outside activities approved by their supervisors, according to the SPLC. Kimathi's former supervisor told the watchdog group, which tracks hate speech and groups in the U.S., that despite her former employee's banal description of his extracurricular activities, the actual content of the site left her "stunned." She continued: “To see the hate, to know that he is a federal employee, it bothered me." She added that had Kimathi's site been accurately described to the agency, there's no way the DHS would have signed off on it. Possibly to keep his bosses from looking up his work, Kimathi used only the site's acronym, WOH, in his permission request. In addition to his involvement in the purchase of ICE supplies, Kimathi also had a public profile for the agency, speaking at vendor events. As "Irritated Genie," Kimathi also has a public profile as a black supremacist advocate. 

Via: The Atlantic Wire

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Napolitano: DHS Has ‘Deferred’ Deportation of 430,000 Illegals; Approved 98.3% of Applications Reviewed

(CNSNews.com) - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says that over the past year the Obama Administration has exercised what she calls “prosecutorial discretion” in allowing 430,000 self-declared illegal aliens to stay in the United States without any worry that her department—which is charged by law with enforcing the immigration law—will take action against them.

Napolitano calls this non-enforcement of the law “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA). Under the program, the administration considers anyone who had not yet turned sixteen when they first entered the United States illegally, or first overstayed a visa, to be a “childhood arrival.”

“Because of the action we have undertaken through the DACA process, thousands of hardworking young people who are American in every way but a piece of paper now have the ability to continue their educations and contribute to their communities,” Napolitano said in a written statement marking the first anniversary of the program, which began accepting applications from illegal aliens on Aug. 15, 2012.

“In just its first year, over 500,000 individuals have requested Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and after a thorough review of each of those cases, including a background check, 430,000 requests have already been approved, with others still under review,” Napolitano said.

Via: CNS News

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Who’s watching the watchdog?

The man who's supposed to be the chief watchdog for the Department of Homeland Security was himself billing the government for a string of "site visits" to sunny locales including Puerto Rico and south Florida -- where he allegedly was pursuing his Ph.D. 

The activity was detailed in a trove of documents obtained and published by conservative group Cause of Action. They appear to lend weight to at least some of the myriad allegations made last month against homeland security Acting Inspector General Charles Edwards.

Among other claims backed up by the documents are that Edwards employed his wife -- some say in violation of nepotism rules -- and that she won approval to telework. 

"At least the timeline and the narrative are being confirmed," Cause of Action spokeswoman Mary Beth Hutchins told FoxNews.com, adding there will have to be more digging. "There are some legitimate questions here." 

Edwards' office, though, continued to battle and deny the allegations. 

Via: Fox News

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Surprise, Surprise: Report Finds Homeland Security Wasting Money

In his oversight report, “Safety at Any Price: Assessing the Impact of Homeland Security Spending in U.S. Cities,” Senator Tom Coburn (R–OK) highlights several examples of cities using homeland security grants for ill-advised expenses. Senator Coburn’s report is an important one and a must read for the media and policymakers.

My hometown of Columbus, Ohio, is singled out for wasting terrorism funds on an underwater robot. In case you didn’t know, Columbus isn’t known for its large bodies of water, and not one tunnel in Central Ohio goes underneath water, so who knows what terrorist threat Mayor Michael Coleman sees in our shallow rivers.

Coburn, however, gets a couple of vital things wrong that would have made his report even more powerful. First, contrary to his report, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not fail “to issue preparedness goals, intended to shape the use of [Urban Areas Securities Initiative] funds, until last year—nine years after the program was created.” Secondly, DHS did not fail to establish “defined performance metrics to assess the effectiveness of federal expenditures made to date.”

As I detail in my 2009 book Homeland Security and Federalism: Protecting America from Outside the Beltway, DHS released the Initial National Preparedness Goal in April 2005, with the National Preparedness Guidelines (the successor document to the Initial National Preparedness Goal) in September 2007. The most recent National Preparedness Goal issued in September 2011 is just a warmed-over version of the older documents. The fact that these earlier documents existed makes Coburn’s points all the more troubling.

Via: The Foundry

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DHS Report On Immigration: Lowest Number Of Illegal Alien Arrests Since 1972…

(CNSNews.com) – The Department of Homeland Security’s 2011 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics was released last month, including figures that show that the number of illegal aliens apprehended in the United States was the lowest in 40 years.

The report shows (page 91, table 33) that in fiscal year 2011, the number of illegal aliens apprehended was 641,633 – at that time the lowest total apprehensions since 1972 when the number of illegal aliens apprehended was 505,949.

The report shows that the number of illegal aliens apprehended has steadily decreased over the course of the Obama administration, from 869,857 in fiscal year 2009 to 641,633 in fiscal year 2011.

The table includes the following totals for fiscal years 2008-2011:

2008: 1,043.863

2009: 869,857

2010: 752,329

2011: 641,633

The table also shows that from 1976 to 2008, the number of apprehensions ranged from 910,361 in 1980 to 1,814,729 in 2000.

The largest number of apprehensions during the Obama administration – 869,857 in fiscal year 2009 – which, at the time, was the lowest total since 1974 when 788,145 illegal aliens were apprehended.

Via: CNS News

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Explosive findings about DHS operations in congressional report

An explosive 141-page investigative report was quietly released just after midnight by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is an indictment of the practices and procedures of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

While this report provides details of the investigation of “fusion centers,” or intelligence centers across the country under the control of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, it provides critical insight into the workings of the DHS itself.

The report, available here in PDF format, notes that a review by subcommittee investigators of 13 months of reports issued between April 1, 2009 and April 30, 2010identified no reports that “...uncovered a terrorist threat, nor could [subcommittee investigators] identify a contribution…to disrupt an active terrorist plot.”

The report details a governmental agency led by upper management who are out of touch and out of control. Some explosive findings include:

• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)-assigned “detailees” or agents to fusion centers often issued shoddy and untimely reports that sometimes endangered citizens civil liberties and protections under the Privacy Act:

Of the 386 unclassified reports reviewed during this investigation, only 94 were found to relate “in some way” to potential terrorist activity, or the activities of a known or suspected terrorist. Of those 94 reports, the usefulness of those reports were deemed as “questionable.”

• DHS intelligence reporters overstepped legal boundaries, including reporting on First Amendment-protected activities lacking a nexus to violence or criminality, andreporting on or improperly characterizing political, religious or ideological speech that is not explicitly violent or criminal.

The subcommittee investigation noted three specific reports that were based on inaccurate, false or misleading information, including the 2011 alleged Russian cyber-attack against an Illinois water plant, which never happened in the manner portrayed by the DHS.

Via Canada Free Press

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DHS Purchases 200 Million More Rounds of Ammunition

Following controversy over its purchase of around 1.2 billion bullets in the last six months alone, the Department of Homeland Security has put out a new solicitation for over 200 million more rounds of ammunition, some of which are designated to be used by snipers.

A series of new solicitations posted on the FedBizOpps website show that the DHS is looking to purchase 200 million rounds of .223 rifle ammunition over the next four years, as well as 176,000 rounds of .308 caliber 168 grain hollow point boat tail (HPBT) rounds in addition to 25,000 rounds of blank .308 caliber bullets.

As James Smith over at the Prepper Podcast website highlights, “It is the type of ammunition and not necessarily the quantity that is troubling.”

Smith points out that the DHS’ acquisition of .308 rounds is of concern because they are set to be used by well-trained snipers.

“All of the sniper grade ammunition is being used by trained, or in-the-process-of-being-trained snipers,” writes Smith, noting that the math adds up to 135,384 potential kills for the snipers to make, using the 176,000 rounds of ammunition, basing the figures on the fact that United States Army and Marine Corps snipers in the Vietnam War expended 1.3 rounds of ammunition for each claimed and verified kill.

As this police training website documents, .308 caliber 168 grain bullets are the ammunition of choice for experienced law enforcement snipers.

Via: Infowars

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Immigration agents sue to stop Obama’s non-deportation policy

Saying they're fed up with being told they can't do their jobs, 10 immigration agents on Thursday sued the Obama administration to try to halt the president's new non-deportation policy and an earlier memo instructing them not to go after rank-and-file illegal immigrants.

The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Texas, adds a legal controversy to the political fight that has been brewing over President Obama's immigration policies, which have steadily narrowed the range of immigrants the government is targeting for deportation.

The 10 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and deportation officers said Mr. Obama's policies force them to choose between enforcing the law and being reprimanded by superiors, or listening to superiors and violating their own oaths of office and a 1996 law that requires them to put those who entered the country illegally into deportation proceedings.

Upping the ante, the agents are being represented by a high-profile lawyer, Kris W. Kobach, secretary of state in Kansas and the chief promoter of state immigration crackdowns such as Arizona's tough law.

"ICE is at a point now where agents are being told to break federal law, they're pretty much told that any illegal alien under age of 31 is going to be let go. You can imagine, these law enforcement officers are being put in a horrible position," Mr. Kobach said.

Last week, at Mr. Obama's direction, the Homeland Security Department began taking applications from those 30 years of age or younger who came to the U.S. as children and who have kept a fairly clean criminal record. They are being granted "deferred action," which is an official notice they are not to be deported, and will be allowed to obtain work permits to stay and get jobs legally in the United States.

Via: Washington Times

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ICE Chief Of Staff On Leave After New Allegations Of Lewd Conduct Surface

The top Homeland Security official accused of cultivating a "frat-house"-style work environment has "voluntarily placed herself on leave" amid an internal review, the department told FoxNews.com late Tuesday evening -- just hours after FoxNews.com contacted the agency about new allegations against her. 

The official, Suzanne Barr, is chief of staff for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Two more ICE employees came forward this week to complain about "lewd" conduct inside the agency, submitting sworn affidavits that depict graphic comments made by two top officials working under DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. 

The affidavits were given as part of a discrimination and retaliation suit filed earlier this year by James T. Hayes Jr., the head of the New York office for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

The two new affidavits described separate incidents in 2009. Both accounts described the actions of Barr, who was also mentioned in Hayes' lawsuit. 

Via Fox News

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Obama says Amnesty is yours for $465

The Obama administration will formally begin granting some young undocumented immigrants legal status and work permits later this month under a controversial new policy first announced by President Obama in June.

The Department of Homeland Security today announced details of the application and approval process for the DREAM Act-like program, outlining specific eligibility requirements and a $465 fee. It will begin Aug. 15.

Illegal immigrants younger than 30 who came to the United States before age 16, have lived here for at least five years continuously, attend or have graduated from high school or college, and have no criminal convictions are eligible to submit requests for so-called deferred action (legalese for an official exemption from deportation).

Via: ABC News

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