Leadership Journal

Addressing Employment-Based Visa Wait Times

2009-04-24T10:55:00.003-04:00

There have been a lot of comments and questions received from readers about employment-based petitions and related applications for adjustment to lawful permanent residence.

This is a complicated subject, so I want to provide a little background. Becoming a permanent resident based on employment can require a number of steps, including obtaining a labor certification from the Department of Labor, receiving approval on a petition for alien worker from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) (Form I-140) and obtaining an immigrant visa from the Department of State or being granted adjustment of status from USCIS. In addition, by law there are numerical limits on the number of people who can immigrate to the U.S. each year in most categories. You can see a more detailed explanation about the employment-based visa application process online.

Some readers have asked about the volume of employment applications and delays that have occurred in employment-based visa petition and adjustment application processing in late 2007 and early 2008. There were a number of factors that affected USCIS' handling of these cases during that time. Employers filed more than 234,000 petitions to sponsor foreign workers (Form I-140) as the Department of Labor cleared a large backlog of labor certification applications and implemented new regulations. Adjustment-of-status application filings also soared to nearly 300,000. We attribute the increase in adjustment application filings to a couple things. First, customers' anticipation of USCIS' filing fee increase in July 2007. Second, a unique opportunity for workers and their families to file adjustment applications based on the visa availability date announced in the July 2007 Immigrant Visa Bulletin. Many of these availability dates have since reverted, creating a backlog of adjustment applications that cannot be adjudicated until a visa becomes available.

A few months ago, a customer indicated his frustration that while he can monitor the Visa Bulletin to see how it moves month to month, he still has no idea how many people are waiting in line with pending adjustment applications or how long it may be before USCIS can process and approve his application. We know this customer is not alone! In response to that customer's request, we are working to make this information available on our Web site.

I understand the importance of becoming a permanent resident. I also recognize workers may rightly want to take advantage of the limited provisions in current law that allow certain applicants to change employers without affecting their ability to adjust status. As a result, USCIS has taken the following steps:

USCIS has increased the emphasis on processing employment-based petitions. Our goal is to complete adjudication on the older I-140 petitions and to process newer petitions within our targeted processing time of four months. We are making progress toward this goal and anticipate reaching this goal by the end of September 2009.
USCIS is issuing employment authorization documents valid for two years, as needed.
USCIS is working with the State Department to make sure we use every available visa number. In 2007, we had more visas available in the family-based categories than were needed, so as permitted by law, we transferred those available family-based visas for use in the employment-based application process.

I recognize that this is a difficult and complex situation and USCIS is working hard to make improvements and to increase transparency in our processes.

Mike Aytes
Acting Deputy Director, USCIS

Michelle Obama Visits Homeland Security

2009-04-14T14:55:00.014-04:00

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Southwest Border

2009-04-07T13:21:00.004-04:00

Last week I traveled to Mexico, with brief stops in California and Texas. The purpose of my visit was to meet with my foreign counterparts, assess the situation on the Southwest Border with respect to drug cartel violence, hear directly from federal, state, tribal, and local officials, and announce some additional resources we are deploying to the border to help Mexico in its fight against these dangerous cartels.

In California, I met with state and local leaders in San Diego, toured the border and visited the Otay Mesa port of entry – one of the busiest commercial ports on the Southwest border.

More than $400 million in Recovery Act funds is being directed to the Southwest border. This money will be used to upgrade infrastructure at the ports of entry, add technology and inspection equipment, and strengthen our surveillance and communications capabilities.

In Mexico, I visited with my foreign counterparts, and along with Attorney General Holder, attended an important conference on arms trafficking. The smuggling of guns is a serious problem and contributes to a lot of the violence we’re seeing in Mexico among the drug cartels and organized criminal networks.

To combat the problem, we are moving substantial resources to border, including more than 360 additional DHS officers and agents, license plate readers that will allow us to scan for suspect vehicles, southbound rail screening, and additional grant funding for state and local law enforcement. These measures will help us counter the flow of guns and cash into Mexico while protecting cities and communities along the border.

Finally, on my return, I stopped in Laredo, Texas to meet with community leaders, speak with members of the Laredo Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST), which is a multi-agency law enforcement team that fights criminal organizations and smugglers, and visit the Laredo port of entry. In recent weeks, we’ve made several significant seizures of cash and guns in Laredo, including more than $3 million discovered in a hidden compartment in the floor of a bus bound for Mexico.

Examples like this impede the ability of criminal organizations to fund their activities. Since the start of this fiscal year, CBP and ICE together have seized more than $55 million in cash, over 630 weapons, and nearly 125,000 rounds of ammunition.

We’re going to continue to keep the pressure on. I consider this a historic opportunity to help Mexico confront a serious threat that impacts the safety and security of both of our countries. We all have a stake in this fight, and here at the Department we’re going to continue to do our part to make sure we succeed.

Janet Napolitano

Secretary Discusses Southwest Border Security Efforts

2009-04-06T12:11:00.009-04:00

April 3, 2009 (Laredo, Texas) - Secretary Napolitano, flanked by Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar, discusses Southwest Border security efforts at a press conference detailing the deployment of a variety of Department personnel and technology to the Southwest border in response to escalated violence in Mexico.

Napolitano Monitors Flooding in North Dakota and Minnesota

2009-03-27T17:20:00.005-04:00

March 27, 2009 – Thomas Muir briefs Secretary Napolitano about the flooding in North Dakota and Minnesota at the National Operations Center. (DHS Photo/Bahler)

Efficiency Review

2009-03-27T15:23:00.005-04:00

Today the Department took a major step forward to advance one of President Obama's most important goals – improving efficiency and transparency across the Federal government.

Efficiency is essential to effective governance. It helps reduce costs and ensure taxpayer money isn’t wasted. It improves performance and customer satisfaction. And it strengthens employee morale.

Over the next 120 days, we will begin implementing nearly two dozen initiatives to trim costs, streamline operations, eliminate duplication, and better manage resources across the Department.

This effort is the result of a comprehensive assessment by our Efficiency Review team, which worked with DHS components, offices, and employees to identify more than 700 initiatives – some immediate, some long-term – to improve efficiency and transparency.

Among the immediate changes we will make over the next 30 days:

Eliminating all non-mission critical travel for employees and maximizing our use of conference calls and web-based training and meetings;
Reducing subscriptions to professional publications and newspapers to lower costs and avoid duplication;
Eliminating printing and distribution of all reports and documents that can be sent electronically or posted on-line.

Over the next 30 days, we will also begin using purchasing agreements to substantially save on office supplies. This may sound like a small matter, but by leveraging the Department's collective buying power, we can save up to $52 million on office supplies over the next five years.

We're also going to take action to improve how we track and monitor fuel usage for our vehicles. Over the next 60 days, we will begin implementing a new electronic tracking system that will help increase alternative fuel usage; guard against waste, fraud, and abuse; and optimize how we manage our fleet.

In addition, we will begin acquiring hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles over the next 120 days. We expect a 30 percent increase in fuel efficiency in large vehicles, and even greater efficiency in smaller vehicles as a result of this change.

To become more energy efficient, we will also begin implementing energy efficiencies at DHS offices across the country. Over the next 120 days, we will initiate a process to identify and move toward renewable energy technology and greater energy conservation, with a goal of saving $3 million per year.

Over the next 60 days, we will also implement a process to purchase computer software licenses as a single Department – as opposed to individual agencies. As a result, we expect to save over $47 million per year and $283 million over the next six years.

Finally, we’re going to take steps to streamline employee training and orientations, and reduce costs and backlogs associated with background checks for new employees.

This is just the beginning. In the coming months, we’ll announce even more initiatives to improve efficiency. I look forward to keeping you updated as we make these changes, which will result in a stronger, more effective DHS.

Janet Napolitano

Transfer of Authority Ceremony

2009-03-23T16:05:00.009-04:00

March 23, 2009 - The Coast Guard Service Secretary Transfer of Authority officially recognized the transfer of authority as service secretary of the Coast Guard from former Secretary Michael Chertoff to Secretary Janet Napolitano. Commandant of the Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen spoke at the ceremony in Washington, D.C.

USCIS and FBI Achieve Interim Backlog Elimination Goals

2009-03-20T09:56:00.002-04:00

We’ve met another benchmark in our efforts to eliminate the FBI Name Check backlog.

As of mid-February, USCIS and the FBI had completed all name checks that were pending for more than six months. In doing so, we beat our publicly stated goal by almost two full weeks. With the milestone’s completion, the FBI and USCIS have met or exceeded the first six milestones outlined last summer.

And that might not be the most exciting news. We’re on track to meet our May 31 milestone of completing name check requests pending longer than 90 days. By the end of June, the FBI will complete 98-percent of USCIS name check requests within 30 days and process the remaining two percent within 90 days.

Let me put that into perspective. At the beginning of November 2007, there were nearly 350,000 pending name check requests. Of that total, more than 54,000 had been pending for more than two years. Another 55,000 had been pending for at least a year. Today, there’s a grand total of 6,756 pending name check requests. And of that number, not one has been pending for more than six months. In fact as of that February 17 snapshot, the FBI was completing 99.2 percent of all requests in less than 30 days.

The results speak for themselves. The effective elimination of the name check backlog means that USCIS can make more timely decisions about immigration applications and petitions. That includes cases with derogatory information and those that are otherwise approvable. In both the present and the future, USCIS and the FBI will continue to focus on sustaining the rigorous and efficient screening of each name check request. Our joint attention to eliminating the name check backlog will ensure we reward deserving, eligible applicants with benefits like U.S. citizenship and permanent residency in a more timely manner.

Mike Aytes Acting Deputy Director
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

"G6 plus 1" Meeting in Germany

2009-03-19T10:39:00.007-04:00

On Monday, I returned from a trip to Germany in which I met with my homeland security counterparts from six European Union countries. This regular meeting – called the “G6 plus 1” (I’m the “plus 1”) – is an important part of our security cooperation. Threats like terrorism, the spread of infectious diseases, and natural disasters know no borders, which makes global partnership an integral part of American security.

We focused on many different elements of this partnership – including information-sharing about terror suspects, bolstering the security of international cyber networks and combating the smuggling of drugs, money, and people.

One outcome from the trip is a new science and technology agreement with the government of Germany. The photo here shows me at the signing ceremony with the German Minister of Science and Education, Annette Schavan.

This partnership will identify science and technology projects where the U.S. and Germany can collaborate on innovations that improve our security. One effort will kick off in just a few months: developing “visual analytics” technologies that can organize and cluster millions of pieces of intelligence data and arrange them visually, allowing intelligence analysts to understand more quickly the patterns contained in enormous amounts of diffuse information.

I’m excited about the doors this will open to scientific understandings not only of threats, but also solutions. Wherever we can partner with our allies to make both our nations safer, we should – and this will be an important priority moving forward, starting with my visits to Mexico and Canada over the next few weeks.

Janet Napolitano

Secretary Napolitano's Trip to Germany

2009-03-16T07:22:00.011-04:00

March 14, 2009 - For her first trip abroad, Secretary Janet Napolitano traveled to Germany to participate in the G6 Summit. She met with German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. (Photo /© Federal Ministry of the Interior/Hans-Joachim M. Rickel)

Stimulating the Economy

2009-03-10T12:08:00.003-04:00

As you may know, the President recently launched a new website – Recovery.gov – that allows the public to track how our taxpayer dollars are being spent under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (also known as the stimulus).

Recovery.gov reflects the President’s commitment to bring a new level of transparency and openness to government as we work to strengthen our economy. That is a commitment I share for our Department – and the reason we’ve created www.dhs.gov/recovery.

The stimulus provides more than $3 billion in new homeland security funding. This funding will be used to improve security at our borders, rebuild our Coast Guard fleet, expand technology, strengthen rail and transit security, and enhance emergency preparedness and response. It will also create thousands of new jobs.

Let me give you a concrete example:

On Thursday, the Transportation Security Administration announced that it will be using $1 billion in stimulus funds to deploy checked baggage and checkpoint explosive detection systems at airports across the country.

This technology will enhance our ability to screen passengers and their bags for bombs and IEDs – including liquid explosives – while improving security and convenience. At the same time, it will create more than 3,000 new jobs associated with the construction and deployment of these systems.

This is precisely the purpose of the stimulus – to protect the country, stimulate the economy, and keep people working.

More projects are in the pipeline and will be coming soon. I invite you to keep track of our progress at www.dhs.gov/recovery.

Janet Napolitano

Trip to the Gulf Coast

2009-03-09T13:03:00.003-04:00

Last week, I joined Secretary Donovan of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Craig Fugate, the President’s new nominee to be FEMA Administrator, on a two-day trip to the Gulf Coast. Our goal was to get a firsthand look at the recovery efforts underway since Katrina and Rita, meet with state and local leaders, and identify outstanding issues.

What we saw on our trip were very clear signs of progress and a clear determination by the people of the Gulf Coast to rebuild and recover from these terrible storms. But we also saw too many communities still in disrepair, too many construction projects either incomplete or not yet started, and too many people still struggling to reclaim their lives.

We spoke with community leaders, first responders, school teachers, and ordinary citizens to get their perspective. We also took a bus and helicopter tour of New Orleans and a helicopter tour of the Mississippi coast to get a better sense of the remaining challenges.

While in New Orleans, I made several announcements that are designed to cut through some of the red tape that for too long has stalled the completion of a number of important projects, including the reconstruction of two police stations and a fire station.

FEMA will provide replacement funding to rebuild these facilities, as well as an additional $12 million to repair a water treatment plant in St. Bernard parish. It will also provide significant funding to Benjamin Franklin High School, one of our nation’s best high schools that suffered significant damage from Katrina.

To ensure that future public assistance requests aren’t bogged down in endless disputes and paperwork, I also announced the creation of two new teams consisting of FEMA and state representatives that will work together to expedite these requests and make decisions.

Finally, FEMA will be extending relocation assistance for people displaced by Katrina and Rita to help them find permanent housing solutions. And it has extended the deadline for hazard mitigation funding for Mississippi, which will give people more time to file their applications and ultimately build more resilient homes and communities.

All of these actions will help the people of the Gulf Coast continue their recovery. We stand with them, and we will continue to support them.

Janet Napolitano

Uncommon Valor

2009-03-06T15:01:00.002-05:00

On Friday, February 27, I had the distinct privilege of participating in a Naturalization Ceremony at the Washington District Office in Fairfax, Va. Among the ceremony's 30 candidates was a young man with an inspiring story that reminds us of the importance of our work at USCIS and the priceless value of the life and liberties we cherish as Americans.

Marine Lance Corporal Jose Gasca, a native of Mexico, served in Iraq with the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines. Lance Corporal Gasca lost both his legs to an improvised explosive device during combat operations last September. He's currently undergoing rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he is learning to walk once again.

When Lance Corporal Gasca, with his wife and young son by his side, raised his right hand to take the Oath of Allegiance, he joined a long line of naturalized American heroes who served and sacrificed on behalf of our nation before becoming American citizens. There are few words I can use to describe the overwhelming sense of appreciation and admiration I have for men and women like Lance Corporal Gasca. As an agency, we best express that gratitude by completing military naturalization cases as quickly as possible.

USCIS employees who work with immigrant service members consider this responsibility both a privilege and an honor. In partnership with the Department of Defense, we do all we can to ensure that as many military applications as possible are processed and completed before these brave men and women are deployed to combat zones overseas.

In total, USCIS naturalized more than one million citizens during fiscal year 2008 and we've naturalized more than 45,000 U.S. service members since September 2001. Each new American has made a personal sacrifice to become part of our American fabric. None, however, have made more striking sacrifices than Jose Gasca and his fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who voluntarily took up arms to defend rights and liberties they had yet to secure for themselves or their families.

Mike Aytes, Acting Deputy Director
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

2009 National Infrastructure Protection Plan Released

2009-03-06T12:23:00.002-05:00

The homeland security risks facing our nation are a complex mix of manmade and naturally occurring hazards, including terrorist attacks, accidents, natural disasters, and other emergencies. National priorities for critical infrastructure and key resources protection include both preventing catastrophic loss of life associated with these risks and minimizing their cascading, disruptive impacts on the U.S. and global economy. Achieving these priorities requires a strategy that appropriately balances building resiliency capabilities with risk-informed prevention and protection activities.

The National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) describes the nation’s approach to establishing goals, requirements, and performance measures for infrastructure protection and resiliency efforts. The NIPP also sets forth a comprehensive risk management framework. It clearly defines the roles and responsibilities for the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Sector Specific Agencies, and other federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector partners within the critical infrastructure and key resources mission area.

The just-released 2009 version of the NIPP captures the evolution and maturation of the processes and programs first outlined in 2006. It was developed collaboratively with critical infrastructure and key resources partners at all levels of government and the private sector. The revised NIPP integrates the concepts of resiliency and protection and broadens the focus of NIPP-related programs and activities to an all-hazards environment.

A major accomplishment of the NIPP is the role it has played in building public-private partnerships. It has facilitated closer cooperation between government and industry across the 18 critical infrastructure and key resources sectors. For example, as the Chemical Sector Specific Agency, the Department partnered with the Chemical Sector Coordinating Council to develop the voluntary Web-based Chemical Security Awareness Training Program based on a need identified within the sector.

Several companies beta tested the training program, and the feedback was incorporated into the final product, which was designed not only for those directly involved in security, but for all facility employees. This partnership effort resulted in a free interactive tool available to chemical facilities nationwide to increase security awareness. The training was launched in July 2008 and as of Feb 24, 2009, 929 people had completed it at 277 companies. This pattern of collaboration is essential to strengthening our critical infrastructure and key resources protection and resiliency efforts.

The 2009 revision of the NIPP is available for download from www.dhs.gov/NIPP.

James Snyder
Acting Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection

Partnership Key to Reducing Risk in Rail

2009-03-04T13:32:00.008-05:00

Risk management and stakeholder engagement are key elements of TSA's surface transportation initiatives. Unlike in aviation, where TSA has employees performing security functions, we utilize stakeholder partnerships, grant funding and rulemaking to enhance security in surface modes.

Let's look at freight rail. There are 140,000 miles of freight-rail track and 560 railroads in the United States. Common items transported by rail are grains, cars, appliances and food, but a small number of rail cars – less than one percent - carry essential but potentially hazardous chemicals, such as chlorine and anhydrous ammonia, which are called toxic inhalation hazard (TIH) materials. Toxic emissions that may result from an attack against a rail car carrying these chemicals presents a potentially serious risk in America's densely populated urban areas.

Instead of pursuing a lengthy rulemaking process, TSA worked in partnership with the rail industry to reduce toxic chemical risk. Beginning in 2007, the rail industry began sharing data on rail car movements to establish a baseline and a risk scoring system from which we could begin to measure risk reduction. Carriers retained local operating flexibility to reduce risk and worked with TSA to develop a risk reduction formula to that included unattended TIH car hours, population proximity, and the high threat urban area population.

As part of the collaboration, the freight rail industry implemented several key security measures including tracking and substantially reducing the standstill time for unattended freight cars transporting TIH materials in high threat urban areas, developing site-specific security plans, and providing security training for front line employees.

DHS's goal for rail TIH risk reduction was 50 percent by the end of 2008. This collaborative approach has been successful: as of this month, rail TIH risk has been reduced by more than 70 percent.

To complement and formalize the initiatives already underway, in November 2008, a Rail Security Final Rule (PDF, 180 pages - 801 KB) was published that covers the transport of TIH materials by rail, from start to finish, including predictable standstill points and unpredictable stops during shipment. The rule includes provisions that require freight rail carriers to ensure 100 percent positive hand-off of TIH materials, establish security protocols for custody transfers of TIH rail cars in the high threat urban areas, appoint a rail security coordinator to share information with the federal government, and formalize the TSA freight and passenger rail inspection authority. Under the Final Rule, TSA will require establishment of a tracking system that will enable the federal government to determine the location of rail cars carrying TIH materials within 30 minutes.

TSA appreciates the support of the rail industry and is using this collaborative approach to reduce risk in other transportation modes whenever possible.

Gale Rossides
Acting Administrator, TSA

Honoring Flight #1549

2009-02-23T11:29:00.005-05:00

Last week I went to New York to honor the men and women who aided the rescue of US Airways #1549.

By now, we all know the heroic tale of the pilot and crew who landed the distressed plane in the middle of the Hudson River against impossible odds.

What is less known is the immense rescue operation that took place immediately afterward and the heroism of dozens of individuals who put their own lives in danger to ensure that everyone on the aircraft made it safely to shore.

Among those responders was Coast Guard Petty Officer Ben Foster, who after seeing a passenger slip and fall from the plane’s icy wing, entered the frigid water to rescue her. In the process, he ruptured an artery in his leg, putting himself in even greater danger. He remained at the scene for hours, seeking medical attention only later that evening.

For his service, the Coast Guard awarded Petty Officer Foster the Meritorious Service Medal. The Coast Guard also awarded a Unit Commendation to its Incident Response Team, and it awarded Petty Officer Brittany Catanzaro – a member of the Coast Guard reserve – with a Meritorious Public Service Award.

Also assisting in the rescue were numerous independent boaters, water taxi operators, and ferry services. These Good Samaritans dropped what they were doing and rushed to the sinking aircraft to see how they could help. They worked side-by-side with first responders and law enforcement to ensure all 155 passengers and crew were safely rescued.

To honor their service, the Coast Guard awarded the Certificate of Merit to New York Water Taxi, Ken’s Marine, Miller’s Launch, World Yacht, and The Staten Island Ferry.

It awarded the Public Service Commendation to Circle Line Sightseeing and issued the Meritorious Public Service Award to Mr. Scott Koen. And it gave the Distinguished Public Service Award to New York Waterway.

Without this support, the triumph we celebrate today could have easily turned tragic.

These efforts remind us that individuals and businesses often have an important role to play during emergencies – even serving as first responders. As Secretary, one of my priorities is to continue to expand our engagement with citizens and businesses who want to be involved in our efforts. We have a lot to gain from their participation.

The rescue also reminds us of the importance of training and exercising before the fact. First responders at all levels must know what to do when it comes time to execute a mission – because seconds count. The successful rescue of Flight #1549 is a case in point

Janet Napolitano

The Coast Guard Public Service Awards Ceremony

Secretary Napolitano's New York Visit

2009-02-20T12:21:00.007-05:00

February 18, 2009 – Secretary Napolitano and Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen listen to Coast Guard Station New York Petty Officer 2nd Class Donald Robinson talk about driving the Coast Guard's new 45-foot Medium Response Boat in New York Harbor. U.S. Coast Guard photo/Berlin)

February 18, 2009 – Secretary Napolitano congratulates recipients of Coast Guard public service awards at a ceremony honoring first responders during the US Airways Flight 1549 crash in the Hudson River. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Johnson)

February 18, 2009 – New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly discusses the city's public transportation with Secretary Napolitano at NYPD Headquarters. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Berlin)

Secretary Continues Her Tour of Components

2009-02-11T17:40:00.007-05:00

February 6, 2009 – Secretary Napolitano visits U.S. Customs & Border Protection headquarters and meets with CBP employees.

February 5, 2009 – U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan (front) and Special Agent Gregory Tate (rear) brief Secretary Napolitano on the presidential limousine, nicknamed "The Beast."

Secretary Napolitano Meets with FEMA Staff

2009-02-05T14:47:00.005-05:00

February 3, 2009 – Secretary Napolitano visits U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters and meets with FEMA employees.

Responding to the Ice Storms

2009-02-04T15:20:00.006-05:00

This past week, the Midwest was hit by a terrible ice storm that took the lives of several dozen of our fellow citizens, damaged homes and property, and left many across the region without power. More bad weather is expected to continue over the next several days.

I've been in touch with the Governors of Kentucky, Missouri, and Arkansas and moved quickly to provide federal support. FEMA continues to be actively engaged in the region, providing generators, meals, cots, blankets, and bottled water to residents. It is also helping with debris removal, conducting damage assessments, and assisting with disaster claims. We’re also in touch with the relevant power companies to see how quickly permanent power can be restored.

We are working as quickly as we can to help the victims of this storm and return a sense of normalcy to their lives and the region.

Next week I'll be visiting Kentucky and Missouri to meet with state and local officials and identify what else the federal government can do to support their citizens as they plan for recovery.

Beyond dealing with these recovery efforts, I'll also be traveling to Kansas and Iowa to work on our preparations for the upcoming flood and tornado season, which is just around the corner.

The time to prepare is now. Indeed, last year FEMA faced 90 federally-declared disasters and provided assistance to 36 states. That included the back-to-back hurricanes of Gustav and Ike, deadly tornadoes, Midwest floods, and wildfires.

Thanks to the good work of our DHS employees and everything we're doing now, we'll be ready to respond quickly and support the men, women and families in communities across the country.

Janet Napolitano

ICE Focus on Immigration Fugitives Getting Results

2009-02-04T15:00:00.002-05:00

At the time of its formation in 2003, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) faced many challenges in meeting its mandate to restore integrity to America’s immigration system. Perhaps chief among these challenges were the growing number of fugitive aliens residing in the United States and the need to reinforce the relevance of removal orders issued by immigration judges. Fugitive aliens are those who have been ordered removed from the country but have failed to comply with that order. The 9/11 Commission recognized that this growing population represented a vulnerability to our national security and reported that abuse of America's immigration system and a lack of interior enforcement were among the many problems exposed by the 9/11 hijackers. ICE's Fugitive Operations Program was created in response to Congress’ mandate that this population be identified, arrested and removed from the United States.

And the fugitive operations teams have done just that. In 2007, ICE's efforts to aggressively target fugitive aliens resulted in the first-ever reduction in the population of fugitive aliens residing in the United States. In fact, over the last 18 months, that population has declined more than 80,000 or 12 percent.

In addition, the fugitive operations teams are targeting the most dangerous fugitive aliens and so far this fiscal year, have arrested 179% more criminal fugitive aliens than at the same point in time last fiscal year. Roughly 20% of immigration fugitives have been convicted of a crime in the United States, but all have proven their refusal to comply with immigration law. While ICE prioritizes our efforts by targeting fugitives who have demonstrated a threat to national security or public safety, we have a clear mandate to pursue all immigration fugitives – even those with no documented criminal history in the United States. History has proven that is a wise strategy.

In 2001, Marvin Gutierrez-Palma was ordered removed from the United States to El Salvador. Gutierrez-Palma had no criminal history at the time and was not detained during his removal proceedings. Like many others, rather than comply with the removal order issued by the immigration judge, he absconded and became an immigration fugitive. Today’s New York Times article regarding the Migration Policy Institute’s report on the ICE National Fugitive Program suggests that his sole status as an immigration fugitive would not have justified efforts to locate, arrest and remove him from the United States. In fact, the Times article would have you believe that targeting fugitives like Gutierrez-Palma represents a waste of taxpayer resources. We wholeheartedly disagree. As for Gutierrez-Palma, he was located through another of ICE’s enforcement programs – the Criminal Alien Program – after his 2007 arrest and conviction for rape, child molestation and forced imprisonment.

It is not good public safety policy to wait until immigration fugitives--who have already defied U.S. laws--commit a violent crime before we target them for arrest and removal. The risk-based model that ICE uses places the highest priority on the dangerous criminal fugitives who pose a potential threat to the community but it also ensures that we continue to pursue and arrest all fugitive aliens. Increased public safety through immigration enforcement can only be achieved through such proactive efforts. The goal is to prevent crime rather than simply to respond to it.

ICE's success in targeting fugitive aliens and reversing the upward trend is the result of strengthened investigations, improved case management and more efficient management of data on fugitives through upgraded information technology. Moreover, these operations are sending a clear message to fugitive aliens that their days in the United States are numbered, and thereby serve as a strong deterrent against future growth in the fugitive population.

The men and women of ICE work hard to execute the agency's law enforcement mission, and their work is having a real effect in improving public safety.

John Torres
ICE Acting Assistant Secretary

First Week

2009-01-30T17:17:00.006-05:00

Thank you for your comments to my first post. I appreciate the encouraging words of welcome.

As expected, my first full week has been busy.

I’ve continued to meet with directors of all seven of the Department’s operating components, visit their headquarters locations, and receive briefings on their activities.

I’ve been impressed by what I’ve seen so far – the caliber of the people who work at this Department, their professionalism, and their commitment to our mission.

As Secretary, I want to ensure that our Department continues to uphold the highest ethical standards. For this reason, I’ve ordered that every incoming DHS employee receive ethics training.

This week, I also sent recommendations to President Obama regarding the winter storms that impacted most of our nation’s Midwest and Northeast. He acted on those recommendations, issuing emergency declarations for Arkansas and Kentucky. This will ensure that federal aid flows to these areas. FEMA has been deeply engaged in this process. It began mobilizing assets and resources well ahead of the storm to ensure timely aid and assistance.

Of course, I’ve been intently focused on preparations for Super Bowl 43, and not just because my home team is in the game.

I spoke directly with our head of security in Tampa and received briefings on the Department’s activities related to the Super Bowl, which are extensive.

Finally, I’ve continued to issue action directives to assess the Department's critical functions and set priorities. We rolled out the final action directive today on immigration – to assess our progress to secure the border, remove criminal aliens from the United States, and improve our legal immigration procedures.

I’m eager to get the results of these assessments in the coming days and weeks, and I look forward to sharing these results with you.

Secretary Napolitano

Secretary Napolitano Meets with Department Agency Staff

2009-01-30T17:00:00.004-05:00

January 29, 2009 – Secretary Napolitano meets with senior leadership from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Pictured are Secretary Napolitano; Acting Assistant Secretary John Torres; Marcy Forman, Director Office of Investigations; and Susan Lane, Director Office of Intelligence. (ICE Photo/Caffrey)

January 27, 2009 - Secretary Napolitano greets employees at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services headquarters in Washington, D.C., where she received briefings from the three USCIS directorates. (USCIS Photo/Buckson)

January 26, 2009 - Secretary Napolitano visits the Transportation Security Administration headquarters and conducted a town hall with TSA employees. (TSA Photo/Dittberner)

January 22, 2009 - Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano meets with Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad W. Allen at Coast Guard Headquarters, for briefings from the service's senior leadership. (USCG Photo/Bender)

Getting to Work

2009-01-28T08:25:00.002-05:00

I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the DHS Leadership Journal, our online forum for discussing issues and challenges facing the Department of Homeland Security as we work to keep our nation safe. I plan to be a regular contributor along with other senior leadership across the Department.

First, I’d like to recognize Secretary Chertoff and his team for the work they have done to ensure a smooth transition. I am honored to join Homeland Security and continue the important work begun by my predecessors to protect our borders, safeguard our infrastructure, and improve our nation’s abilities to prevent, respond to, and recover from natural and manmade hazards.

One of my first priorities as Secretary will be to meet with as many of the Department’s leaders and employees as possible. This past week, I met with leadership from each DHS component and will be visiting each of our headquarters in the coming days. On Thursday, I had the opportunity to visit with many of the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard and received an in-depth briefing from Admiral Allen about major issues facing this agency. I look forward to similar visits to other components this week including TSA, ICE and USCIS.

I also initiated a process to assess and solicit employee input about the Department’s performance across what I see as its five core mission areas: protection, preparedness, response, recovery, and immigration. These “Action Directives” will measure the Department’s effectiveness at meeting its critical functions, from protecting our transportation systems and critical infrastructure to distributing homeland security grants, assessing risk, and sharing intelligence with our state, local, and tribal partners.

Our goal is to identify those areas that require immediate attention, develop strategies to address short-term needs and long-term goals, and provide clear, consistent direction on how we can more fully unify the Department. DHS has come a long way in its short history. Through these Action Directives, we can continue to focus on growth, integration and greater efficiencies.

There is no more important function of government than the protection of its people. Over the past few days, I’ve seen the dedication of the men and women in this Department in action. In the weeks and months ahead, we will continue to meet this challenge head-on, with the sense of urgency and purpose our citizens expect and our nation’s security requires. It is time to get to work.

Janet Napolitano

Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Leadership Journal Archive (2007-2009)

2009-01-26T13:35:00.005-05:00

This page is the gateway to the 2007/2008 Leadership Journal Archives. Here you will find all of the content published on the Leadership Journal beginning in September 2007 and ending in December 2008.

You may choose to view any past blog entry, each with its original comments still intact.

December 2008

November 2008

October 2008

September 2008

August 2008

July 2008

June 2008

May 2008

April 2008

March 2008

February 2008

January 2008

December 2007

November 2007

October 2007

September 2007