Category Archives: Department of Homeland Security

More Protests Planned, Chaos and Division Ahead

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Minimum wage protests planned in 340 cities

TheHill: Organizers behind a movement to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour are promising its “largest, most disruptive protest ever” in response to Donald Trump’s stunning victory in the 2016 presidential election.

On the fourth anniversary of the movement to raise wages, tens of thousands of low-wage workers will protest next Tuesday in 340 cities around the country, as they demand higher pay. Strikes are planned by bagged handlers at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and workers at McDonald’s restaurants around the country.

The “Fight for $15” protests will also hit Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Newark International Airport (EWR), and about 20 other airports in major cities, organizers said on a call with reporters Monday.

“Just because the election went a certain way, doesn’t mean we’re going away,” said Kendall Fells, organizing director of the Fight for $15.

“It’s the exact opposite.”

On the campaign trail, Bernie Sanders called for raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, while Hillary Clinton also voiced support for an increase in pay for low-wage workers. But Trump’s message on minimum wage was inconsistent, at times indicating he would support an increase in the minimum wage and at other times suggesting workers make too much money.

The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.

Raising the minimum wage is a “winning issue,” Fells said.

“On Election Day, even as Donald Trump won, ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage passed in all five states,” he said.

Fells said there would be “thousands of folks” protesting at each airport.

The Fight for $15 movement is expecting “tens of thousands” of protesters from all walks of life, including baggage handlers, airline cabin cleaners, airport wheelchair attendants, janitors, cooks, home care workers, child care providers, teachers and graduate assistants.

Meanwhile, there is Obama’s mighty pen.

Obama Urged to Free Asylum-Seekers Before Trump Takes Office

About 4,000 women and children are in jail-like facilities
President-elect has promised to deport millions from U.S.

Bloomberg: Immigration advocates are asking the Obama administration to release thousands of detained Central American women and children who want asylum in the U.S., citing concerns that Donald Trump will deport them after his inauguration in January.

Representatives of groups including the Women’s Refugee Commission and the American Immigration Lawyers Association met with White House officials last week to discuss a host of immigration issues, including the fate of about 4,000 Central American detainees, some as young as two years old, who have fled violence in their home countries. They’re housed in jail-like facilities in Texas and Pennsylvania, some for more than a year, as they wait for the government to process their asylum pleas.

Immigration advocates want the president to either end the practice of detaining families altogether, as they’ve been requesting for years, or direct Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to release families with a notice to appear before a judge on their own recognizance.

The plight of the Central American refugees, who fled violence and gangs in their home countries, is one of several 11th-hour immigration conundrums Obama faces as he prepares for Trump to enter the White House. The Republican campaigned on promises to crack down on undocumented immigrants and to build a wall on the Mexican border, and immigration advocates fear a government that has struggled under Obama to humanely handle a crush of asylum-seekers at the southern border will turn markedly more hostile under his successor.

“The family detention infrastructure is something that President Obama built, and unless he tears it down in the next two months this will be part of his presidential legacy,” said Carl Takei, staff attorney at the the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project.

DACA Applicants

Separately, advocates for about 750,000 young undocumented immigrants granted protection from deportation under Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, have pressed the White House to ensure Trump can’t use data compiled by the program to instead target and remove the people from the country. House Democrats called on Obama last week to issue a presidential pardon for the immigrants, who were brought into the country as children and have grown up as “Americans,” Obama said in Nov. 14 news conference.

The White House said last week that the president’s clemency power can’t be used to confer legal status on undocumented residents. Pete Boogaard, a White House spokesman, declined to comment on whether the administration has the authority to release the asylum seekers.

Trump is poised to inherit one of the worst humanitarian crises in a generation along the U.S.-Mexico border. Starting in 2014 scores of women and children fleeing gang violence in Central America began presenting themselves to unprepared border officials along the southern U.S. border. Generally under U.S. law, asylum seekers who can show a “credible fear” of returning to their home countries are entitled to a removal hearing before a judge.

Facing a lack of beds, the Obama administration raced to open additional family detention centers to house large numbers of children, who are required by law to be held in the least restrictive conditions possible.

Specter of Sessions

Trump has promised to crack down on undocumented border crossers while also restricting refugees from terror-prone countries, but he has yet to articulate a policy for the thousands of asylum seekers who enter the U.S. each year. Trump’s top immigration advisers, including Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, a Republican who Trump plans to nominate as attorney general, have argued that Obama has been too easy on migrants.

“Instead of removing illegal immigrants, the President has expended enormous time, energy, and resources into settling newly arrived illegal immigrants throughout the United States,” Sessions wrote in a January 2015 “immigration handbook” for Republicans.

The crisis shows no sign of abating. In fiscal 2016 the U.S. apprehended a record 78,000 family members, mainly from Central America, on the southwest border, according to government figures. A record 41,000 immigrants are currently detained in U.S. facilities and half are asylum-seekers, said Bob Libal, executive director of Grassroots Leadership, an advocacy group that seeks an end to family detention.

The three family-detention facilities have a combined capacity of about 3,600 beds. The Department of Homeland Security is currently evaluating bids to add another 2,500 beds. Southwest Key Programs, an Austin-based nonprofit that operates shelters for unaccompanied migrant children, has looked at turning an abandoned Wal-Mart store along the border into a “humane shelter” for families seeking asylum, according to Cindy Casares, a spokeswoman for the group.

Advocates have long called on Obama to scrap the facilities because of inhumane conditions, including reports of babies being dressed in prison jumpsuits and punishment meted out to children for playing too noisily. The advocates believe the Central American asylum seekers pose a low flight risk and they recommend alternatives to detention, including wearing ankle monitors to ensure they show up for their court dates.

‘Added Urgency’

Under Trump, the advocates fear, the government could broaden the use of expedited removal -– fast-track deportation proceedings that take place without a judge — a practice that is already being used more frequently with asylum seekers.

“There is an added urgency to make sure that the families that are here get an opportunity to be heard in front of a judge,” said Ben Johnson, executive director at the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “There is some concern that those families under the new administration will never have that chance.”

Panic is meanwhile rising along the border as migrants have digested the news of Trump’s election. Immigrants staying in cramped shelters or church basements are trying to leave the border region for cities farther north such as Baltimore or New York, from where they believe it is harder to be deported, said Michael Seifert, an activist with the Southern Border Communities Coalition.

“There’s literally not enough commercial bus space to get the people out,” he said. “They’re all terrified.”

How does this all get packed up and by whom? Soros….

Soros-Funded Group Pushing ‘Sanctuary Campus’ Anti-Trump Protests

The demonstrations are billed as being led by students

FreeBeacon: An organization that has received funding from liberal billionaire George Soros is pushing anti-Donald Trump student protests that call for sanctuary campuses to protect undocumented students.

Thousands of students at more than 80 college campuses have participated in “sanctuary campus” protests, CBS News reported. Students have signed petitions and walked out of classes at their universities “in support of undocumented classmates.”

The protests are billed as though they are being organized by students at the grassroots level, but in fact a D.C.-based immigration activist group is behind them.

United We Dream is the “largest immigrant youth-led organization in the nation,” composed of over 100,000 immigrant youth and 55 affiliate organizations in 26 states, according to its website. The group seeks to “organize and advocate for the dignity and fair treatment of immigrant youth and families, regardless of immigration status.”

The group issued a “state of resilience and urgency for immigrants” on Nov. 9, the day after Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton.

“The most contentious election in a generation is over. Across the country, immigrant youth in orange shirts, and backed by the strength of their convictions, faced the racism of Trump head on in a fight for their lives,” the press release stated.

“Immigrants are declaring a state of urgency and resilience. Over the coming weeks, our families and community members will need to tap into the incredible strength that brought us to this country and which we use to survive,” said Cristina Jimenez, the executive director and co-founder of United We Dream.

“This is a time to mobilize in every city state across our country,” Jimenez later added in the release. “We calling on all people to take action to demand that their mayors and governors declare their cities and states as spaces of safety.”

United We Dream has received tens of thousands of dollars from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations. Unbound Philanthropy, a private grant-making foundation focusing on migrants and refugees, and a handful of other liberal grant-making organizations have also funded the United We Dream Network since 2009.

Taryn Higashi, the executive director of Unbound Philanthropy, sits on an advisory board of Soros’s Open Society Foundations.

United We Dream has teamed up with Voto Latino, a non-profit organization that “empowers” American latinos, on the campus protests. Actress Rosario Dawson is cofounder and chairwoman of Voto Latino.

“Donald Trump began his campaign disparaging immigrants, calling for mass deportations, and now has confirmed his plans to immediately deport 2-3 million people,” said Maria Teresa Kumar, president and CEO of Voto Latino. “We call on all young people to organize with us in our college campuses and on social media in our community’s fight for justice and dignity, to keep our community informed and to provide immigrant youth and their families protection from deportation and separation.”

Voto Latino tweeted about sanctuary campuses on Nov. 16.

“We look forward to our campus chapters organizing & pushing their schools to become sanctuary campuses! ‪#HereToStay,” the tweet said. The tweet linked to an article about universities facing pressure to become immigrant sanctuaries.

The groups have launched a MoveOn petition calling for sanctuary cities that will be delivered to mayors across the United States. It has garnered more than 100,000 signatures. United We Dream also followed Trump around the campaign trail.

United We Dream did not return a request for comment on its involvement in the campus protests.

 

Edging to 50,000 a Month, Crossing the Southern Border

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It is an invasion.

Just this month:

USCIS Announces Addition of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to Eligible Countries for the H-2A and H-2B Visa Programs
USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the Department of State, have added St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the list of countries whose nationals are eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B visa programs for the coming year.
USCIS to Centralize Processing of Special Immigrant Juvenile Cases
Starting on November 1, 2016, USCIS will centralize the Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) program. This means SIJ-based Form I-360 petitions and Form I-485 applications will primarily be adjudicated at one location, the National Benefits Center (NBC). USCIS will retain discretion to require in-person interviews at local field offices to complete adjudications as needed.
USCIS Reaches CW-1 Cap for Fiscal Year 2017
USCIS has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the numerical limit (the “cap”) of 12,998 workers who may be issued CNMI-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) visas or otherwise provided with CW-1 status for fiscal year 2017.

Notice how Jeh Johnson says they have been detained? Yeah for a hour or two?

On the heels of a handful of lawmakers having decried the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for having failed to provide Congress with information on its efforts to address the surge of illegal aliens at the Southwest border and demanded DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson to “take immediate action to quell the surge at the border and enforce our nation’s immigration laws,” Johnson responded in a statement, saying, “In October, a total of 46,195 individuals were apprehended between ports of entry on our southwest border, compared with 39,501 in September and 37,048 in August.”

“Within these totals,” Johnson said, “we have seen corresponding increases in the numbers of unaccompanied children and individuals in families apprehended.  We’ve also seen increases in the numbers of those who present themselves at ports of entry along the southwest border seeking asylum.”

Previously, House Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Senate Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Immigration and Border Security Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC), and Immigration and The National Interest Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) demanded Johnson “take immediate action to quell the surge at the border and enforce our nation’s immigration laws.”

They also request a briefing to learn about what steps DHS is taking to address this pressing issue. To date, the department has been reluctant to timely provide information to the committees of jurisdiction.

In their letter to Johnsson, the lawmakers stated, “Numerous media reports indicate that this surge is a large-scale effort to enter the United States before this year’s presidential election. The onslaught of illegal immigration reflects continued efforts by aliens from Central America—El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala—to overwhelm our limited resources at the border, which inevitably results in the release of tens of thousands of removable aliens within the United States. In addition, thousands of Haitians and Africans are amassing in the Mexican cities of Tijuana and Mexicali for the purpose of presenting themselves to Customs and Border Protection officers asserting dubious claims of asylum, which will practically guarantee their entry. This group of ‘Other Than Mexicans’ at the Southwest border comprises 70-75 percent of all border crossings.”

This group also includes large numbers of “Special Interest Aliens,” individuals from Muslim countries where radical Islamist jihadists are entrenched.

“The numbers are staggering,” the lawmakers stated in their letter to Johnson. They noted that, “In Fiscal Year (FY) 2016, the Border Patrol apprehended 408,870 illegal aliens at the southern border, 23 percent more than the preceding fiscal year. Of those apprehended, more than 77,000 were members of so-called ‘family units,’ which represents an increase of 95 percent over FY 2015 figures, and nearly 60,000 were unaccompanied alien minors, which reflects a 49 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. On October 31, the Department of Health and Human Services reported that the daily referrals of unaccompanied illegal alien minors averaged 262 over the last week and approximately 237 in October. By comparison, referrals averaged 148 per day in October of FY 2014, the year of the first surge, and 60 per day in October of FY 2015.  As of October 27, 2016, the number of minors in [the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR)] care is approximately 10,700.”

In his response, Johnson stated, “I have told our border security and immigration enforcement personnel that we must keep pace with this increase. As a result, there are currently about 41,000 individuals in our immigration detention facilities — typically, the number in immigration detention fluctuates between 31,000 and 34,000 – and I have authorized U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement to acquire additional detention space for single adults so that those apprehended at the border can be returned to their home countries as soon as possible. We have also engaged with a number of countries to repatriate their citizens more quickly, and they have agreed to do so.”

“Our borders cannot be open to illegal migration,” Johnson said, noting, “We must, therefore, enforce the immigration laws consistent with our priorities. Those priorities are public safety and border security. Specifically, we prioritize the deportation of undocumented immigrants who are convicted of serious crimes and those apprehended at the border attempting to enter the country illegally. Recently, I have reiterated to our Enforcement and Removal personnel that they must continue to pursue these enforcement activities.”

Johnson said, “Those who attempt to enter our country without authorization should know that, consistent with our laws and our values, we must and we will send you back.”

In conclusion, Johnson said, “Once again, I encourage migrants and their families to pursue the various safe and legal paths available for those in need of humanitarian protection in the United States. Earlier this year, the government of Costa Rica announced its agreement to enter into a protection transfer arrangement with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration to help address the Central American migration challenge. We’ve also established an in-country referral program in countries of origin in Central America.  This will enable vulnerable residents in the region to be considered for refugee protection in the United States after being screened and interviewed by DHS officers. We have also announced expansion of the categories of individuals eligible for participation in our Central American Minors program when accompanied by a qualified child. We encourage use of these programs.”

Twitter: Selective Free Speech, Approves Muslim Brotherhood

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Congressman, Keith Ellison, MN must be getting quite nervous and if he is not yet, he will be. Will there be others in Congress?

Egypt’s military-backed government declares Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization

UK Declares Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Group, Breaks With Obama  To view the final report issued by the U.K. of which Barack Obama strongly condemned the U.K., go here.

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Members of both Houses of the U.S. Congress have submitted:

A BILL

To require the Secretary of State to submit a report to Congress on the designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Muslim Brotherhood

5 Terrorist Designation Act of 2015’’.

“This bill puts the lie to the notion that the Muslim Brotherhood is a peaceful political organization that can be a legitimate partner for America,” the lawmaker said. “In 2008 the Justice Department successfully prosecuted the largest terrorism-financing trial in American history arguing that the Muslim Brotherhood directed U.S. affiliates such as the Holy Land Foundation to provide ‘media, money and men’ to Hamas. That support was used for terrorist attacks against Americans and our allies in the Middle East.  When they are capable they will try to do the same thing here.”

The bill, which includes a lengthy history of the Brotherhood’s links to radical terrorist leaders and violent incidents, concludes that “the Muslim Brotherhood meets the criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist organization.”

It would require the State Department and other agencies to determine whether the Brotherhood officially meets the requirements to be designated under U.S. law as a terrorist organization.

However, “if the Secretary of State determines that the Muslim Brotherhood does not meet the criteria,” it must submit to Congress “a detailed justification as to which criteria have not been met,” according to the bill.

Muslim Brotherhood affiliates as well as the group’s members have been listed as sponsors of terrorism in the past by the U.S. government.

Five countries—Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Russia—already consider the Brotherhood a terrorist organization.

Israel, Canada, and the United Kingdom are examining the possibility of designating it a terrorist organization as well. In 2014, a senior member of the Brotherhood was hosted at the White House last year, while other representatives of the group have been granted entrance to the United States. More here from FreeBeacon.

While members of Islamic State have accounts on Twitter, there is a mobilized team of people that work daily to take down those terror Twitter accounts. Yet all this seems to be good for Twitter when it comes to giving terror groups an approved and verified status on social media.

The matter of domestic proof of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terror organization has been a large part of discussions in Congress at least since 2010. One such letter is noted here:

mb-congress-letter

Twitter Verifies Muslim Brotherhood’s Account Despite Pledges to Curb Hate Speech

Twitter has verified an official English account of the Muslim Brotherhood, despite the platform’s pledge to fight hate speech. Multiple countries have designated the organization as a terrorist group.

On Saturday, Twitter awarded the Muslim Brotherhood a “verification check”, normally given to legitimate and prominent accounts on the platform. The reason for verification remains unclear due to Twitter’s policy of not commenting on individual accounts.

But under chief executive Jack Dorsey Twitter faced increasing controversy when it comes to free speech issues: prominent conservatives and an account dedicated to women’s rights in Saudi Arabia were suspended this year, for allegations of incitement or other reasons many critics called frivolous.

The Muslim Brotherhood account, however, has been openly aligned with another designated terrorist organization — Hamas — which seeks the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people and has been linked to numerous terror attacks. Back in April, Twitter shut down accounts associated with Hamas.

The now-verified Muslim Brotherhood account once compared Israel to South Africa’s apartheid system and reaffirmed its “deep appreciation” and “full support”of the so-called resistance movement Hamas and its military wing Qassam Brigades.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood’s non-English account on Twitter openly celebrates the death of Jews and is widely shared among Twitter’s radical Islamists. More here from HeatStreet.
Egypt confiscates assets of 46 Muslim Brotherhood members

November 21, 2016: FNC: CAIRO –  An Egyptian government committee has ordered the confiscation of assets of 46 members and supporters of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

The move is part of the crackdown on the Brotherhood, once Egypt’s largest opposition group, since the ouster President Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president whose rule proved divisive.

The government committee, which is affiliated with the Justice Ministry, says the confiscated assets include five companies involved in trade, construction, and pharmaceuticals.

It says Mohammed Abdel-Gawad, a former head of the pharmacists’ union under the Brotherhood’s rule of Egypt, is among those affected by Monday’s order.

Over the past three years, Egypt has confiscated assets of scores of Brotherhood members and seized their businesses, including schools, hospitals, and companies. Thousands of Brotherhood figures are also jailed or imprisoned.

Will Obama Burrow-in on the Trump Admin? Likely

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A smooth and successful transfer of power on the surface perhaps…but beware of those in the shadows and lurking forever in dark hallways inside the beltway.

Primer: Obama tells anti-Trump protestors to march-on.

President Obama, speaking at a press conference in Germany, passed up the opportunity Thursday to tamp down the anti-Donald Trump protests back home — urging those taking part not to remain “silent.” 

The president fielded a question on the protests during a joint news conference in Berlin alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel. 

“I suspect that there’s not a president in our history that hasn’t been subject to these protests,” he answered. “So, I would not advise people who feel strongly or who are concerned about some of the issues that have been raised during the course of the campaign, I wouldn’t advise them to be silent.” 

He added: “Voting matters, organizing matters and being informed on the issues matter.” 

Have you heard of the Senior Executive Service?

The Senior Executive Service (SES) lead America’s workforce. As the keystone of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, the SES was established to “…ensure that the executive management of the Government of the United States is responsive to the needs, policies, and goals of the Nation and otherwise is of the highest quality.” These leaders possess well-honed executive skills and share a broad perspective on government and a public service commitment that is grounded in the Constitution.

Members of the SES serve in the key positions just below the top Presidential appointees. SES members are the major link between these appointees and the rest of the Federal workforce. They operate and oversee nearly every government activity in approximately 75 Federal agencies.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) manages the overall Federal executive personnel program, providing the day-to-day oversight and assistance to agencies as they develop, select, and manage their Federal executives.

Obama by using his mighty pen and phone can covert some of his most trusted operatives to be permanent government employees, undermining the missions of the next administration. Let that sink in a moment.

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Personnel—Political-to-Career Conversions (“Burrowing In”)

Some individuals, who are serving in appointed (noncareer) positions in the executive branch, convert to career positions in the competitive service, the Senior Executive Service (SES), or the excepted service. This practice, commonly referred to as “burrowing in,” is permissible when laws and regulations governing career appointments are followed. While such conversions may occur at any time, frequently they do so during the transition period when one Administration is preparing to leave office and another Administration is preparing to assume office.

Generally, these appointees were selected noncompetitively and are serving in such positions as Schedule C,  noncareer SES, or limited tenure SES24 that involve policy determinations or require a close and confidential relationship with the department or agency head and other top officials. Many of the Schedule C appointees receive salaries at the GS-12 through GS-15 pay levels. The noncareer and limited tenure members of the SES receive salaries under the pay schedule for senior executives that also covers the career SES.  Career employees, on the other hand, are to be selected on the basis of merit and without political influence following a process that is to be fair and open in evaluating their knowledge, skills, and experience against that of other applicants. The tenure of noncareer and career employees also differs. The former are generally limited to the term of the Administration in which they are appointed or serve at the pleasure of the person who appointed them. The latter constitute a work force that continues the operations of government without regard to the change of Administrations. In 2007, Paul Light, a professor of government at New York University who studied appointees over several Administrations, indicated that the pay, benefits, and job security of career positions underlie the desire of individuals in noncareer positions to “burrow in.”

Beyond the fundamental concern that the conversion of an individual from an appointed (noncareer) position to a career position may not have followed applicable legal and regulatory requirements, “burrowing in” raises other concerns. When the practice occurs, the following perceptions (whether valid or not) may result: that an appointee converting to a career position may limit the opportunity for other employees (who were competitively selected for their career positions, following examination of their knowledge, skills, and experience) to be promoted into another career position with greater responsibility and pay; or that the individual who is converted to a career position may seek to undermine the work of the new Administration whose policies may be at odds with those that he or she espoused when serving in the appointed capacity. Both perceptions may increase the tension between noncareer and career staff, thereby hindering the effective operation of government at a time when the desirability of creating “common ground” between these staff to facilitate government performance continues to be emphasized.28

Appointments to Career Positions

Appointments to career positions in the executive branch are governed by laws and regulations that are codified in Title 5 of the United States Code and Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, respectively. For purposes of both, appointments to career positions are among those activities defined as “personnel actions,” a class of activities that can be undertaken only in accordance with strict procedures. In taking a personnel action, each department and agency head is responsible for preventing prohibited personnel practices; for complying with, and enforcing, applicable civil service laws, rules, and regulations and other aspects of personnel management; and for ensuring that agency employees are informed of the rights and remedies available to them. Such actions must adhere to the nine merit principles and thirteen prohibited personnel practices that are codified at 5 U.S.C. §2301(b) and §2302(b), respectively. These principles and practices are designed to ensure that the process for selecting career employees is fair and open (competitive), and free from political influence.

Department and agency heads also must follow regulations, codified at Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, that govern career appointments. These include Civil Service Rules 4.2, which prohibits racial, political, or religious discrimination, and 7.1, which addresses an appointing officer’s discretion in filling vacancies. Other regulations provide that Office of Personnel Management (OPM) approval is required before employees in Schedule C positions may be detailed to competitive service positions, public announcement is required for all SES vacancies that will be filled by initial career appointment, and details to SES positions that are reserved for career employees (known as Career-Reserved) may only be filled by career SES or career-type non-SES appointees.

During the period June 1, 2016, through January 20, 2017, which is defined as the Presidential Election Period, certain appointees are prohibited from receiving financial awards. These

appointees, referred to as senior politically appointed officers, are (1) individuals serving in noncareer SES positions; (2) individuals serving in confidential or policy determining positions as Schedule C employees; and (3) individuals serving in limited term and limited emergency positions.

When a department or agency, for example, converts an employee from an appointed (noncareer) position to a career position without any apparent change in duties and responsibilities, or the new position appears to have been tailored to the individual’s knowledge and experience, such actions may invite scrutiny. OPM, on an ongoing basis, and GAO, periodically, conduct oversight related to conversions of employees from noncareer to career positions to ensure that proper procedures have been followed. More here from FAS.

 

There Already is a Registry Database, NSEERS Kinda

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It is called NSEERS.

There is an entry and exit program managed by the Department of Homeland Security….well they maintain it but don’t use it to remove people…but it does exist to the point of a backlog of 1.6 million and it actually a Visa Overstay system.

Thank you GW Bush, as NSEERS was launched in 2002 and used to collect names, backgrounds and locations of people that were inside the United States that would pose a threat and cause additional harm to the homeland. The Bush administration earnestly applied all elements of this program and performed thousands of deportations as well as criminal investigations on violators or those connected to nefarious groups and organization. By the end of the calendar year 2002, 3,995 wanted criminals had been arrested attempting to cross into the United States. 

The 9/11 Commission Report dedicated an entire chapter to immigration and the flaws. Many of the hijackers were in the United States illegally. Okay, then the 9/11 Commission also made stout recommendations of which everyone in Congress agreed to and signed. Then a few years later, those agreements began to fall apart on the Democrat side and continue to be forgotten today.

So, Obama Should Pardon ‘Dreamer’ Immigrants, Democrats Say

Bloomberg: A group of House Democrats called on President Barack Obama to pardon about 750,000 young undocumented immigrants who are temporarily shielded from deportation under a 2012 executive order, a move that reflects growing concern about a shift in immigration policy expected after President-elect Donald Trump takes power in January. More here.

*****

Back to that database.

Then the Obama administration decided there were legal challenges to its application and use.

GAO had previously reported that, as of January 2011, DHS had a backlog of 1.6 million unmatched arrival records that had not been reviewed through automated or manual processes. DHS tracks arrivals and departures and closes records for individuals with matching arrival and departure records. Unmatched arrival records indicate that the individual is a potential overstay. In 2011, DHS reviewed this backlog of 1.6 million records, closed about 863,000 records, and removed them from the backlog. As new unmatched arrival records have accrued, DHS has continued to review all of these new records for national security and public safety concerns. As of June 2013, DHS’s unmatched arrival records totaled more than 1 million. More here from the 2013 report.

The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties was asked to take a hard look at the NSEERS program and they made some deletions with the approval of Secretary Jeh Johnson in 2011.

DHS Removes Designated Countries from NSEERS Registration (May 2011)

As part of the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties‘ (CRCL) outreach efforts, we have translated the following announcement into Arabic, Bengali, Farsi, French, Pashto and Urdu.

DHS announced the removal of the list of countries whose nationals have been subject to registration under the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS)—effectively ending the NSEERS registration process through the publication of a notice in the Federal Register.

DHS and the U.S. government have conducted roundtables, meetings, and town halls with our community partners around the nation, regarding the NSEERS process. NSEERS was first implemented in 2002 as a temporary measure in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and was designed to record the arrival, stay, and departure of certain individuals from countries chosen based on an analysis of possible national security threats. The NSEERS registration required approximately 30 minutes in secondary inspection, per person, per arrival; and NSEERS registrants were also required to register upon departure at one of the 118 designated ports of departure, limiting travel flexibility.

So for the year 2015, DHS issued an Entry/Exit Overstay Report and the real change in word definitions began to change.

An overstay is a nonimmigrant who was lawfully admitted to the United States for an authorized period but stayed or remains in the United States beyond his or her lawful admission period. DHS identifies two types of overstays—those individuals for whom no departure has been recorded (Suspected In-Country Overstay) and those individuals whose departure was recorded after their lawful admission period expired (Out-of-Country Overstay). The overstay identification process is conducted through arrival, departure and immigration status information, consolidated to generate a complete picture of individuals traveling to the United States.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) collects biographic information on all nonimmigrant arrivals to the United States through an inspection by a CBP officer. In the air and sea environment, CBP officers validate the manifest information provided by commercial and private aircraft operators. For many nonimmigrants, submission of biometric information is also required upon admission and is captured in the presence of a CBP officer.1 In addition, CBP has strengthened the document requirements at air, land, and sea Ports of Entry (POEs) by reducing the number of accepted travel documents one may use to enter the United States, 2 which in turn has increased CBP’s ability to quickly and accurately collect information on arriving aliens, particularly at the land borders.

The United States did not build its border, aviation, and immigration infrastructure with exit processing in mind. Consequently, United States airports do not have designated areas exclusively for travelers leaving the United States. Instead, departures of travelers are recorded biographically using outbound passenger manifests provided by commercial carriers. Under regulations governing the Advance Passenger Information System, carriers are required to validate the manifest information against the travel document being presented before a traveler is permitted to board their aircraft or sea vessel.

In the land environment, travelers arrive at land POEs via various modes of transportation, including cars, trains, buses, ferries, bicycles, trucks, and on foot. There are major physical infrastructure, logistical, and operational hurdles to collect an individual’s biographic and biometric data upon departure. Due to the existing limitations in collecting departure data in the land environment, this report does not include departure and overstay information from those travelers who entered the United States through a land POE. CBP is addressing these limitations through various efforts, including increased information sharing and partnerships, targeted operations, analyzing land POE departure traffic, and several pilots to experiment with innovative means of collecting biometric information from individuals departing via land POEs.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) anticipates the ability to provide a broader scope of data in future Entry/Exit Overstay Reports. Efforts by CBP, as described in this report, are ongoing and will continue to improve the existing process and availability of departure data.

In January 2012, CTCEU initiated the use of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) in support of its Overstay Program to screen overstays by identifying potential matches to derogatory intelligence community holdings.

FY 2015 only, the Department determined that there were a total of 44,928,381 nonimmigrant admissions to the United States for business or pleasure through air or sea POEs that were expected to depart in FY 2015. Of this number, the Department calculated a total overstay rate of 1.17 percent, or 527,127 individuals. In other words, 98.83 percent had left the United States on time and abided by the terms of their admission.

At the end of FY 2015, Suspected In-Country Overstays were 482,781 individuals, with a Suspected In-Country Overstay rate of 1.07 percent. This data indicates that 98.93 percent had departed the United States or transitioned to a lawful immigration status.

If you can stand reading the report and how the numbers are filtered and sifted, go here.