National Security

USCIS Director, Lee Francis Cissna announced the agency's new mission statement that defines the responsibility of USCIS in the U.S. immigration system to prioritize the interests of Americans above all else, in regards to national security and public safety.

DHS Sec. Kirstjen Nielson announced new risk-based measures to enhance national security in the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) through intensified screening of foreign nationals from 11 high-risk countries. The 90-day review came in response to Section 3 of Pres. Trump's executive order last January, which required that the DHS Secretary, the Secretary of State, and the Director of National Intelligence work together to determine whether or not any actions taken to address refugee admissions security risks should be terminated or modified.

In this Real Clear Defense op-ed, military veteran Robin Boggs denounces Rep. Jeff Denham’s (R-Calif.) ENLIST Act saying it would not improve military readiness. The ENLIST Act would give illegal aliens who meet certain requirements Legal Permanent Residence (LPR) status if they join the military. The amnesty bill currently has over 200 sponsors and several have tried to sneak the bill into the defense budget.

The latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) report shows that border apprehensions increased by 9% from last month but remains 53% lower than June 2016. CBP officials noted that since the fiscal year began in October total apprehensions have decreased by two-thirds hitting a six-year record low.

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) reported that in the last six years around 220,000 criminal aliens have been booked in Texas jails. DHS confirmed to DPS that at least 148,000 or 66% of those criminal aliens had entered the U.S. illegally.

Yesterday, the Michael Davis, Jr. and Danny Oliver in Honor of State and Local Law Enforcement Act (H.R. 2431) was approved by the House Judiciary Committee by a 19-13 vote. The Davis-Oliver Act was introduced by Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho) and would strengthen interior enforcement.

A new report from the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General found that ICE deportation officers are so overloaded that they lose track of aliens that have been released pending their deportation, including some posing national security risks. Under the Obama Administration, deportation officers based in Washington, D.C., handled more than 10,000 released deportable aliens per person on average, while those in Atlanta averaged more than 5,000 released to the streets. Due to caseload and lack of direction, “ICE is almost certainly not deporting all the aliens who could be deported and will likely not be able to keep up with growing numbers of deportable aliens,” the report said.

Sanctuary Jurisdictions declined 47 detainer requests last week that had been issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These jurisdictions rejected detainer requests for illegal aliens who had been charged or convicted with crimes, including domestic violence, sexual assault, and assault.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced during yesterday's White House press briefing that the administration will begin withholding federal funding from jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration laws. Pres. Trump’s Jan. 25 executive order instructed DHS to identify sanctuary jurisdictions and federal funding that could be cut off to these jurisdictions.

Pres. Donald Trump signed a new executive order today that rescinds his Jan. 27 refugee order reworking several of the original provisions while keeping others intact. The new order, which goes into effect on March 16, will pause the issuance of new visas for six countries identified as hot spots for terror for 90 days, pause the refugee resettlement program for 120 days, and cap overall refugee resettlement for FY2017 at 50,000.

The Center of Immigration Studies (CIS) has reviewed a Senate report on individuals convicted in terror cases since 9/11 and found that 72 individuals came from one of the seven countries listed in Pres. Trump’s executive order as a hot spot for terror. His order was blocked by both a Federal District Judge James Robart and the Ninth Circuit Court last week. Judge Robart claimed that there was no evidence that individuals from these countries posed a national security risk.

Two federal courts blocked Pres. Trump's immigration executive order that pauses both the refugee resettlement program and the entry of immigrants and nonimmigrants from seven countries identified by Congress and Pres. Obama as hot spots for terror. In response, the Trump administration said it will honor the rulings, but that it will continue to fight for the executive order in court.

An illegal alien, Pedro Figueroa Zarceno, is suing the city of San Francisco for violating their sanctuary city policy by reporting him to ICE. Under their sanctuary policy, city resources are not allowed to be used to enforce federal immigration laws.

Appearing in a confirmation hearing yesterday, Homeland Security Secretary nominee Gen. John Kelly called for a multifaceted approach to securing the border and criticized the Obama Administration for giving “a pass” to most illegal aliens. He said that the law would "guide” his decisions if confirmed, and that he would “rapidly” process illegal aliens for return to the countries.

Yesterday Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) introduced the Mobilizing Against Sanctuary Cities Act, H.R. 83, which would stop any federal funding to any jurisdictions who refuse to work with federal immigration officials. This is the third time Rep. Barletta has introduced this bill.

Kellyanne Conway, the newly-named counselor to President-elect Donald Trump, said the incoming Administration will not develop policies triggering heightened security based on an individual’s religious affiliation. She said Mr. Trump’s policies will instead focus on heightened vetting for individuals from terrorism-producing countries.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Tex., unveiled a plan to overhaul homeland security that includes: “extreme vetting” of foreign travelers; revamping the visa application process; immediate suspension of all immigration, including refugees, from high-risk areas; building a wall and increasing border assets; ending catch-and-release policies; reforming asylum standards; deporting criminal aliens; ending sanctuary cities; implementing a full entry-exit system; re-examining guest-worker programs; and mandating E-Verify.

Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) wrote an op-ed in The Daily Caller calling on Congress to deny Pres. Obama’s demand to increase funding to the refugee resettlement program to $3.9 billion. This is nearly a 250% increase that will support settling refugees and illegal alien border-crossers in the United States.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., today exposed that USCIS halted naturalization ceremonies and stopped accepting new citizenship applications after it learned that its computerized case management system had not run FBI background checks on certain citizenship applicants. Earlier this year the DHS Inspector General revealed that the system had issued hundreds of green cards to incorrect names and addresses, sparking national security fears.

Harford County, Maryland Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler signed a 287(g) federal/local partnership agreement that will allow his deputies to screen for illegal aliens in the county’s jail who have committed crimes that threaten public safety or who otherwise threaten national security. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) bureau had largely shelved the 287(g) Program in an effort to shield illegal aliens from deportation but the gambit also undermined the agency's policy of prioritizing criminal-alien deportations. The Harford County agreement is part of policy reversal meant to shore up the deportation of criminal aliens and save face.

The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest held a hearing yesterday to discuss Pres. Obama’s plan to increase the number of refugees to 110,000 next year, despite security risks that the vetting process presents. In the hearing Obama administration officials admitted that asylum seekers were granted refugee status in the U.S. solely on their own testimony and that refugees have been caught committing terrorism offenses in the U.S.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, released an internal DHS memo they obtained saying the agency relaxed its requirements for refugees to prove who they are, which makes fraud “easy to commit” and hard to detect. In joint-panel testimony, ICE Director Sarah Saldana denied ever seeing the memo but the news could undermine the Administration’s push for more refugees from terror-producing countries.

DHS’ inspector general released an audit on Monday that showed that around 858 illegal aliens who had pending deportation orders were mistakenly granted citizenship. These illegal aliens, many of whom are from countries that pose national security concerns, were able to commit fraud since DHS did not have their fingerprints on file to check their identity.