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The Department of Homeland Security's independent government watchdog told a House panel on Friday that the Health and Human Services Department has “mismanaged” money and efforts to address a possible Ebola outbreak. As a result, the agency may have wasted millions of dollars on some equipment and drugs, while not spending enough on other needs. “DHS purchased much of the equipment and drugs without thinking through how these supplies would need to be replaced,” Homeland Security Inspector General John Roth said during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing. A recent inspector general's audit of DHS purchases shows the...

When two burly men walked into a Missouri women's underwear store Tuesday, the owners didn't think much of it -- until the pair flashed their Homeland Security badges and confiscated several dozen panties bearing the initials "KC" in honor of the Kansas City Royals.

The Homeland Security Department appears to be preparing for an increase in the number of immigrants applying for work permits after President Barack Obama announces his long-promised plans for executive actions on immigration reform later this year. US Citizenship and Immigration Services confirmed to the Associated Press that it has published a draft contract proposal to buy the card stock needed to make work permits and Permanent Resident Cards, more commonly known as green cards. The proposal calls for providing material for at least 5 million cards a year, with as many as 9 million “during the initial period …...

“We are in a dangerous place in the world, perhaps more dangerous than in the past 10 years.” That’s what former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff had to say when he visited The Heritage Foundation recently. And with reports of terrorist groups such as the Islamic State, often referred to as ISIS, all over the news, it’s not hard to see why. As Chertoff noted, terrorist groups have proliferated “from Africa east to Afghanistan.” Frightening images of beheadings and other forms of graphic violence are all too common. And news that some Americans have gone to the Middle East...

The large scale protests in Missouri are back in force as people take to the streets in what’s being variously called the Weekend of Protest or Ferguson October, depending who you ask. And the media is once again out in droves. Tense but peaceful protests over Michael Brown’s death and other fatal police shootings in Missouri and elsewhere stretched across the St. Louis region Friday as organizers urged hundreds of participants to avoid arrest so that they could return for a weekend of demonstrations.The four-day event called Ferguson October began Friday afternoon with a march outside the St. Louis...

Government watchdog Judicial Watch has sued the City of Phoenix Police Department over documents surrounding a 2013 gang-style assault on an apartment complex. Long-guns, a handgun, empty casings and buildings riddled with bullets were reported at the scene and two people were wounded in the incident. When the incident occurred and during investigation afterward, police worked with federal law enforcement agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Department of Homeland Security, FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency in the case, raising suspicions the assault wasn't simply a typical, local gang shootout and prompted questions about the details of the...

The six-strikes Copyright Alert System has been active for one and a half years now and warnings are being sent out at an increasing rate. The program will double in size this year, according to its executive director, in the hope that it will eventually change people's norms toward piracy. February last year, five U.S. Internet providers started sending Copyright Alerts to customers who use BitTorrent to pirate movies, TV-shows and music.These efforts are part of the Copyright Alert System, an anti-piracy plan that aims to educate the public. Through a series of warnings suspected pirates are informed that their...

It's not enough. Julia Pierson's otherwise distinguished career at the Secret Service ended Wednesday when she resigned as director of the disgraced agency—her last act the right one. Now President Obama and Congress must do their part to fix the Secret Service. They should start by undoing a Bush-era reform approved by Congress in the name of hardening U.S. defenses against terrorism. After 9/11, several Secret Service agents, including those in leadership, warned me that no good would come from plans to yank the quasi-independent agency out of the Treasury Department and fold it into the fledgling monstrosity that would...

Former Obama campaign bundler and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson testified in front of the House Homeland Security yesterday and was peppered with questions from lawmakers about the terrorism threat presented by a lack of border enforcement and security. As usual, Johnson gave unconcerned, non-detailed answers. Megyn Kelly & Jason Chaffetz On Terrorists Using Southern Border On Sept 10 2011 The Kelly File First off, what you didn't see in the clip above was Johnson's attempt yesterday to shill for illegal immigration reform as Americans raise more concerns about a lack of border security. During an answer to another lawmaker...

What is the enduring lesson of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when the Bush administration overestimated and, in some cases, exaggerated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein? Some say it's to be skeptical of government officials who are making the case for war. I say the legacy should be skepticism toward government officials, period—all of them. Their hidden agendas can shade the case for peace as well as war, which might explain why there's no consensus among so-called experts about the threat posed today by ISIS. On a scale of zero to panic, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint...

Homeland Security spokesman Francis Taylor said in a Senate hearing last week that there is no evidence to support the belief that the Islamic State terror group is planning a cross border attack on U.S. soil. Taylor, DHS undersecretary for Intelligence and Analysis, told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about DHS being "unaware" of a threat from the group, which is also called ISIS or ISIL. "At present, DHS is unaware of any specific, credible threat to the U.S. homeland from ISIL," Taylor said Wednesday, according to a transcript. "I'm satisfied we have the intelligence and...

"If you see something, say something." That's what our homeland security apparatchiks incessantly preach. But 13 years after the 9/11 attacks, the freedom to warn is in danger and vigilant whistleblowers are under fire. Listen to Robert MacLean. He's a former Air Force nuclear weapons specialist and Border Patrol agent recruited by the government to serve as one of the first federal air marshals after 9/11. In 2003, MacLean underwent emergency training to prepare for a new round of al-Qaida hijacking threats. Jihadists exploiting visa and screening loopholes had planned to target East Coast airliners, according to intelligence analysts. For...

ISIS Terrorists Won't Sneak into U.S. Across Loose Mexico Border: Homeland Security Officials Despite social media chatter on Twitter, Obama administration officials are more concerned about passport-holding bloodthirsty ISIS jihadists entering the U.S. via airplane. WASHINGTON - Despite some Twitter chatter, there is no evidence ISIS terrorists are trying to slip into the United States from Mexico, Department of Homeland Security officials told Congress Wednesday. Administration officials said they are more concerned about jihadists entering the U.S. legally on commercial airline flights. Administration higher-ups testifying at a House hearing Wednesday threw cold water on scary border scenarios cited by conservatives...

Earlier, I noted that the UK at least had begun planning to deal with its hundreds of citizens who went to fight for ISIS while the US and other similarly-situated Western countries have mostly wrung their hands over the issue. The US has a potentially bigger issue, though, in dealing with foreign nationals studying here legally. ABC News reports that the Department of Homeland Security can’t find more than 6,000 people living here on student visas — which sounds awfully familiar:CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO The Department of Homeland Security has lost track of more than 6,000 foreign...

The Obama administration broke the law when it released thousands of illegal immigrants, more than 600 of whom had criminal records, last February as a result of poor planning and micromanagement from Washington, according to an internal audit released Tuesday that says things have not improved in the 18 months since. Compounding matters, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) gave bad information to Congress, initially blaming the looming budget sequester, rather than the agency's own budget pressures, the Homeland Security inspector general concluded. In the new report the IG does clear top Homeland Security officials of accusations they pressured ICE...

If I drive across a U.S. border, I expect to stop at a Border Patrol checkpoint. But imagine driving to the grocery store, or Mom's house, well inside America, and being stopped by the Border Patrol. Many Americans don't have to imagine it -- it's how they live. Even as the federal government fails to control the southern border, it sends the Border Patrol farther into the interior, where Americans complain that agents harass people who are already U.S. citizens. It's legal. The Supreme Court ruled that the Border Patrol can set up "inland" checkpoints anywhere up to 100...

Feds Confiscate 40 Land Rovers Over VIN Controversy Federal agency seize 40 old Land Rovers, claiming that they are actually newer vehicles. Forty Land Rover SUVs have been taken away from owners around the country by armed federal agents descending on private property with overwhelming force. Agents for Homeland Security Investigations last month wrapped up the seizure of forty vehicles pursuant to a sealed warrant issued in May. The agency insists that there were discrepancies with the VIN numbers for cars imported by Aaron Richardet at Patterson Auto Sales in Wilmington, North Carolina, and that the Land Rovers violated Environmental...

The nation’s law enforcement agencies, from local cops all the way to the Department of Homeland Security, are always on the lookout for terrorist threats, and that includes at home as well as in far flung deserts and mountains. And they’re collecting data on all sorts of groups. What may come as a surprise is that, if you’re a regular reader of Hot Air or many other similar outlets, you might be one of the people they are watching! A new report this summer from a group of university analysts has identified the chief concerns of law enforcement agents at...

When it comes to environmental regulation compliance, the Department of Homeland Security isn’t playing — as evidenced by a recent federal raid of a South Carolinian’s home to confiscate a Land Rover that violated EPA emission rules. Jennifer Brinkley said she saw a line of law enforcement vehicles approaching her home and wondered what was wrong, the local WBTV reported. Homeland Security agents then went to her 1985 Land Rover Defender and lifted the hood. “They popped up the hood and looked at the Vehicle Identification Number and compared it with a piece of paper and then took the car...

Officials have said that more than half of all children initially placed in shelters have gone on to be reunited with at least one parent already living in the United States, and 85 percent of all children have been placed with a close family member.