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They were previously allowed to use mere driving licenses. But residents of some US states may soon require additional ID, such as passports, if they wish to embark on air travel - even if just domestically. That's the new procedure on the horizon for people from states that have not yet introduced the standards required by the 2005 Real ID Act, which demands stricter regulations for state-issued IDs. The states that haven't yet fallen into line each now have a grace period of three months to meet the revised criteria. This deadline expires on 22 January 2018.

President Trump has been rightfully demanding that aliens who are citizens of countries that have an involvement with terrorism must undergo “extreme vetting.” This is certainly an important and commonsense requirement. However, the computer systems used by both Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) inside the United States are unable to provide CBP inspectors at ports of entry the data they need to prevent transnational criminals and international terrorists from entering the country. Nor can these systems provide the vital information and records to USCIS adjudications officers that would allow them to prevent aliens present in the United States from improperly...

Weeks after Maryland State Police and federal agents seized reporting files from a former Washington Times journalist’s home, a Homeland Security agent checked the materials out of the police evidence room for an hour, according to logs that shine new light on a case that has raised First Amendment concerns. The custody logs don’t state why the reporting materials were removed from evidence Sept. 3, about a month after they were seized from reporter Audrey Hudson’s home during a search in an unrelated investigation of her husband. But they do show that the Homeland Security agent checked out files and...

The federal judge in the Awan case dismissed a crucial H-1B immigration case against the Department of Homeland Security while failing to disclose to the court that a close family relative is employed in a high-ranking intelligence capacity with DHS, federal records show and sources confirm. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan is presiding over the Imran Awan and Hina Alvi bank fraud case in D.C. Last week Chutkan made headlines when it was reported she was appointed to the federal bench by Obama after she kicked thousands in campaign donations to his presidential campaign. Obama also appointed Chutkan’s husband,...

Former Obama administration official Jeh Johnson said the removal of Confederate statues was a matter of "public safety and homeland security" on Sunday. In the aftermath of deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va., when a man with white nationalist ties was arrested for ramming his car into a crowd of counter-protesters last week and killing a woman, Confederate monuments across the country have been taken down. The furor in Charlottesville began with a protest by white supremacists against the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. Johnson served as Secretary of Homeland Security under Obama, and he said on ABC's...

Could Attorney General Jeff Sessions end up at the Department of Homeland Security? It’s an idea some political observers have been debating after President Trump announced Friday that John Kelly, who leads the department, would replace Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff. Here’s how the theory goes: The president has been lashing out at Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia meddling investigation. Sessions would be able to continue his work against illegal immigration as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. And then the president would appoint someone else to the Department of Justice who would then...

Donald Trump earned respect from the Washington establishment for appointing three of the nation's most accomplished generals to direct his national security policy: James Mattis (secretary of defense), H.R. McMaster (national security adviser) and John Kelly (secretary of homeland security). In the first five months of the Trump administration, the three generals -- along with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former Exxon Mobil CEO -- have already recalibrated America's defenses. At home, illegal immigration is down by some 70 percent. Abroad, a new policy of principled realism seeks to re-establish deterrence through credible threats of retaliation. The generals are...

A man previously arrested with guns at Trump International Hotel has been taken back into custody for violating the conditions of his release after apparently returning to the capital. WASHINGTON (AP) — A Pennsylvania doctor arrested with guns last month at Trump International Hotel was taken back into custody Thursday after authorities say he returned to the capital and posted Facebook photos of newspaper headlines describing the shooting at the congressional baseball practice. Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather ruled that Bryan Moles, 43, must be held until trial for violating the conditions of his release and must undergo an initial forensic...

An important point before the details: ♦The hero in this entire constitutional story is Federal Judge Andrew Hanen (Full Backstory)♦ Yesterday, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly announced the DAPA program was officially rescinded: (VIA DHS) On June 15, Department of Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly, after consulting with the Attorney General, signed a memorandum rescinding the November 20, 2014 memorandum that created the program known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (“DAPA”) because there is no credible path forward to litigate the currently enjoined policy. (link)

When it comes to issues such as sanctuary cities, it is impossible to avoid controversy. When President Donald Trump appoints anyone to help oversee the issue, it will be controversial, especially if the appointment promises to be very effective one. Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke is scheduled to serve as an assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security. He will be working at the Office of Partnership and Engagement, which coordinates outreach to state and local governments. Clarke’s understanding of domestic law enforcement issues makes him the perfect candidate. He joins President Trump in opposing sanctuary cities and in...

Amid the bombed-out ruins of Mosul University, U.S. officials say they have uncovered evidence that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was developing a new type of bomb that could pass through an airport scanner undetected.  CBS News joined Iraqi Special Forces in Mosul just days after the hard-fought battle to recapture the University in January. It's long been believed that Mosul University was the center of the militants' bomb-making projects, using the school's equipment and labs.  Now, U.S. officials believe that research includes a new generation of more powerful explosives that could be concealed in a computer. ...

As the Palm Sunday bombing of two Coptic churches in Egypt demonstrated, even in the least oppressive Muslim nations, native Christian populations are under a great deal of pressure. It is a difficult problem as the Papacy is terrified of angering Muslim governments by criticizing the discrimination against and abuse of Middle Eastern Christian communities thereby making the situation worse, and Western governments have little to no interest in intervening in domestic pogroms when they perceive they have bigger fish to fry.While relations between the Copts and Mubarak were never really great, they cratered when the Muslim Brotherhood gained control...

For some 15 years, airport security has become steadily more invasive. There are ever more checkpoints, ever more requests for documents as you make your way from the airport entrance to the airplane. Passengers adapt to the new changes as they come. But my latest flight to Mexico, originating in Atlanta, presented all passengers with something I had never seen before. We had already been through boarding pass checks, passport checks, scanners, and pat downs. At the gate, each passenger had already had their tickets scanned and we were all walking on the jet bridge to board. It’s at this...

Rogue bureaucrats at the Department of Homeland Security have leaked an “incomplete” report critical of President Trump’s executive order that temporarily blocked the issuance of visas to seven Middle Eastern countries that previous administrations had declared “sponsors of state terrorism” or countries of concern. Based on that leaked document, the Associated Press published a story on Friday with the headline “AP Exclusive: DHS report disputes threat from banned nations.” *snip* Last week, Breitbart News reported that David Grannis, Principal Deputy Undersecretary for Intelligence and Analysis in the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security, is a...

Immigration policy experts lashed out Tuesday at the Department of Homeland Security’s plan to implement President Trump’s executive orders on immigration. “In my many years of practicing immigration law, I have not seen a mass deportation blueprint like this one,” Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that advocates for the rights of low-income immigrant families, said in a conference call with reporters. In two memos issued Tuesday, DHS Secretary John Kelly laid out sweeping new guidance for officers tasked with carrying out the president’s immigration policies. Those directives included a push to...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Trump administration is greatly expanding the number of people living in the U.S. illegally who are considered a priority for deportation, including people arrested for traffic violations, according to agency documents released Tuesday.The documents represent a sweeping rewrite of the nation's immigration enforcement priorities.

The US can give the boot to virtually every illegal immigrant in the country, and those caught crossing the southern border will be busted or sent packing, according to memos issued Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security. The new rules reflect the Trump Administration’s get-tough stance on illegals and are an about-face from the Obama administration’s “catch and release” policy — which let non-criminal undocumented immigrants remain in the US even after being caught. The memos put into practice policies outlined in two executive orders President Trump signed last month. “The Department no longer will exempt classes or categories...

ICE agents have officially been given the green light to begin making more arrests and deportations of illegals according to a report released by The Washington Times on Tuesday. From The Washington Times: Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly officially ordered federal agents this week to begin arresting and deporting more illegal immigrants, releasing them from the handcuffs the Obama administration had imposed, and making headway on one of President Trump’s chief campaign promises… …Those caught at the border are to be swiftly shipped back, Mr. Kelly said, and he freed agents to target a broader universe of illegal immigrants...

Following an intense week of sweeps across the country that nabbed hundreds of undocumented immigrants in at least seven states, authorities on Friday tried to downplay those actions as “routine.” Don’t believe them. Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Gillian Christensen, who according to The Washington Post “dislikes the term ‘raids,’ and prefers to say authorities are conducting ‘targeted enforcement actions,’” said the sweeps were “routine” and targeted mostly hardened criminals. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official David Marin echoed that line, calling the raids “surge operations” that target “people in this country illegally who have criminal convictions,” according to NPR....

Federal immigration authorities arrested at least 160 illegal aliens over multiple days and across multiple states in what the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is calling “routine” immigration enforcement actions.Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Gillian Christensen confirmed to the Washington Post that “routine” immigration enforcement actions were taken this week in Los Angeles, California; Atlanta, Georgia; and two other cities that were not identified. The enforcement actions took place at home and workplaces.The spokesperson noted it was an unprecedented step to issue statements on such raids while they were ongoing, but fast-spreading social media commentary triggered the agency to comment...