Homeland Security Chief: We're Enforcing Broken Immigration
Law
Sunday, 27 Apr 2014 01:01 PM
By Sandy Fitzgerald
The Department of Homeland Security is enforcing the nation's immigration
laws every day, Secretary Jeh Johnson
says, but the broken "immigration system in this country is not
working."
"I don't understand those who
are saying we're not enforcing the law," Johnson, who was appointed as
secretary this past fall, told ABC senior justice correspondent Pierre Thomas
on Sunday's "This Week" show. "We're enforcing the law every
day."
On Friday, protesters marched on
to DHS headquarters to confront the agency over deportation of immigrants, an
issue President Barack Obama asked Johnson last month to oversee.
Johnson said that he believes in a
more humane approach to immigration than now exists.
"Immigration laws need to
conform with American values," Johnson told Thomas. "I believe one of
those American values is respect for the sanctity of the family unit."
Tens of thousands of immigrants
who are in the U.S.
illegally but don't have serious criminal records could be shielded from
deportation under a policy change being weighed by Johnson.
The change, if adopted following a
review ordered by Obama, could limit removals of people who have little or no
criminal record but have committed repeat immigration violations such as
re-entering the country illegally after having been deported, or failing to
comply with a deportation order.
The possible move, confirmed by
two people with knowledge of the review, would fall short of the sweeping
changes sought by activists. They want Obama to expand a two-year-old program
that grants work permits to certain immigrants brought here illegally as
children to include other groups, such as the parents of any children born in
the U.S.
In other matters discussed in the
Sunday interview, Johnson recalled being in Manhattan
on 9/11 and seeing the World
Trade Center
on fire, and minutes later, seeing the second plane hit.
"I saw the buildings
collapse," said Johnson. "And like a lot of New Yorkers that day, I
went down to the street and literally wandered the streets, asking, what can I
do?"
And now, in his new role as
secretary of Homeland Security, the division created following the 9/11
attacks, Johnson said the threat of terrorism is still very real.
"You have to sort out a lot
of noise in what we read," said Johnson. "A lot of this stuff can be
pretty alarming. It can be sobering, no doubt. If we had an event, this
essentially is my eyes and ears."
Johnson said that his department
looks at everything, including the threats against cybersecurity, which is "not only a threat" but "a
series of ongoing daily attacks."
He also said that his division is
taking a hard look at airport security after a 15-year-old stowaway was able to
travel from California to Hawaii in the wheel well of an airplane.
"I'm concerned that someone
was able to breach airport security and position himself in an aircraft like
that," said Johnson.
Mass shootings also need to be
addressed, said Johnson.
"This is a growing phenomenon
around the country," he said. "I was in the Department of Defense
during the first Fort
Hood shooting in November
2009, and when the second one occurred a couple of weeks ago, I was devastated.
It's army bases, it's Navy installations, it's schools...I want solutions
before I leave office."
Syria is also becoming a growing concern for Homeland Security,
said Johnson.
"We're worried about people
who are going into Syria
[and] being recruited by extremists there," he said.
The United States also has to be
concerned about the "lone wolf" terrorist, said Johnson.
"We have to be concerned
about the lone wolf, the independent actor," he said. "The Boston marathon bombing a
year ago is a perfect example of that."
Department of Homeland Security
Jeh Charles
Johnson is the secretary at the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, and was a governor for the Roosevelt Institute.
Note: Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Roosevelt Institute, and the Harlem
Children's Zone.
George
Soros was the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society, a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, is the founder of Soros Fund Management, and a board member at the International Crisis Group.
Stanley F.
Druckenmiller is the chairman & benefactor trustee at the Harlem Children's Zone, a trustee at
the Environmental Defense Fund, and
was a managing director at Soros Fund
Management.
Ricardo
Lagos is a board member at the International
Crisis Group, and a trustee at the Environmental
Defense Fund.
Rod A. Beckstrom
was a trustee at the Environmental
Defense Fund, and a director at the National
Cybersecurity Center.
National
Cybersecurity Center is a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Jeh Charles
Johnson is the secretary at the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, and was a governor for the Roosevelt Institute.
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