DHS head Chertoff hired illegal immigrants

Pardon my French but you have got to be shitting me:

The nation's top immigration cop unknowingly used a company that hired illegal immigrants to clean his home for about three years, starting in 2005.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff hired the Maryland-based Consistent Cleaning Services to clean his home in the D.C. suburbs every few weeks for the past three years until an investigation conducted by one of his department's agencies discovered the company hired illegal workers.

Naturally, nobody wants to eat humble pie and take blame for the snafu; a Homeland Security spokesman claimed that it was the contractors fault for having undocumented immigrants work at the Chertoff residence. The head of the cleaning firm, meanwhile, has pled innocence and blamed the laborers who reportedly deceived him.

The above incident is indicative of the error-ridden status quo on immigration policy and serves as a damning indictment of delusional officials and politicos who pretend that all is well.

For the head of the agency which overlooks immigration in the U.S. to be caught up in such an affair is embarrassing though sadly not the first time he’s goofed.

How can one aspire for meaningful and fair immigration reform when such incompetence occurs? Hopefully this can change with a new administration though I’m increasingly more disillusioned with government doing anything serious on immigration.

How pathetic.

Image- Seattle Times
Sources- The Latin Americanist, washingtonpost.com, AP, CNN, Time

Chertoff’s immigration indifference

Allegations recently surfaced regarding the health of a Chinese illegal immigrant who was detained and died while in custody. Attorneys for the relatives of Hiu Lui Ng claimed that he was denied vital medical care while in custody and because of that Ng’s fatal cancer had gone undetected.

While Ng’s ordeal is pretty harrowing, what has caught my attention is the reaction to Ng’s case by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff:

You know I hate to see any detainee die in prison. And I always believe if there is negligence or misconduct that ought to be punished. I also recognize that the population of any detention facility, whether it’s a state prison, federal prison, you’re going to get a certain number of deaths.

That’s it? An answer which can be translated as “it stinks but shit happens”? Chertoff’s reply is flippant and irresponsible, devoid of any emotion beyond a lame verbal shrugging of the shoulders.

This type of attitude is disturbing in someone holding such an important post as Chertoff; a little sympathy can go a long way.

I wonder if he would react similarly if:

• Border Patrol officers and northern Mexico residents engage in almost daily skirmishes
• Hackers infiltrate into FEMA’s voicemail system and make hundreds of calls to the Middle East
• Smugglers keep crossing the border even in the middle of tropical deluges
• Allegations of abuse surround raids on undocumented workers

Image- Fox News

Sources- City Room, Vivirlatino, Gothamist, Associated Press, The Latin Americanist,

So Much for That Virtual Border Fence : Again

If you can't keep up with the virtual border fence along the Arizona- Mexico border, don't feel bad. The Department of Homeland Security can't seem to make up it's mind on the issue either. First, the virtual border fence was going to be delayed,
then Michael Chertoff, approved the fence. Now, it looks like the whole plan is going to be tossed in the trash. But don't you worry. Homeland Security is going to get those illegals yet (and spend millions more in the process). Now Boeing, who won an $860 million contract to provide the technology, physical fences and vehicle barriers, is to replace the so-called Project 28 prototype with a series of towers equipped with communications systems, new cameras and new radar capability, officials said.

Sources : Reuters, Yahoo

Everyone Has To Follow U.S. Laws Except Apparently the U.S.

The U.S. government is a stickler for people following the law, especially undocumented immigrants, but according the U.S. Congress U.S. Homeland Security doesn't have to follow U.S. laws.

Securing the nation’s borders is so important, Congress says, that Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, must have the power to ignore any laws that stand in the way of building a border fence. Any laws at all.
Last week, Mr. Chertoff issued waivers suspending more than 30 laws he said could interfere with “the expeditious construction of barriers” in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. The list included laws protecting the environment, endangered species, migratory birds, the bald eagle, antiquities, farms, deserts, forests, Native American graves and religious freedom.
The secretary of homeland security was granted the power in 2005 to void any federal law that might interfere with fence building on the border. For good measure, Congress forbade the courts to second-guess the secretary’s determinations. So long as Mr. Chertoff is willing to say it is necessary to void a given law, his word is final.

Source : NYT

Daily Headlines: November 1, 2007

* Follow-up: The death toll caused by Tropical Storm Noel’s rampage through the Caribbean has risen to over 80, while floods have swamped most of the Mexican state of Tabasco (image).

* Despite one commentator’s harsh criticism of John Edwards opposition to a U.S.-Peru free trade pact, isn’t having an opinion better than no opinion at all?

* On Tuesday, Brazil was officially selected as the site of the 2014 soccer World Cup.

* During a speech at a B'nai Brith conference, Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff blasted the growing relationship between the governments of Iran and Venezuela.

* Colombian police seized two homemade submarines which were being used to ship illegal drugs.

Sources- AFP, BBC News, FOX News, International Herald Tribune, Reuters, Foreign Policy - Passport

Image- BBC News