Taliban Using Mosque Controversy to Recruit – Newsweek
Taliban officials know it’s sacrilegious to hope a mosque will not be built, but that’s exactly what they’re wishing for: the success of the fiery campaign to block the proposed Islamic cultural center and prayer room near the site of the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan. “By preventing [...]

Homeland Security Policy Institute
After more than seven years of war, the US mission in Iraq will transition from combat to stability operations. HSPI’s recent Commentary Baghdad Surprise?– coupled with the President’s address on the future of the US mission in Iraq – led us to pose three questions to key foreign policy and counterterrorism [...]

Nation’s nuclear power plants prepare for cyberattacks – NextGov
The threat to digital systems at the country’s nuclear power plants is considerable, but the sector is better prepared to defend against potentially devastating cyberattacks than most other utilities, according to government and industry officials and experts.

Are New Orleans’ storm defenses strong enough? – Homeland Security Newswire
It is almost five years since hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, and the city is bracing for other attacks to come. In a revamp now nearing completion, the city’s 560-kilometer perimeter has been fortified by toughened levees, cement walls more than 9-meters high, and imposing gates that will grind shut when flood water nears.

State of Arizona files Opening Brief in Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals – Homeland Security Newswire
Yesterday, 26 August 2010, the State of Arizona filed with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco its Opening Brief in seeking to overturn the decision of District Court Judge Susan Bolton enjoining enforcement of parts of Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070.

Border Patrol suicides are on the rise – GovExec
Since February 2008, 15 Border Patrol agents, 13 of whom were stationed in the Southwest, have committed suicide, the Associated Press reports. This marks an alarming increase for an agency that didn’t have any suicides for almost four years leading up to 2008, the report noted.

Roles and responsibilities key to making cybersecurity work – NextGov
Clarification of cybersecurity roles and responsibilities in the federal government remains the most crucial component of bills circulating in Congress, federal and industry executives said during a panel discussion on Thursday.

Maritime Cargo Scanning: The Wrong Approach for Avoiding Nuclear Attack? — CQ Homeland Security
Nonproliferation experts say the congressional mandate to scan all maritime cargo for radiation before it reaches U.S. shores is a woefully ineffective way to ward off a potential attack and threatens to eat up resources that would be better spent elsewhere.
Customs and [...]

Business groups blast proposed immigration reforms (8/11/10) — GovExec.com
Two major industry groups Wednesday blasted proposals to reform U.S. immigration policy, including pending legislation in Congress that would raise work-visa fees for foreign companies operating in the United States.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Council on International Personnel issued a report calling for a [...]

Distrust Hampers Public-Private Cybersecurity Partnerships – CQ Homeland Security
Mutual distrust has stymied the creation of an effective cybersecurity partnership between the federal government and the private companies that own most of America’s critical infrastructure, according to a report released Monday.

Group says body scanners can store, transfer images – NextGov
The Electronic Privacy Information Center said Tuesday that documents it has obtained show that the body scanners being used at federal courthouses can store and record the images of those scanned with the devices.

Justice Charges 14 U.S. Residents With Aiding Al Shabaab – CQ Homeland Security
Department of Justice officials on Thursday announced charges against 14 U.S. residents — the majority of them American citizens — for allegedly providing money and services to the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab.

U.S. charges 14 with giving support to Somali insurgent group
Federal authorities unsealed terrorism-related charges Thursday against 14 people accused of providing funding and recruits to a militant group in Somalia with ties to al-Qaeda, part of an expanding U.S. effort to disrupt what Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. called a “deadly pipeline” of money [...]

Criminals, spies dominate cyber world, with little to deter them | Homeland Security News Wire
White House cyber security coordinator Howard Schmidt says the U.S. economy essentially rests on safe Internet facilities; last year saw $10 trillion in online business, a figure forecast to hit $24 trillion in another decade, he noted; yet, incredibly, the business [...]

Rep. Franks: Administration Is Lying About the Arizona Immigration Law – US News and World Report
Now, the administration claims the law pre-empts federal responsibility, but the Constitution is clear. Article I, Section 8, gives Congress “the power to … establish a uniform rule of naturalization.” As the Supreme Court held in INS v. Chadha, “The [...]

House Democrats Push for TSA Workers’ Rights – CQ Homeland Security
Nearly a third of the House’s Democratic membership asked newly confirmed Transportation Security Administration head John S. Pistole last week to “strongly consider” granting his agency’s security workers collective bargaining and other workplace rights.

Bill Would Nix Deadline for Scanning Cargo at Foreign Ports – CQ Homeland Security
A new bipartisan bill would eliminate the congressional mandate for the Department of Homeland Security to scan all U.S.-bound cargo in foreign ports for radiation by 2012. The bill is one of two measures introduced this week that would reauthorize the 2006 law known as the SAFE Port Act (PL 109-347), which aims to improve maritime and cargo security through layered defenses.

Senate Panel to Discuss Afghanistan Amid Leak of War Documents – Homeland Security CQ
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday to discuss options for bringing about political reconciliation in Afghanistan. The hearing is likely to be overshadowed, however, by a larger discussion on overall U.S. policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan following the release by WikiLeaks over the weekend of more than 92,000 pages of classified documents tracking the war in Afghanistan from January 2004 to December 2009.

New TSA chief gets pressure on collective bargaining – GovExec
Now that the Transportation Security Administration chief has had about a month to settle into his job, unions and some lawmakers are starting to make more noise on collective bargaining rights for airport screeners.

Deportation by Default: Mental Disability, Unfair Hearings, and Indefinite Detention in the US Immigration System – ImmigrationProf Blog
A new report by Human Rights Watch says that immigrants with mental disabilities are often unjustifiably detained for years on end, sometimes with no legal limits. The report documents case after case in which people with mental disabilities were prevented from making claims against deportation – including claims of US citizenship – because they were unable to represent themselves.