department of homeland security
February 9, 2017 -
This week a U.S. House committee voted to scrap the Election Assistance Commission — the independent government agency that sets security standards for voting machines. It's not the first time the agency created in response to the chaotic 2000 presidential election has been targeted for elimination by Republicans.
September 2, 2016 -
The same day a high-profile undocumented student who was recently released on bond from a private detention center in Georgia detailed his experience at a press conference, the Department of Homeland Security announced it would review whether to follow the lead of the Justice Department and cut ties with private prison contractors.
August 19, 2016 -
The decision comes following a government report finding serious safety and security problems in private prisons. But it does not help those being held in privately-run immigrant detention centers under the aegis of the Department of Homeland Security.
April 10, 2015 -
Immigrant mothers held at a private family detention center in Karnes City, Texas went on five-day hunger strike last week to press for their and their children's release -- and they say they will renew the strike if their demands are not met soon.
March 13, 2015 -
After a protracted political fight over immigration policy, Congress recently passed a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security. The final bill doesn't repeal the president's recent deportation relief programs, but it appropriates billions of dollars for draconian immigration enforcement.
February 19, 2015 -
Though its immigrant deportation relief efforts have been put on hold, the Obama administration continues to carry out its policy of detaining Central American immigrant children and families apprehended at the border. Attorneys for the detainees recently took legal action to address harsh conditions at the government's privately-managed family detention centers.
February 6, 2015 -
Backlash against the South's recent rapid growth in the immigrant population may be contributing to the region's negative response to the president's executive action on immigration. But demographic trends may be fueling a more welcoming environment in the region's cities.
