Joe Arpaio

'Nothing Changes': How Sheriff Joe Arpaio Went To Battle Against Civil Rights Laywers Back In 1997

Nick R. Martin | May 11, 2012, 5:49AM

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio talks with media during a news conference announcing the opening of Tent City II in Phoenix, Tuesday, May 9,1995.

Joe Arpaio has been here before. At another time, during another Democratic administration, the tough talking Arizona sheriff was hit with a federal civil rights lawsuit designed to end the abusive practices of his agency.

It was 1997 when the sheriff, then 65, took to a press conference in Phoenix to react to news that the U.S. Justice Department was suing him for what it alleged was a longstanding mistreatment of inmates in his jails.

According to news reports from the time, he promised he would not back down. Everything was going to stay the same. "Nothing changes," he said.

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Janet Napolitano

DHS Cuts Off Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Access To ICE Programs

Ryan J. Reilly | December 15, 2011, 2:04PM

Updated: 2:55PM

The Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement just cut off the Maricopa County's Sheriff's Office's access to the Secure Communities program and terminated an agreement which lets them detain individuals in the country illegally after their initial arrest.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement that the decision was based on the Justice Department's findings of discriminatory policing practices by MCSO and Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

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Immigration

DHS Halts Some Deportation Cases, Will Conduct Case By Case Review

Jillian Rayfield | August 18, 2011, 5:45PM

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano

The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that it would change the way it handles deportation cases of illegal immigrants to allow those who qualify to apply to stay in the country on a work permit, while prioritizing the cases of convicted criminals.

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Darrell Issa

Issa: DHS FOIA Process 'Reeks Of A Nixonian Enemies List'

Ryan J. Reilly | March 31, 2011, 10:01AM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has trumped up scandals involving the Obama administration that have turned out to be duds. But in his probe of political interference in the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) at the Department of Homeland Security, it looks like Issa has the goods.

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FOIA

DHS Process Of Vetting FOIA Request 'Bananas!' Says Insider

Melissa Jeltsen | March 28, 2011, 4:38PM

Obama administration appointees in the Department of Homeland Security purposely stonewalled Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by journalists and citizens, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press. This disclosure comes days before Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) is to hold an oversight hearing on the agency's handing of FOIAs -- including the claim that information requests were vetted for political reasons.

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Canada

Gov't Accountability Office Slams DHS Control Of Northern Border

Ryan J. Reilly | February 2, 2011, 8:37AM

Janet Napolitano and the Department of Homeland Security have long been facing criticism over whether the feds are doing enough to secure the Mexican border. But the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report this week that the government is ignoring the threat on the porous border shared with our neighbors to the north.

DHS has been challenged in its efforts to address the threat of illegal activity on the northern border "where the extent of illegal activity is unknown, but the risk of terrorist
activity is high," the authors of the GAO report write.

The GAO's review of reports from 2010 showed that for the northern border overall, just 32 of the nearly 4,000 border miles had reached an acceptable level of control.

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FOIA

Issa Expands Probe Of Alleged Politicization Of FOIA Requests At DHS

Susan Crabtree | February 1, 2011, 8:56PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is stepping up his investigation of the Homeland Security Department's alleged selective handling of Freedom of Information Act requests from citizens, journalists and others.

In a letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, Issa said he plans to interview one of her senior political advisers and other political appointees as part of a expanded investigation into department's alleged practice of stalling hundreds of requests for federal records while political advisers looked into the backgrounds of people requesting the documents.

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Arizona

DHS Scraps Bush-Era 'Virtual Fence' Project After $1B

Jillian Rayfield | January 17, 2011, 3:28PM

The U.S.-Mexican border

The Department Of Homeland Security announced Friday that it is scrapping a Bush-era plan to build a "virtual fence" along the U.S.-Mexican border, citing costs -- which have already reached around $1 billion.

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Janet Napolitano

Napolitano: We'll Look At Whitman's Maid 'Very Seriously' (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | October 7, 2010, 12:51PM

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told Bill O'Reilly last night that the federal government hasn't made a decision about whether to investigate if the maid of GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman lied on her employment forms.

But Napolitano did assure O'Reilly's viewers -- at the host's prodding -- that the government "will look at this very seriously."

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Janet Napolitano

Napolitano: Speculation About 'Lake Pirates' Story Is 'Unwarranted'

Ryan J. Reilly | October 6, 2010, 4:02PM

Falcon Reservoir and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano

Speculation about the veracity of the story from the wife of an American man reportedly shot by "lake pirates" on Falcon Lake along the Texas-Mexico border is "unwarranted," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday.

"I think speculation is unwarranted," Napolitano said in a briefing with reporters. "The whole matter is under investigation, and as I said earlier, the thing that is going on now is a renewed search by the law enforcement in Tamaulipas [Mexico] to find the body."

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ATF

Report: ATF Flubbing Anti-Gunrunning Effort On Mexican Border

Ryan J. Reilly | September 23, 2010, 3:10PM

A major law enforcement initiative intended to stop the flow of weapons from the United States to Mexican drug cartels has "significant weaknesses" due to lack of intelligence sharing by ATF officials, according to an internal Justice Department report.

The draft version of the Inspector General's report on the Project Gunrunner initiative, which is run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), obtained by NBC News, is a "scathing indictment" of the program, Michael Isikoff reported this week.

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Department of Homeland Security

Janet Napolitano: DHS Report On Right-Wing Extremists Is 'Ancient History'

Ryan J. Reilly | September 17, 2010, 4:42PM

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Friday referred to a controversial report issued by DHS in April 2009 on the potential for an increased in right-wing extremism as "ancient history."

TPMDC asked Napolitano at a lunch hosted by the Christian Science Monitor if she thought the report DHS was criticized for issuing on the potential for a rise in right-wing extremism due to the election of Barack Obama has been vindicated in the year and a half since it came out.

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Times Square

The Failed Times Square Bomb: What Do We Know (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | May 3, 2010, 10:12AM

The bomb squad at work in Times Square, May 1, 2010

At around 6:30 p.m. Saturday night, a green 1993 Nissan Pathfinder driving west on 45th street stopped west of Broadway in New York's Times Square.

T-shirt vendor Lance Orton noticed smoke coming out of the SUV and pointed it out to a police officer. He called backup, the area was evacuated, and the bomb squad came in. While several popping sounds emanated from the SUV, which filled with smoke, the makeshift bomb did not go off.

Here's what we know about the investigation and what happened:

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Northwest Flight 253

Three Senate Panels Kick Off Flight 253 Hearings Today

Justin Elliott | January 20, 2010, 9:13AM

As three separate Senate committees today hold hearings on the failed Christmas attack over Detroit, watch for Republicans to take the opportunity to ramp up their criticism of the Obama Administration.

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