Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly fired back Thursday at Sen. Bob Casey Jr.’s “outrageous” tweets about a recent deportation.

The Democrat from Pennsylvania rallied against the deportation of a Honduran mother and her 5-year-old son.

“Twitter: it’s urgent,” Casey tweeted. “I just found that a young child & mother who came to U.S. seeking refugee will be sent back to Honduras today.”

Casey added: “What I won’t do: stand by silently as a vulnerable child and his mother are sent to their possible death.”

Kelly was not happy, McClatchy reports.

“You can’t pick and choose the laws you follow,” Kelly said Thursday. “I can’t pick and choose the laws I enforce.” 

Kelly added that multiple courts, including the Supreme Court, denied the woman’s stay in the U.S.

Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr., via Twitter

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

President Donald Trump is considering controversial Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. for a job with Homeland Security.

Clarke, who is a polarizing figure and longtime Trump supporter, is expected to be appointed as assistant secretary at Homeland Security’s Office of Partnership and Engagement, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.  No Senate confirmation is required for the job, which involves coordinating outreach to state and local law enforcement agencies.

Clarke is a frequent guest on Fox News and is a lightning rod for the GOP.

In 2015, Clarke participated in an NRA-backed trip to Russia, where he and others reportedly met with one of Russian President Putin’s deputies.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Americans who were victimized by crime perpetuated by undocumented immigrants will have a new resource under the Homeland Security Department.

The Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) is expected to open today. The idea is to inform victims of the immigration proceedings of suspects, the Associated Press reports.

The office is part of an executive order by President Trump, who pledged to open the office during a speech to Congress in February.

Critics question the motive behind the office because studies have indicated that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born U.S. citizens.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Stopping homegrown terrorism is no easy task.

No one knows that more than Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who admitted Sunday that he doesn’t know how to stop what he describes as the “most common” threat facing the U.S.

Kelly made the admission during an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation. 

“There are so many aspects to this terrorist thing,” Kelly said. “Obviously you got the homegrown terrorists. I don’t know how to stop that. I don’t know how to detect that. You got other terrorist threats that come across the border. I believe in the case of the murder, in the Paris shooting I believe he was homegrown. But, again, there are so many threats that come in from across border. And it’s essential absolutely to control one’s border.”

Kelly said homegrown terrorism is “the most common threat” to America.

Kelly said the threat of homegrown terrorism keeps him “literally awake at night.”

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly warned that America is facing its “highest terror threat in years,” with active investigations in all 50 states.

“The threat to our nation and our American way of life has not diminished,” Kelly said during a speech at George Washington University on Tuesday, the New York Post reports. “In fact, the threat has metastasized and decentralized.” 

Kelly said the country is experiencing an “unprecedented spike” in homegrown terrorism.

“We are under attack from terrorists both within and outside of our borders,” he said.

Over the past year, the FBI has handled 36 cases of homegrown terrorists in 18 states.

Kelly said the radicalization of Americans is “notoriously difficult to predict and control.”

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly lashed out at lawmakers and critics of President Trump’s aggressive crackdown on undocumented immigrants, saying they should “shut up” or change the country’s deportation laws, the Houston Chronicle reports. 

“If lawmakers do not like the laws that we enforce, that we are charged to enforce, that we are sworn to enforce – then they should have the courage and skill to change those laws,” Kelly said in a combative speech. “Otherwise they should shut up and support the men and women on the front lines.”

Kelly depicted his department as demoralized as the U.S. faces a dangerous world.

“Make no mistake,” he said, “we are a nation under attack.”

Kelly, a retired four-star Marine General, suggested lawmakers have demoralized his workforce with political debates over immigration policies.

“For too long, the men and women of my department have been political pawns,” he said. “They have been asked to do more with less, and less, and less.”

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Twitter is suing Homeland Security after it threatened court action if the social media giant didn’t reveal the identity of a Twitter account – “@ALT_uscis” or “Alt Immigration” – that has been critical of the Trump administration.

The lawsuit alleges Homeland Security received a summons demanding the name, login information, phone number, mailing address and IP address of the Twitter user, NPR reports.

Twitter ignored Homeland Security’s request to not reveal the summons and instead wants a federal court to declare the summons “unlawful and enforceable.”

The account is one of several “rogue” accounts believed to be created by anonymous employees of the federal government, though that has not been confirmed. The Associated Press reports that they were told the account was run by “employees and former employees of the agency.”

Lawyers for Twitter said the summons violates the First Amendment rights of @ALT_uscis and is therefore unenforceable.

Border fence along Mexico and the U.S.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

President Trump’s homeland security secretary conceded Wednesday that it was doubtful that a full border wall with Mexico will be built.

The statement from John F. Kelly is in stark contrast to Trump’s oft-repeated pledge to build a wall along the entire border with Mexico, the New York Times reports. 

“It is unlikely that we will build a wall from sea to shining sea,” Mr. Kelly told senators on the Homeland Security Committee.

Instead of a “beautiful wall” that Trump has promised, the federal government likely will build fencing and concrete walls in places that make the most sense.

Congress has yet to act on Trump’s request for funding for the wall.

Trump’s budget calls for $1.4 billion to begin building the wall.