Today's Top Stories
1. DHS study urges fewer Coast Guard NSCs
2. Arpaio loses appeal over traffic stop injunction
3. ICE will update prosecutorial discretion guidance to include LGBT couples
4. FBI scales back analysis of DNA found on IEDs
5. UNODC: Less drug trafficking often means more violence Editor's Corner: Coast Guard must be more public in its case for all 8 NSCs Also Noted: OpenText
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Coast Guard must be more public in its case for all 8 NSCs
 Pressure on the Coast Guard not to purchase the last two of its planned eight National Security Cutters is great and comes from many directions--including officials at the Homeland Security Department, which even considered in a 2011 cutter fleet study limiting the service to only five NSCs.
That the Coast Guard believes the NSCs are vital to mission execution is clear, but the supporting argument it makes for that is muted--at least compared to arguments made against the NSC program of record, including those from the hyper-articulate Government Accountability Office. Some of that muteness may be cultural, as has noted Ron O'Rourke, a naval analyst with the Congressional Research Service. The Coast Guard goes through roller-coaster patterns of recapitalization, meaning that it's not accustomed to constantly selling its need for ships to Congress, as the Navy is. The service is also used to doing what it can with what it has--an admirable attitude, except when it works against you in getting what you need. The Coast Guard also appears weary of arguing in detail about its need for NSCs in public for fear of driving a further wedge between it and the Homeland Security Department. The service isn't alone in that predicament--all agencies must defend budgetary decisions they disagree with. But matters seem to be coming to a head. The fiscal 2013 DHS budget proposal didn't include hulls 7 and 8 in the future years spending plan. If GAO analysis is to be accepted, they never will, because their inclusion would send the future years capital investment plan into unaffordable heights. And if DHS analysis is to be believed, the defense mission for which the NSCs are a necessity could be satisfied with the deployment of just 3.5 NSCs annually. The DHS study also finds that Coast Guard efficiency is generally a function of on-station presence, meaning that it's better to have more less-capable boats than fewer more-capable ones. (Although the DHS cutter fleet study probably takes this too far by suggesting that Offshore Patrol Cutters be abandoned for a specification closer to the legacy 270-foot cutters that wouldn't operate well at higher sea states found at higher latitudes during bad weather--and it's pretty clear that the warming Arctic Ocean will increase the need for cutters up there.) In short, arguments against the NSC program of record on grounds both practical and strategic have piled up in public to the point where the Coast Guard must answer them, in public. - Dave |
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Today's Top News 1. DHS study urges fewer Coast Guard NSCs
 A mid-2011 Homeland Security Department analysis of Coast Guard recapitalization concludes that reducing the number of National Security Cutters to five from a planned eight and buying a greater number of reduced-capability Offshore Patrol Cutters would lead to significant improvements in drug and migrant interdiction and coast security.
The unclassified study (.pdf), conducted by the DHS Office Of Programs Analysis and Evaluation, caveats the finding by noting that the increased performance of alternate fleets would not likely be seen until the early 2030s, whereas short-term decreases in capability would begin toward the end of this decade. FierceHomelandSecurity obtained the study through a Freedom of Information Act request. The study also assumes that "the same threat profile will remain in place" through the coming decades. If enacted, its assumptions would decrease Coast Guard capacity to respond to a northward migration of threats--perhaps in reaction to a heavier Coast Guard presence in the Caribbean and Western Pacific--since higher-capability ships that can perform in greater sea states would have been traded for a higher number of less robust ships better suited for lower-latitude duty in calmer seas. "One clear conclusion from the study is that reduced capabilities in the area of endurance and speed are able to be overcome with fleet capacity, whereas reduced sea state cannot be," a June 29, 2011 synopsis of the study notes. By trading away sea state capability for increased coverage, the service would also open itself up to being less effective in protecting fish stocks in the Northern Pacific and Northern Atlantic, "home to valuable fish stocks [that] are subject to frequent incursions by foreign vessels," the study says. While some fisheries protection performance indicators would increase, that would be due to increases in enforcement in the Gulf of Mexico, the study says. In addition, three fewer NSCs would result in less national defense capability from 2018-2028, the study says. -->READ THE FULL ARTICLE Related Articles:
GAO: Not eliminating two National Security Cutters will cause 'difficult choices'
Coast Guard fleet operational hours unattainable
Coast Guard could cut back operations without NSCs, says Papp
NOAA looks to electronic monitoring of fisheries Read more about: National Security Cutter, NSC
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2. Arpaio loses appeal over traffic stop injunction
 A federal appeals court tossed out Sept. 25 an effort by Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio to lift a preliminary lower-court injunction against Maricopa County that prevents it from detaining individuals based solely on reasonable belief that they're illegal immigrants.
In an opinion (.pdf) from a unanimous three judge panel, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John Wallace says Arizona District Court Judge Murray Snow didn't abuse his discretion in issuing the preliminary injunction. Snow presides over a class-action suit brought against the sheriff's department on behalf of Hispanic individuals located within Maricopa County. Plaintiffs say Arpaio and his deputies targeted Latinos during traffic stops, discriminating on the basis of race. Arguments in the case came to a close in August; a final judgment "is now imminent," Wallace says in his opinion. The appeals court opinion doesn't address racial profiling, but says Maricopa sheriff's attorneys are wrong to assert that they have the authority to detain individuals based on suspicion of being an undocumented alien. "Unlike illegal entry, mere unauthorized presence in the United States is not a crime," Wallace writes. Maricopa sheriffs lack legal authority to enforce federal civil immigration law. Although previous court cases have recognized that "illegal presence may be some indication of illegal entry," unlawful presence need not result from illegal entry--for example, Wallace says, an individual who overstayed his visa. A Maricopa argument that individuals can avoid contact with sheriffs by obeying all traffic laws is also incorrect, since some plaintiffs were only passengers in vehicles stopped by law enforcement and even drivers were subject to stops based on probable cause that a traffic violation had occurred, Wallace says. "Indeed, one plaintiff-driver was released after detention without being issued any traffic citation," he says. The preliminary injunction doesn't impair the county's ability to enforce state or federal criminal law, Wallace also notes. In May, the Justice Department also filed a lawsuit against Maricopa County, alleging that deputies and Arpaio unconstitutionally discriminated against Latinos by frequently arresting them on the basis of race or national origin, and engaged in illegal retaliation against perceived critics. Latinos in Maricopa County were stopped "four to nine times more often than similarly situated non-Latino drivers," Justice says. For more:
- download the Ninth Circuit opinion (.pdf) Related Articles:
Sheriff Arpaio racial discrimination trial nears end
Supreme Court partially upholds Arizona immigration law
DOJ confronts Arpaio and Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Read more about: Fourth Amendment, illegal immigration
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3. ICE will update prosecutorial discretion guidance to include LGBT couples
Immigration and Customs Enforcement will issue written guidance that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender illegal immigrants with U.S. citizen spouses or partners are eligible for prosecutorial discretion. Under the June 2011 memo (.pdf) from ICE Director John Morton that established the Obama administration policy of focusing deportation efforts on criminals, immigration officials can consider a person's "ties and contributions to the community, including family relationships," when weighing whether to administratively close a case without deportation. DHS spokesman Peter Boogaard said the LGBT guidance is only a clarification of existing policy, since "long-term, same-sex partners have been included as 'family relationships' under ICE Director Morton's June 2011 prosecutorial discretion memorandum." A prosecutorial discretion training module (.pdf) from November 2011 obtained by FierceHomelandSecurity through a Freedom of Information Act request suggests that same-sex partners' status may not have previously been readily apparent as a factor, however. The training presentation posits 10 hypothetical scenarios that ICE attorneys may come across in deciding whether to extend prosecutorial discretion, but none of them include a situation involving a same-sex scenario. The DHS announcement of the updated guidance comes after House Democrats urged in an Aug. 1 letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to explicitly recognize LGBT partners as meeting the definition of "family relationships." In a Sept. 28 statement, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the decision to issue new guidance "will provide a measure of clarity and confidence to families dealing with separation in immigration cases." For more:
- download the November 2011 prosecutorial discretion training module (.pdf)
- read Pelosi's Sept. 28 statement
- go to House Democrat's Aug. 1 letter Related Articles:
Alien deportations stable for third year
USCIS details deferred action application process to begin Aug. 15
Obama administration refocuses deportation on criminals Read more about: Peter Boogaard, ICE
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4. FBI scales back analysis of DNA found on IEDs
 The FBI has capped the number of DNA samples it will analyze from improvised explosive devices, the Justice Department office of inspector general says in a September report (.pdf).
The Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center requests DNA analysis to help determine the sources of IEDs. But those submissions have drawn FBI examiners away from their traditional law enforcement work, auditors say. As of November 2011, the FBI's nuclear DNA case-working unit was only accepting 50 such cases per month. The FBI's other DNA unit, which deals with mitochondrial DNA, also decided it wouldn't examine about 300 samples from IEDs that had been in its backlog. The FBI told auditors it had yet to have a case where it could prove anything based on mitochondrial samples from IEDs. In 2 years, the FBI has practically eliminated a backlog of 2,722 cases in the nuclear DNA unit. As of March, that unit had 110 cases, which auditors say are a monthly work-in-progress and no longer constitute a backlog. But the unit has not just capped submissions from IEDs--it has also added capacity. Automation and more personnel are largely to thank for the backlog's elimination, which auditors say is a "significant achievement." The unit automated DNA quantification, which measures the concentration of DNA in a sample, and DNA typing, which is when the sample is examined and the DNA profile is produced. For parts of the process, auditors say, the unit can now analyze samples in batches. As for personnel, the nuclear DNA unit had 17 examiners on board plus four in training, as of March. That's up from nine on board and eight in training in August 2010, when the DOJ OIG published a prior report (.pdf) on the backlog. New hires undergo a background check and 12-18 months of training before they can take on case work. For more:
- download the report, Audit Report 12-39 (.pdf) Related Articles:
Privacy a concern as DNA collections become pervasive
FBI overhauls fingerprint analysis after error in terrorism case
IT challenged FBI investigation of Ft. Hood shooter, says commission Read more about: Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center, FBI
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5. UNODC: Less drug trafficking often means more violence
 A decline in drug trafficking volumes in Central America and the Caribbean may lead to more violence, says a September report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
When the drug trade declines or is interrupted, competition between groups intensifies and they use violence to dominate a smaller or new space. In the last decade, Mexico's anti-smuggling efforts have made it more difficult to move product north and U.S. demand has fallen. As traffickers compete for a smaller market with more obstacles, the report (.pdf) says more violence has ensued. Newer, more erratic traffickers who want to prove their willingness to use violence have replaced some experienced traffickers, the report adds. Events unrelated to the drug trade can also trigger violence. A political coup or natural disaster can change traffickers' habits and put groups into new competition. The report notes that El Salvador has a relatively low flow of cocaine but the highest sustained murder rate in Central America and the Caribbean. Meanwhile, compared to El Salvador, Costa Rica has 26 times the cocaine flow and one-sixth the 10-year murder rate. In Nicaragua, the cocaine trade is 14 percent of gross domestic product, but it occurs mostly in remote areas and the murder rate has not risen with the cocaine trade. Since changing circumstances drive violence more than drug trafficking itself, stakeholders need to prepare for a spike in violence if they make progress against the drug trade, the report says. Plus, criminals might lean more on other kinds of income--like extortion, kidnapping and robbery--that can be more violent than drug trafficking. For more:
- download the report, "Transnational Organized Crime in Central America and the Caribbean: A Threat Assessment" (.pdf) Related Articles:
UNODC: Drug markets are regional, not global
Opium cultivation on the rise in Southeast Asia
Mexican judicial system needs reform, says Senate committee Read more about: Costa Rica, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
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> Napolitano: I don't use email. Article (NattyJo)
> Coast Guard pilots face another laser incident. Article (Government Security News)
> British counter-terrorism officer charged after offering to leak phone-hacking information to News of the World. Article (The Daily Telegraph)
> $13 million border patrol station to be built in Pembina, N.D. Article (Grand Forks Herald)
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