Tag Archives: Homeland Security

So about that DPS delay in notifying the victims of the credential stuffing attack

Posted on March 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s their explanation. [DPS Director Steve] McCraw said DPS officials kept the news under wraps to avoid jeopardizing the agency’s investigation, including efforts to arrest the fraudsters who organized the scheme. The explanation came in response to questioning from state … Continue reading →

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DPS victimized by credential stuffing attack

Posted on March 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the technical term for this. The Texas Department of Public Safety was duped into shipping at least 3,000 Texas driver’s licenses to a Chinese organized crime group that targeted Asian Texans, DPS Director Steve McCraw told a Texas House … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment, Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Taking seriously the threat of election violence

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is the reality we face. U.S. security agencies have issued a heightened threat advisory, warning of a potential attacks on political candidates, election officials and others. The alert came Friday, the same day that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband … Continue reading →

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Of course people are harassing the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office now

Posted on September 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is the world we live in. Hate mail and calls are rushing into the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office after Sheriff Javier Salazar announced an investigation into how 48 South American migrants were “lured” onto a flight to Martha’s Vineyard. … Continue reading →

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A roundup of border and lawsuit stories

Posted on April 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Too much news, not enough time… New federal lawsuit seeks to halt Texas’ border trespassing arrests, give more than $5 million to illegally detained migrants. In a new challenge to Gov. Greg Abbott’s controversial border security crackdown, a lawsuit filed … Continue reading →

Posted in La Migra, Legal matters, National news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

P Bush files a Paxton-style lawsuit

Posted on July 17, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

What a wannabe. Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration, claiming the president is illegally preventing the construction of a wall on the Texas-Mexico border. Bush announced the lawsuit Wednesday, saying his office … Continue reading →

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Sheriff Gonzalez nominated to lead ICE

Posted on April 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he will nominate Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, a vocal skeptic of cooperating with federal immigration authorities in certain circumstances, to serve as director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As head of … Continue reading →

Posted in La Migra, Local politics, National news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Deportation freeze still on hold

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Grrrrrrrr. A federal judge in Texas has put an indefinite halt to President Joe Biden’s 100-day ban on deportations after issuing a preliminary injunction late Tuesday. The ruling by Judge Drew Tipton comes after he had already temporarily paused the … Continue reading →

Posted in La Migra, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Deportation pause still on hold

Posted on February 10, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Another pause for the pause, which is as dumb and annoying as it sounds. A federal judge in Texas has extended the block on President Joe Biden’s deportation moratorium for two more weeks as the case continues to play out … Continue reading →

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Federal judge blocks the deportation pause

Posted on January 27, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Infuriating, but possibly less than it appears. A federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the Biden administration from moving forward with a 100-day pause on many deportations across the US, saying Tuesday that it was not adequately reasoned or explained … Continue reading →

Posted in La Migra, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Paxton sues over deportation pause

Posted on January 24, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

That didn’t take long. Three days into the Biden administration, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed his first lawsuit against the federal government. The lawsuit seeks an halt to one of the president’s executive actions on immigration, a 100-day … Continue reading →

Posted in La Migra, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

So were we targeted by Russian hackers or not?

Posted on October 1, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Depends who you ask, I guess. A top state official is pushing back against the federal government’s claim that Texas was among states whose election systems were targeted by Russian hackers ahead of the 2016 presidential election. “At no point … Continue reading →

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Texas was a hacking target in 2016

Posted on September 28, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

We’re just finding out about this now? Hackers targeted Texas and 20 other states prior to the 2016 presidential election, the United States Department of Homeland Security has formally informed the states. But the hackers who tried to mess with … Continue reading →

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Border walls are bad for the environment

Posted on March 11, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Not that anyone pushing for a border wall cares, but just so you know. There’s been a lot of debate about how effective the Bush-era barrier has been at keeping out illegal crossers and drug smugglers. Some data indicates the … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Deportation nation

Posted on February 22, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Appalling. The Trump administration on Tuesday moved one step closer to implementing the president’s plans to aggressively rid the country of undocumented immigrants and expand local police-based enforcement of border security operations. In a fact sheet outlining the efforts, the … Continue reading →

Posted in La Migra, National news | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Carrizo cane and French wasps

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I love stories like this. They’ve burned it, bulldozed it, hacked it and poisoned it. Now they want to try wasps – imported from France, no less. The target is carrizo cane, a bamboo-like reed that’s a fearsome enemy of … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What about LGBT asylum seekers?

Posted on July 3, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Good question. As millions waited this week for a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, dozens of LGBT immigrants sat in American detention centers after fleeing what they say is persecution in their homelands because of their sexual … Continue reading →

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Obama immigration executive order halted

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

For now. A federal judge late Monday halted President Barack Obama’s landmark immigration order on the eve of its implementation, denying millions of people illegally in America access to work permits and dealing a victory to Gov. Greg Abbott in … Continue reading →

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First hearing in Abbott’s immigration lawsuit

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

No clue what will happen with this. Saying South Texas is where the “rubber meets the road” on immigration issues, a federal judge used a folksy reference Thursday to note his court is the right place to decide whether to … Continue reading →

Posted in La Migra, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

More on revamping Secure Communities

Posted on December 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Stace responds to me. The involvement of local law enforcement has always been a sticking point for me. I’ve never been a fan of the federalization of local cops for the purpose of rounding non-criminal working brown people; I don’t … Continue reading →

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Revamping Secure Communities

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Long overdue. A federal jail screening program known as Secure Communities epitomized for critics the worst failings of the nation’s immigration system, causing the deportations of tens of thousands of immigrants who had committed no crimes or only minor infractions. … Continue reading →

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Special session for border security?

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

What could possibly go wrong? State Sen. Dan Patrick, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, joined some of his conservative colleagues on Tuesday in calling for “immediate action” to address the surge of undocumented immigrants crossing into Texas. “The Texas … Continue reading →

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SJL for DHS?

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

That sound you heard Monday was a bunch of heads exploding. Conservative bloggers went wild Monday when they got wind of the Congressional Black Caucus’ suggestion that President Obama pick Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston for the post of … Continue reading →

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Good move, Mr. President

Posted on June 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

About time. President Barack Obama’s administration announced Friday that it would stop deporting younger illegal immigrants and would begin granting them work permits. The policy will apply to immigrants younger than 30 who arrived in the U.S. before the age … Continue reading →

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Calculate your storm risk

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

That hurricane risk calculator is now ready for your input. Using the Storm Risk Calculator produced by the city of Houston and Rice University, users can enter an address and learn the risks for rainfall, power outage, storm surge and … Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Body scanners

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Ready or not, they’re coming to Hobby Airport. Full-body scanners for airline passengers, the devices that have stirred controversy over personal privacy, are being deployed at Houston’s Hobby Airport this summer, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Friday. […] The … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Locke’s crimefighting plan

Posted on August 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

In the past week or so I’ve had several Mayoral candidate issue papers hit my inbox. As there was one from each campaign, I thought I’d try to do a little analysis of each of them. We’ll start today with … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Two immigration stories

Posted on April 4, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Governor Perry writes a letter to the Department of Homeland Security. Perry asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano this week to take a series of steps to improve information-sharing between federal, state and local law enforcement. The Homeland Security-related issues … Continue reading →

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