ACLU policy counsel advocates immigrant detainee medical care

Joanne Lin, policy counsel for American Civil Liberties Union on immigration matters, discusses Rep. Zoe Lofgren's (D-CA) Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008. The legislation requires the Department of Homeland Security to provide basic medical care for immigrants held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and requires the ICE to report deaths of detainees. Lin stresses the importance of passing the bill to ensuring basic care for detainees in order to prevent future cases like that of Francisco Castaneda, a detainee who died of metastatic penile cancer as a result of failing to receive a biopsy and prompt treatment while in ICE custody. (6:06)
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Thompson says DHS is working to preserve civil liberties

At the Center for American Progress's discussion on the "State of Homeland Security," Congressman and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) says that preserving civil liberties is "an issue" for the department, and discusses his experience being "spied on" by the FBI during his youth as a civil rights activist. He said the committee is in the process of vetting every program that the department produces "to make sure that a nation of laws is also one that protects its citizens." (1:17)
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Thompson says DHS needs more diversity

At the Center for American Progress discussion on the "State of Homeland Security," Congressman and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) says that the Department of Homeland Security needs more diversity among employees. He says if you take TSA and Border Control out of the department, "it looks like white men over 50 years old," and that they want to fix this and create a staff that represents America. He also says "we absolutely reject" the notion that the department "can't find qualified people." (0:42)
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GAO director says Dept. of Homeland Security has made progress, but still has work to do

Norman Rabkin, managing director for the Government Accountability Office's Homeland Security and Justice Team, tells Congress that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has made advances in terms of its mission statement to protect America from terrorist attacks, but lacks managerial progress. (:58)
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Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) talks about U.S. citizens detained by border agents during a House Committee on Homeland Security Hearing

Lofgren says that she is concerned about the documented cases of U.S. citizens detained by U.S. border security agents along the U.S./Mexico border.
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Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff talks about border fence before the House Committee on Homeland Security

Chertoff says that some landowners on the U.S./Mexican border have been resisting the government's project to construct a fence through their properties.
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Secretary Chertoff of the Department of Homeland Security Introducing the Amount Requested by the President in the FY2009 Budget.

Secretary Chertoff talks about the President's support of the Department and the 6.8 percent increase in the budget request since fy2008.
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