Napolitano Grilled On New Deportation Policies

By Adrianna McGinley

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano defended the Obama administration’s new guidelines prioritizing criminal deportations during an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, arguing that it makes sense economically.

Napolitano cited that each removal costs DHS between 23 and 30 thousand dollars, not including the cost to the Justice Department. She said this means DHS is only able to finance 400,000 removals per year, and with over 10 million estimated undocumented immigrants in the country, prioritization is essential.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said he is concerned because ICE leaders told him the new “confusing” guidelines have caused low officer moral. 

“The new standards calling on them to consider DREAM Act type issues in determining whether or not the person they detain ought to be released or not, whether they’ve got a high school diploma, whether or not they might be a witness to a crime, that these are very confusing directives and that makes it more difficult for them to act effectively to apprehend people here illegally.” 

Sessions then accused Napolitano of “rolling her eyes” at the statement.

“From me as a person who worked with federal agents for years,” Sessions said. “When you hear this kind of comment and votes of no confidence, I’ve never heard of that, you should be paying real attention to them, not rolling your eyes at them.”

“I’m not rolling my eyes, what I’m suggesting is that results matter here, and priorities really matter,” Napolitano defended. “The results reflect the priorities we have set, and these are priorities that are consistent with prior administrations.”

“We could just remove anybody without any priorities, and that would be one way to do it,” Napolitano said. “Or the other way, and the better way, and probably the way you [Sen. Sessions] ran your office when you were a prosecutor, is to say we want to focus on expediting removal of those who are criminals, of those who are fugitives, of those who are repeat violators, of those who are recent entrance, meaning within five years in to the United States, and what you are now seeing is that the numbers reflect those priorities.”

Sessions also questioned reports citing a significant increase in deportations over the last few years saying, “I’m told that ICE carried over from last year 19,000 removals and they’re counting them this year, and it’s sort of a gimmick to making the removals look higher than they are.”

Napolitano denied the accusation.

“I think that what you’re referring to Senator is in the movement from FY ‘09 to FY ‘10, we made the decision that we would not count a removal until there was an actual verified departure from the country, and that had the effect of moving some removals from ‘09 in to ‘10.”

The Committee also questioned Napolitano on TSA procedures and DHS efforts to increase cyber security, as well as detainee treatment and standards of immigrant detention centers brought to light last night in a Frontline special called “Lost in Detention”.

Alabama Senators Want Equal Playing Field For Aerospace Contract

By Meagan Wiseley - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

At a press conference Tuesday, delegates from Alabama led by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said they are disappointed with the Pentagon and U.S. Air Force's Request For Proposal (RFP) for a next-generation aerial refueling tanker, the KC-X, arguing that the RFP is biased towards the manufacturer Boeing.

Also bidding for the KC-X is defense contractor Northrop Grumman, which if chosen by the Pentagon to carry out the project, plans to build a new assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama.

Rep. Jo Bonner, (R-Ala.), whose Congressional district includes Mobile, says the new plant would create nearly 48,000 new jobs in his state.

“We look forward to build the world’s best tanker...but that's only if the Department of Defense is serious about giving us a fair shot and fair competition,” Bonner said.

Yesterday, every delegate from Alabama signed a letter that was sent to Defense Secretary Robert Gates requesting a new draft of the proposal. The letter argues that the RFP lacks an “assessment of risk associated with either schedule, past performance or price.”

The letter also states that the some of the RFP’s new requirements for the tanker could be satisfied by the KC-135 refueling tanker, which was designed over 50 years ago.

In February 2008, the U.S. Air Force chose Northrop Grumman’s bid for the KC-X project, but later that year the Department of Defense halted the project.

"This new request for proposal has changed...in so many ways. And in just about all those ways, it is tilting the process towards Boeing,” said Shelby.

Elizabeth Edwards Says Medical Debt Deserves Bankruptcy Protections

By Julianne LaJeunesse, University Of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

Elizabeth Edwards testified at a hearing Tuesday in favor of changing current bankruptcy law to one that includes medical debt. At the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight and the Court, Edwards said Kerry and Patrick Burns, constituents of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) are "exactly the reason" why Whitehouse's Medical Bankruptcy Fairness Act of 2009 is important.

Edwards, wife of former Senator and Presidential Candidate John Edwards (D-N.C.), spoke at the hearing as a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and said that without health care reform, family's yearly health insurance payments could exceed $30, 000 by the end of the next decade.

Edward suggested Whitehouse consider additional interim steps for his bill, but said, "the problem is simply an issue associated with our failing to address adequately, and I hope that we will be addressing, the medical insurance problems that exist in this country."

Kerry Burns of Coventry, Rhode Island testified about her experience with bankruptcy, saying that in March, she lost her son Finnegan to a Cystic Fibrosis related illnesses. She told the Congressmen about the many surgeries Finnegan underwent, and said that because of gaps in her health insurance coverage, her and Patrick couldn't pay their mortgage and lost their home. The Burns are filing for bankruptcy now, and their experience, Whitehouse said, is one that would be covered under his bill.

"We actually had to borrow the money in order to officially go bankrupt," Burns said. "As if this were not enough, a credit counseling class is required both before and after the filing, with fees in addition to the filing."

Whitehouse's bill if passed, would waive both the "means test" and credit counseling requirements for those seeking bankruptcy, and at the hearing, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-W.I.), a member of the Committee, asked Whitehouse to be a co-sponsor.

Committee Ranking Member Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said he felt compassion for the Burns family, but said that under the current Bankruptcy Act of 2005, the Burns could have avoided some of the expenses paid during their bankruptcy application. Sessions made it clear at the hearing, that he believes Whitehouse's bill is a move away from moral financial responsibility.

Aparna Mathur, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute also expressed concern about bankruptcy fraud, saying, "Where do we draw the line for who we want to help and who we don't. The most effective solution to the problem of rising bankruptcies, is to create the right conditions for an economic recovery so that families can hold on to their jobs, retain their earning power, stay in their homes, and live within their means. We should help avoid bankruptcy rather than making it easier to file it."

Edwards countered Mathur's argument, adding that bankruptcy judges are "in the very best position" and "they're sitting with the debtor in front of them, with the creditors who are going to give information if they know it, right there in front of them."