U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Home of the Broke -- USCIS announces fee hike

Oil Spill Raises Bay Terrorism Issues: Pelosi Spills The Beans

Snapshot: Guerilla Postering

San Francisco Finally Shitty Enough to Make Social Progress

Coming to a San Francisco park near you? It took a plummeting economy and disastrous wars in the Middle East to make America awful enough to rise up above centuries of racial strife with the election of Barack Obama, The Onion reported Nov. 5. In San Francisco, it has taken a half-billion-doll ... More >>

For Whom the Bridge Tolls

Politicians want pork to pay for Golden Gate increases, but the money should be paid by drivers instead.

The Media Is a Mess Age in George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead

Politicians want pork to pay for Golden Gate increases, but the money should be paid by drivers instead.

Pants on Fire

Politicians want pork to pay for Golden Gate increases, but the money should be paid by drivers instead.

Women Call the Shots

Politicians want pork to pay for Golden Gate increases, but the money should be paid by drivers instead.

Grateful Dead

Dead Rising's zombies will eat your brain -- and your free time.

The Cutting Edge

Dead Rising's zombies will eat your brain -- and your free time.

FEMA -- a Four-Letter Word?

The only quiz in the world that will tell you if you're an apologist for the Bush administration's Hurricane Katrina response

The Identity Makers

In the age of terror, are the people who make fake identification documents for the Hispanic community noble public servants -- or national security risks?

Letters to the Editor

Week of Wednesday, October 6, 2004

Homeland Sinecurity

A chat with the man who does nothing, all day long, for the Department of Homeland Security

Surprise!

If you think S.F. is ready for a terrorist attack – even two years-plus after 9/11 – think again

You preach/We laugh

In which we come up with our own (slightly cynical) version of Muni's new ad campaign

Veronique of the Mounties

Our local source for protest theater offers a weird exercise in moral equivalence

The New Defenders

An explosion of federal funding has Bay Area researchers at the forefront of America's counter-terrorism program. Will the money make us safer - or just make science a military secret?

SF Gov InAction: Mandatory Composting Gets Some New Sponsors. Which Bin Do We Put 'Futility' In?

I hope you'll forgive me if I keep this week's Gov InAction curt: I told WAY too many David Chiu jokes over the weekend, and now I'm worn out. I've got to remember to pace myself. However, in case you're wondering, here's how many David Chius it takes to change a light bulb: • None: Aaro ... More >>

Asylum for Battered Women -- a Question Raised by a San Francisco Case a Decade Ago -- Gets Obama Administration as an Advocate

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has paved the way for battered women from countries where such abuse is widely accepted to be granted asylum in the United States. The DHS declared its opinion in a court filing of an asylum case of a Mexican woman only referred as L.R., who was denied by a ... More >>

ICE Confirms That Amuse Bouche Street-Food Vendor is Detained, Will Be Deported

A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) told SFoodie she could confirm that street-food vendor Murat Celebi-Ariner is currently in detention, and will be deported. Citing security concerns, spokeswoman Lori Haley would not say where C ... More >>

Janitors Descend From Skyscrapers to Protest Immigration Raids

​At 9 p.m. on Monday night, long after the white-collar workers that make the Financial District hum had gone home, the janitors started to trickle out of the skyscrapers into the dark plaza in front of 101 California.It was like sighting a secret society, a gathering of workers whose job lends on ... More >>

Will Feds' Move Gut S.F. Sanctuary City Policy?

​An overarching federally mandated program will take decisions about who to report -- or not report -- to immigration authorities out of local officials' hands, the Chronicle reports. In June, San Francisco's County Jail will begin using the Secure Communities initiative -- a program the Departmen ... More >>

Cowboy Down: Rob Krentz's Family Talks About the Life and Death of the Murdered Arizona Rancher

​An overarching federally mandated program will take decisions about who to report -- or not report -- to immigration authorities out of local officials' hands, the Chronicle reports. In June, San Francisco's County Jail will begin using the Secure Communities initiative -- a program the Departmen ... More >>

'Secure Communities' Program Nails 29 Illegal Immigrants In S.F. Jail

After all, now we have finger prints...​ICE touts success stories of new program -- but San Francisco sheriff's department would have reported "criminal aliens" anyways under old sanctuary city policyIn the first nine days after the San Francisco Sheriff's Department begrudgingly implemented the f ... More >>

Facial Profiling

Will face-recognition technology get an accused killer off the hook?

Immigration Activists Set to Rally Downtown Tomorrow

Jerry, we have a complaint! ​Buoyed by a federal judge's decision to block the "papers please" components of the Arizona immigration law that goes into effect tomorrow, San Francisco activists and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano are now turning their wrath on California Attorney General Jerry Brown. At a ... More >>

Tom Ammiano Mangles Profane Spanish at Unique Immigration Rally (PICS)

Tom, what are you saying?​As promised, San Franciscans came out against Arizona's controversial SB 1070 immigration law today, in a protest also aimed at the federal identification program known as Secure Communities ("S-COMM for short"). A picturesque group positioned in front of the Federal Buil ... More >>

'Secure Communities' Deporting Low-Level Criminals and Innocents, Opponents Say

Jaywalking? That'll get you deported, hombre​The majority of illegal immigrants deported by a controversial federal program known as Secure Communities are not the "high threat" criminal immigrants the Feds claimed the program would ensnare, according to statistics released today by civil rights o ... More >>

Department of Homeland Security Sued Over Secret Traveller Files

Matt SmithWe'll collect all this personal information, y'see. And then we'll make a giant database...​San Francisco travel writer Edward Hasbrouck has sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security over what he says is the agency's refusal to give a complete accounting of secret files detailing his ... More >>

Travel writer Edward Hasbrouck sues Homeland Security over travel data

Matt SmithWe'll collect all this personal information, y'see. And then we'll make a giant database...​San Francisco travel writer Edward Hasbrouck has sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security over what he says is the agency's refusal to give a complete accounting of secret files detailing his ... More >>

FAIR-y Tales

Matt SmithWe'll collect all this personal information, y'see. And then we'll make a giant database...​San Francisco travel writer Edward Hasbrouck has sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security over what he says is the agency's refusal to give a complete accounting of secret files detailing his ... More >>

A Reminder: You Will Not Be Seeing EinstĂĽrzende Neubauten in S.F. This Weekend

Perhaps you would be wary of issuing visas to these youngsters as well​Bad news for fans of the sound of collapsing new buildings: West Berlin experimental noise stalwart EinstĂĽrzende Neubauten (which is German for "collapsing new buildings") has had to cancel its 30th anniversary tour of th ... More >>

Return to Sender

Perhaps you would be wary of issuing visas to these youngsters as well​Bad news for fans of the sound of collapsing new buildings: West Berlin experimental noise stalwart EinstĂĽrzende Neubauten (which is German for "collapsing new buildings") has had to cancel its 30th anniversary tour of th ... More >>

How Would Immigration Reform Look if the Feds Got Off Their Duffs?

Perhaps you would be wary of issuing visas to these youngsters as well​Bad news for fans of the sound of collapsing new buildings: West Berlin experimental noise stalwart EinstĂĽrzende Neubauten (which is German for "collapsing new buildings") has had to cancel its 30th anniversary tour of th ... More >>

Judge Says TSA Doesn't Have to Turn Over Body Scan Images to Civil Liberties Group

TSA Doesn't Want to Reveal What It's Revealing​As it turns out, when Big Brother is watching he doesn't have to reveal what he sees.In the latest chapter of TSA v. The rest of America, a federal judge ruled that the Transportation Security Administration doesn't have to turn over the 2,000 images ... More >>

California Leads The Nation in Imprisoning Criminal Immigrants

10 percent of California's inmates are non-citizens.​It's not a winning spot to brag about, but the Golden State is No.1 when it comes to incarcerating criminal immigrants. In fact, California is the only state to break the 100,000 mark. What's worse -- the state is shouldering the majority of the ... More >>

Federal Fingerprinting Program May Still ID Illegal Immigrant Teens Shielded By City

Looking for the right fingerprints​This week Mayor Ed Lee announced the city would stop alerting federal immigration officials about illegal immigrant youth they book into juvenile hall on felony charges -- if the teens have family in the Bay Area.Even with this new policy, immigration authorities ... More >>

Luisa Argueta, DREAM Act Eligible Teen, Asks Sen. Feinstein to Stop Deportation

Luisa Argueta, center, and her mother, Brenda Gutierrez​Update, 5:30 p.m.: A Feinstein spokesperson says, "Senator Feinstein's office recently received information about the case and is currently reviewing the matter."Original post:A 19-year-old Antioch resident eligible for the DREAM Act is askin ... More >>

Bradford Wells, Gay San Franciscan, Fighting Against Husband's Deportation, Taken To Hospital

Anthony Makk, left, with husband Bradford Wells​Update, 2:30 p.m.: Steve Ralls from Immigration Equality e-mailed SF Weekly to say that Bradford Wells did not have a heart attack. "I just received an update, and Bradford is back home from the hospital, and resting.  He did not have a heart a ... More >>

Anthony Makk, Gay Australian, to Stay in Country -- For Now

Anthony Makk, left, can stay for now​Anthony Makk, the gay San Franciscan who was in jeopardy of being deported back to his native Australia today, will be staying here a little longer. His attorneys are filing a spouse visa petition in a New York immigration court, which will buy Makk a little ex ... More >>

Black Market Giants World Series Gear to Be Donated to Haitians

Giants win goes global. ​Remember when the feds were vigorously seizing knock-off Giants World Series clothing from black-market vendors around AT&T Park last year? Well, it turns out that all those clothes won't just rot in federal custody. In one of those unexpected turns in a globalized wor ... More >>

Feds Close Deportation Case Against Same-Sex Spouse of Gay American

Henry Velandia, right, and his American spouse, Josh Vandiver​The immigration woes of same-sex couples has finally reached a tipping point: The Immigration Court in Newark, New Jersey, has closed the deportation case against the foreign spouse of a gay American this week. The couple's attorney, La ... More >>

Anonymous Plans Another Protest Today While Feds Launch Investigation of Hacking Group

Until you starting fucking with our commutes​Always a mark of another Monday: General crankiness, an extra cup of coffee, and oh, a BART protest.The group responsible for the ongoing demonstrations, which have shutdown stations and frustrated commuters, is planning another service disruption tonig ... More >>

Minhaz Kahn, DREAM Act-Eligible Neuroscience Grad, Set For Deportation

Minhaz Kahn is facing deportation on November 18. ​Federal immigration officials in San Francisco are ignoring a June memo from immigration authorities that deprioritizes deportation immigrants who came into the country as kids. In the most recent case, it's affecting a UC-Riverside neuroscie ... More >>

Minhaz Kahn, DREAM Act Eligible Student, Spared Deportation -- For Now

No deportation for Minhaz Kahn. But others might not be so lucky. ​A DREAM-Act-eligible recent college grad won reprieve on his deportation case earlier this week, yet the celebration ends there. San Francisco-based immigration officials warned attorneys that not all DREAM Act-eligible immigrants ... More >>

The RIAA Responds Lamely to Claims of Piracy Advocates

​TorrentFreak, a news site that basically supports illicit downloading, last week used a half-assed ISP-lookup service to conclude that employees of both the Recording Industry Association of America and the Department of Homeland Security had downloaded illicit copies of various copyrighted works ... More >>

The Recording Industry Makes Itself Look Stupid Yet Again While Battling Piracy

​Over at Dan Mitchell's Digital Tremors column on our news blog, the Snitch, there's an interesting debate brewing over the recording industry's response to some piracy advocates' claims that its employees downloaded music and other files illegally. Mitchell's take is that while disputing thes ... More >>

S.F. Civil Liberties Group Wants Feds to Stop Being So Secretive about Drones

Big brother is multiplying ​Electronic Frontier Foundation is  suing the U.S. Department of Transportation, claiming that the feds are withholding important details about drones -- the unmanned aircraft used in the military --  and under what circumstances public and private entities be ... More >>