Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano on Security Policy and Immigration Reform

By
Rachel Glickhouse

"We’re going to keep evolving because the environment in which we exist is not static," said the secretary in a discussion with AS/COA President and CEO Susan Segal.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Security Challenges and Immigration Reform

“We’re going to keep evolving because the environment in which we exist is not static.”

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano discussed evolving methods to tackle security challenges, as well as immigration reform.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is now 10 years old, Napolitano noted, and is undergoing “major changes and evolutions.” The secretary described the evolution as DHS 3.0, saying the department will be “more intelligence-driven and risk-based,” said Napolitano. While security challenges vary, “cyber [security] is going to be a rapidly growing area of concern and focus for the department at large,” Napolitano said. “It’s the fastest growing area of our shop.” While DHS secures government domains, it is also working with the private sector on cybersecurity. “We have a responsibility and presidential directives to work with the owners and operators of critical infrastructure,” she said, explaining that real-time information standard and adopting standards form part of the process. “It will be an interesting test for the United States if we are really able to achieve the level of cybersecurity we need,” she said.

On Mexico, Napolitano noted that much of what the DHS has done under the new administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto has grown out of policies from the previous administration. “We’re still jointly involved; we’re still focused on the reduction of violence in Mexico and the disruption of the cartels that have fingertips in many communities in the United States,” she said. She explained that: “[W]e have record amounts of manpower and technology at the southwest border.” These resources need to be sustained, she continued. “We know we can do even more to secure it.”

However, she added: “[T]he relationship between Mexico and the United States is not just security.” Border efficiency, Napolitano said, is an area both countries are working on. She explained that both countries should work to expand construction at the large ports of entry to create a “managed border zone” with the “best technologies available.” She called for a border that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the government aims to eliminate bottlenecks that slow down border traffic. “When I say we need a twenty-first century border, I mean in those physical terms,” she said.

In terms of immigration reform, Napolitano explained that she hopes the department “will be very busy implementing comprehensive immigration reform” in the near future. “We’re at the beginning of a long road,” she cautioned. The bill introduced in the Senate not only overhauls the system, she explained, but “actually improves the security of the immigration system.” In this way, “we can focus more on the narcotraffickers and human traffickers who are trying to exploit the border.” Implementing changes to visa procedures is also important. The reform includes border security measures. “For me, the key thing is not necessarily more border patrol agents,” said Napolitano. “We need to maintain [the] record numbers, but we need to fill out the technology plans for each of the nine border sectors.”

While immigration reform has yet to pass, the DHS is already implementing changes to try to streamline processes that allow for greater and more efficient flows of trade and travelers. “One of our number one goals right now is to keep expanding Global Entry,” she said. This program allows trusted travelers to expedite their arrival process in the United States. The DHS will continue the process of uniting the different ways the government collects data about travelers, since, on average, the same information is gathered 16 times. “Sometimes we need to look for a needle in a haystack; one of the ways is to reduce the haystack,” she said.

Improving trade flows is another priority, and the DHS has a program to give international companies preferred status to facilitate commerce. By giving expedited access to travelers and trade flows, “we can focus our resources on the things we don’t know enough about,” said Napolitano. “In a world where there’s so much information and data flying around, how do we focus our resources where they do the most good?” she said. “We’re going to keep evolving because the environment in which we exist is not static.”

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley on Trade, Immigration Reform, and U.S. Competitiveness

“We believe that our future is very closely connected to opportunities and the rising standard of living in Central and South America.”

In a conversation with Special Advisor for 100,000 Strong in the Americas Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley discussed his views on trade, immigration reform, and how immigrants impact U.S. competitiveness. Townsend noted that talking about policy with governors is important, since “what is happening in this country is at the state level.”

“One of the most obvious connections in terms of economic ties between our state and our neighbors in Central and South America is the port of Baltimore,” said O’Malley.  Around 10 percent of exports at this port are destined for these two regions, and “we can do even more,” O’Malley noted. In 2009, the state government implemented a public-private partnership to expand the port’s size; the port is “our lifeblood,” he added.

Maryland companies are doing more to expand global trade, even small- and medium-sized enterprises. O’Malley also increased the number of international trade missions during his second term. “We believe that our future is very closely connected to opportunities and the rising standard of living in Central and South America,” he added. Trade with Latin America can help create jobs, said O’Malley, but the United States can also learn from the region, such as sustainable energy practices in Brazil.

On immigration reform, O’Malley explained his view that policy changes will bring economic benefits to the United States. “I believe that immigration and the arrival of new Americans is an energy that recharges our creative battery as a people,” he said. “We believe that policies of inclusion…help build innovation and the creative class.”

Maryland was the first state in the country to pass a DREAM Act, legislation that benefits undocumented youth. “We passed the DREAM Act because inclusion is good for creating jobs and opportunity,” O’Malley explained. He added: “[W]hat we hoped we would be able to do is to show it’s possible to have a rational conversation about immigration reform.” The state also has a large number of foreign-born professionals: 25 percent of scientists and 20 percent of mathematicians living there were born abroad.

On the federal level, O’Malley expressed hope that reform will pass. “Perhaps the passage of comprehensive immigration reform might even be the first sign that our polarized fever is breaking in the House of Representatives,” he said. Immigration reform would help sustain and strengthen social security, improve GDP, and elevate middle-class wages, O’Malley added. “Immigration could very well hold the key to those things,” he said.

O’Malley highlighted the fact that immigration reform is “a compelling business case.” Reform could mean an additional $150 billion in federal revenues and $60 billion in state revenues, he said and, without reform, the United States is losing money and jobs every day. Asked about visas for graduates of advanced degree programs in science and technology, O’Malley said it was important for business leaders to have a voice in the immigration reform debate. In Silicon Valley, for example, business leaders’ top policy priority is immigration, he said.

Watch Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's remarks at the 43rd Annual Washington Conference.