Tag Archives: Homeland Security

Atlanta airport evacuated as U.S. on alert after Brussels attacks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Atlanta’s airport was briefly evacuated on Wednesday over a suspicious package while U.S. law enforcement agencies and travelers were on edge a day after deadly suicide bombings by Islamist militants rocked Brussels.

Passengers were ordered out of public areas of the domestic terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the United States’ busiest by passenger volume, but the site was quickly cleared and operations resumed, airport officials said.

Parts of Denver airport were also evacuated on Tuesday, hours after at least 31 people were killed and 271 wounded in attacks on Brussels airport and a rush-hour metro train, as airports across the United States tightened security.

U.S. officials were trying to find Americans missing after the attacks, which the officials said injured about a dozen U.S. citizens including three Mormon missionaries, a U.S. Air Force airman, and four members of his family.

Among those missing were U.S. government personnel, a State Department spokesman told reporters in Washington.

“We still have not accounted for every official U.S. government employee or their family members on the ground,” said the spokesman, Mark Toner. “Partly that reflects the size of the mission or three missions: there’s a bilateral mission, there’s a mission to the EU, as well as a mission to NATO.”

The situation, Toner added, remains “very fluid.” He could not confirm whether any Americans were killed.

Representative Devin Nunes of California, chairman of the U.S. House intelligence committee, said the attacks may have been aimed at U.S. citizens, noting that the airport blast struck close to U.S. airline counters and that the metro station hit was near the U.S. embassy.

“It looks like it was targeted toward Americans to some degree,” Nunes told reporters.

Apart from the eight Americans confirmed as wounded, U.S. media reported on Wednesday that relatives of at least four other Americans who had been traveling in Belgium were still trying to track them down.

Husband and wife Justin and Stephanie Shults, originally from Tennessee and Kentucky, respectively, but now living in Belgium, have not been heard from since they dropped a relative at the airport shortly before the blasts, a family member said.

“We haven’t been able to contact them going on 30 hours,” Justin Shults’ brother, Levi Sutton, told Reuters in a Facebook message. “Stephanie’s mom is fine but she was separated from Justin and Stephanie.”

DEATH TOLL COULD RISE

Sister and brother Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski, who had been living in New York, remain unaccounted for, the New York Daily News reported. The Pinczowskis’ citizenship was unclear. A woman who identified herself on social media as Alexander Pinczowski’s girlfriend said she had been unable to contact him since Tuesday morning.

Belgian officials have said the death toll could increase because some victims at the subway station were blown to pieces and hard to identify, and several survivors were in critical condition.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said on Wednesday that one of its missionaries, Richard Norby, 66, was in a medically-induced coma after lengthy surgery to address shrapnel wounds and second-degree burns.

The attacks sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport systems.

Islamic State, which controls areas of Syria and Iraq and has sympathizers worldwide, claimed responsibility for the Brussels bombings, fueling debate and controversy in the United States about how to stop such attacks.

U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said the United States and Europe should take a “harder look” at protocols at airports and other “soft sites” outside security perimeters.

U.S. Republican presidential campaign hopeful Donald Trump has advocated torturing militant suspects to obtain information, while another Republican candidate, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, called for heightened police scrutiny of neighborhoods with large Muslim populations.

President Barack Obama, a Democrat, rejected singling out Muslims and said while on a visit to Argentina that any such approach “is not only wrong and un-American, but it also would be counterproductive because it would reduce the strength, the antibodies that we have to resist the terrorism.”

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden said the United States was offering Belgium all assistance to help bring the bombers to justice. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Belgium on Friday, a State Department spokesman said.

(Additional reporting by Megan Cassella, Amanda Becker and Susan Heavey in Washington, Barbara Goldberg in New York, Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago, Jeff Mason in Buenos Aires; Writing by Scott Malone and Daniel Wallis; Editing by Bill Trott and Grant McCool)

U.S. hopes for talks with China about possible missile defense deployment to South Korea

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States hopes to talk with China and address its concerns about the possible deployment of the THAAD missile defense system that Washington is discussing with Seoul, a senior State Department official said Tuesday.

Rose Gottemoeller, undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, stressed that the United States and South Korea had just begun discussions, and no decision had been made to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

Gottemoeller also emphasized that the system was defensive in nature and aimed at North Korea, not China.

“THAAD is truly only capable of defending the territory on which it’s deployed. It is not capable of the kind of reach that the Chinese seem to be afraid that it has,” she told reporters at a breakfast meeting.

“We will be very glad and hope we’ll have the opportunity to sit down and talk with China about those very technical limitations and facts about the system,” she said.

Gottemoeller gave no timetable for a possible meeting.

The United States and South Korea agreed to begin the talks last month after North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Feb. 7 carrying what it called a satellite.

Wang Yi, the foreign minister of China, North Korea’s neighbor and main ally, last month underscored China’s concerns about a possible THAAD deployment but seemed to open the door to a diplomatic solution.

Wang said China understood the desire of the United States and South Korea to ensure the defense of their own countries, but Beijing had legitimate concerns that should be addressed.

U.S. military officials have long said the THAAD system is needed in South Korea, but until North Korea’s recent satellite launch, Seoul had been reluctant to openly discuss its deployment given the risk of damaging ties with China.

Army Lieutenant General David Mann, commander, U.S. Army Space & Missile Command, told reporters that the THAAD system would result in a “huge increase” in missile defense capabilities on the Korean peninsula. But he said Washington understood the sensitivity of the discussions given the concerns raised by China, one of South Korea’s key trading partners.

“It’s very, very important that we clarify that that radar, that system is not looking at China,” he said. “If the decision is made to deploy it, that system would be oriented on North Korea and threats posed by the North Korean military.”

The system was designed to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles inside or just outside the atmosphere during their final phase of flight.

Mann said the Army would complete training for its fifth THAAD system by the end of the year. He said Japan was also interested in the system, as were U.S. military commanders in Europe and the Middle East.

Once a site was approved and prepared, the THAAD system could be deployed “in a matter of weeks,” Mann said.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

U.S. airports on edge after deadly Belgium bombings

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Major U.S. transportation hubs were placed on alert on Tuesday and Denver International Airport briefly evacuated part of its main terminal in a false alarm there hours after suicide bombings in Brussels killed at least 30 people.

Despite public safety concerns unleashed by the violence in Belgium’s capital, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the agency had no intelligence that would point to a similar attack being plotted against the United States.

But the State Department issued a travel alert warning U.S. citizens in Europe to avoid crowded places, to be vigilant when in public or using mass transit and to exercise extra caution during religious holidays and at large festivals and events.

“Terrorist groups continue to plan near-term attacks throughout Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants, and transportation,” it said in a statement.

The Brussels bombings reverberated on the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign trail, with Democratic contender Hillary Clinton declaring that more needed to be done to confront the Islamic State militants who claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The Republican front-runner in the White House race, Donald Trump, called again for tighter border security and suggested U.S. intelligence services could use torture to head off future attacks.

Some of the country’s busiest airports and other transportation facilities were placed on heightened security status, as illustrated by a greater law enforcement presence.

Large numbers of uniformed police officers and National Guard troops dressed in battle fatigues and carrying rifles patrolled New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. Several U.S. carriers – Delta Air Lines Inc, United Continental Holdings Inc and American Airlines Group Inc  – said they canceled or rerouted flights as a result of the Brussels attacks.

At midafternoon, authorities at the Denver airport evacuated two levels on the west side of the main terminal after several packages that appeared suspicious were spotted near ticket counters, airport spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said.

Denver police, FBI and U.S. Transportation Security Administration officers converged on the airport, but the packages were ultimately deemed to pose no threat, and the terminal was fully reopened within two hours.

Several airlines were affected by the scare, including American Airlines, Aeroméxico, Air Canada, Lufthansa and British Airways, the airport said.

‘WORLD MUST UNITE’

U.S. President Barack Obama ordered flags flown at half-staff in memory of the victims in the Belgium attacks.

The State Department said an undetermined number of U.S. citizens had been injured in Brussels but none were killed. Three Mormon missionaries and a U.S. Air Force member and his family were among those hurt.

The Obama administration also was expected to impose tighter security measures at U.S. airports following the Brussels Airport bombings, which occurred in a public hall outside of the security check area.

U.S. Representative William Keating of Massachusetts, senior Democrat on a House subcommittee on terrorism, said the suicide bombings illustrated the difficulty of protecting “soft targets” outside tightly controlled security cordons.

“The targets aren’t going to be just getting on the plane itself, but the airport in general,” he said in a phone interview.

Obama addressed the attacks briefly in a speech in Havana on his historic visit to Cuba, vowing to support Belgium as it hunts for those responsible.

“This is yet another reminder that the world must unite. We must be together regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism,” Obama said.

Candidates seeking their party’s nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election immediately weighed in, with Clinton, a former secretary of state, vowing to strengthen her drive to “defeat terrorism and radical jihadism.”

Trump, a billionaire businessman, told NBC’s “Today” program: “If they could expand the laws, I would do a lot more than waterboarding. You have to get the information from these people.”

His Republican rival, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, strengthened his call for Obama to clip the flow of refugees from “countries with significant al Qaida or ISIS presence,” and called for heightened police scrutiny of neighborhoods with large Muslim populations.

The attack raised worries among some U.S. Muslims that they could face more hostility, although mainstream Muslims have repeatedly denounced violence.

“The media hype and political manipulation heightens our concerns,” said Sheikh Shaker Elsayed, imam of the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in Virginia.

Some travelers expressed concern that new security measures at airports, which had already imposed extensive restrictions since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, would increase inconvenience without improving safety.

“It already takes all day,” said Hans Vermulst, 66, who was at New York’s Kennedy airport trying to get home to the Netherlands after his connecting flight to Brussels was canceled. “We have to take it as it comes, but I’m not happy with it.”

(Additional reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Idrees Ali, Julia Edwards, Mark Hosenball, Ian Simpson, Alana Wise and Susan Heavey in Washington and Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago; Writing by Scott Malone; Editing by Grant McCool and Peter Cooney)

Outmoded U.S. immigration system poses security risk, study shows

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. immigration authorities’ lack of progress in automating their systems is compromising border security, making it more difficult to process people seeking to get into the country, a report said on Tuesday.

“We may be admitting individuals who wish to do us harm, or who do not meet the requirements for a visa,” John Roth, the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security, told a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing.

The report from Roth’s office, released on Tuesday, said immigration officials expect it will take $1 billion and another three years, 11 years into the effort, to move from a paper-based system to automated benefit processing.

U.S. lawmakers have been calling for a tighter visa system since the November Paris attacks and December San Bernardino shootings. In Paris, some of the militants were Europeans radicalized after visiting Syria, and a California attacker had been admitted on a fiance visa.

They want to ensure that potential militants cannot enter the United States under programs, such as the “visa waiver” granted citizens of most western countries.

Roth told the Senate Homeland Security Committee that workers processing millions of applications for immigrant benefits work with a system “more suited to an office environment from 1950 rather than 2016.”

He said some green cards and other immigration documents had been mailed to wrong addresses, or printed with incorrect names, which meant they could have fallen into the wrong hands.

The poor quality of electronic data that is kept makes it more difficult to engage in data matching, to root out fraud and identify security risks, Roth said.

Shipping, storing and handling over 20 million immigrant files costs more than $300 million a year, he added.

The report also said the EB-5 visa program, which admits investors who spend $500,000 or $1 million in the United States, depending on the area, may not be subject to close enough scrutiny to ensure Americans’ safety.

The current system also allows “known human traffickers” to use work and fiance visas to bring victims into the country, the report said.

Republican Senator Ron Johnson, the committee’s chairman, said the modernization was too slow and expensive. “It should not take years and years and billions and billions of dollars,” he said.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Alan Crosby)

U.S. announces more restrictions to Visa Waiver Program

United States officials on Thursday announced new restrictions regarding the country’s Visa Waiver Program, an action designed to prevent foreign terrorists from entering the nation.

The Department of Homeland Security said it added Libya, Somalia and Yemen to its list of “countries of concern,” which means most people who have traveled to those nations since March 2011 will not be allowed to enter the United States through the Visa Waiver Program.

That program allows citizens and nationals of 38 countries to visit the United States without first securing a visa, so long as they stay for fewer than 90 days. But lawmakers sought to reform the program after the Nov. 13 Paris terrorist attacks, and the changes went into effect last month when officials announced similar travel restrictions concerning Iran, Iraq, Syria and Sudan.

The White House has said the 20 million people who enter the United States through the program every year were already being screened to prevent terrorists and other potential security threats from entering the country. But those who sought to reform the program spoke about its potential vulnerabilities, and the new rules add an extra layer to the vetting process.

In making Thursday’s announcement, the Department of Homeland Security said “many” foreign terrorists are nationals of the countries that participate in the Visa Waiver Program.

The State Department has issued active travel warnings for all seven aforementioned countries, in many cases citing terrorist or other extremist activities.

The new restrictions do not ban people who have traveled to the seven countries since March 2011 from entering the United States altogether. However, they are now required to first apply for a visa at a United States embassy. That process includes an in-person interview.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson can grant waivers on a case-by-case basis, and the department said such waivers may be available for people like journalists or humanitarian aid workers.

U.S. rejects 30 Syrian refugees amid tightened security

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has recently rejected 30 Syrians out of thousands seeking to enter the country, Obama administration officials told a congressional panel on Wednesday, as the United States tightens vetting of immigrants and other visitors following attacks in California and Paris.

In addition, hundreds of applications from Syrian refugees have been put on hold and many might ultimately be rejected, Leon Rodriguez, director of the Citizenship and Immigration Services unit of the Department of Homeland Security, told the committee.

A spokesman for Rodriguez later said that the 30 Syrian refugee applications had been rejected over the last 16 months.

At a time when millions of refugees are arriving in Europe and elsewhere from the Middle East and Africa, Democratic President Barack Obama’s pledge to take in 10,000 people fleeing war-torn Syria has come under fire, especially from Republicans. The United States so far has admitted 2,000 refugees.

Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, said at a hearing that authorities have identified about 40 violent militants who had attempted to enter Europe posing as refugees.

Other committee Republicans at the hearing questioned why the Obama administration wanted to admit any Syrian refugees, given that the Syria-based Islamic State movement has pledged to attack the United States and other western countries.

“Our intelligence community has … told me that individuals with terrorism ties in Syria have already tried to gain access to our country through the refugee program,” McCaul said.

“What’s even more concerning is that top officials have testified before this committee that intelligence gaps prevent us from being able to confidently weed out terrorists,” he said.

Rodriguez and other Homeland Security and State Department officials told the committee that U.S. procedures for vetting Syrian refugees were among the most rigorous in the world.

U.S. agencies have tightened procedures for checking backgrounds of would-be U.S. immigrants and visitors after a recent arrival from the Middle East was one of two shooters who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California.

Francis Taylor, the Homeland Security Department’s intelligence chief, said his department was routinely doing social media checks on would-be immigrants and visitors.

(Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Lisa Shumaker)

Nominee for U.S. Army secretary warns about impact of further troop cuts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The nominee to be the next U.S. Army secretary told lawmakers on Thursday that cutting the size of the force had increased the risk to American security and that further reductions would require a rethinking of the Army’s role and priorities.

Eric Fanning, a longtime senior defense official who would be the first openly gay military service secretary, told his confirmation hearing that reducing the Army to 450,000 troops by 2018 from about 490,000 currently, was manageable but would increase the risk to national security.

The Pentagon is in the process of cutting almost $1 trillion in projected defense spending over a decade under a 2011 deal approved by the White House and Congress.

Cutting the active-duty Army to 420,000 soldiers, which could be required if the spending cuts are not reversed, “would require a whole new set of assumptions and guidance on what the Army is supposed to do and what its priorities should be,” said Fanning, who would replace Army Secretary John McHugh, who stepped down several months ago.

Republican presidential candidates have blasted the cuts, promising more military spending to confront international threats including Islamic State.

Fanning would bring unique experience to the job because he has served at senior levels in all three branches of the U.S. armed forces, including stints as acting Air Force secretary and acting Army secretary.

Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee were largely positive about Fanning’s nomination, although the panel waited several months to take it up, leading the administration to name him acting Army secretary.

That prompted Republican Senator John McCain, chairman of the committee, to write a letter to the White House in November charging Fanning’s appointment as acting secretary was a violation of a law barring nominees from taking steps that presume they will be confirmed.

While the White House disagreed, Fanning stepped down in deference to McCain’s concerns and has since been preparing for the confirmation hearing.

Advocacy groups said Fanning’s nomination was a significant sign of progress in protecting the rights of gays and lesbians to serve in the world’s most powerful military.

For many years, the U.S. military followed a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that allowed gays to serve only if they did not disclose their sexual orientation. It abolished that policy in 2011.

(Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Peter Cooney)

U.S. begins implementing restrictions on visa-free travel

United States officials have begun implementing new policies regarding the country’s Visa Waiver Program, the State Department announced Thursday.

The program allows citizens and nationals of 38 countries to visit the United States without obtaining a visa, provided they stay for fewer than 90 days.

Congress sought to reform the program in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks.

The new laws prevent anyone who has visited Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan since March 1, 2011, or holds citizenship in one of those four countries, from entering the United States through the Visa Waiver Program. They will now have to apply for a visa at a U.S. embassy, a process that includes an in-person interview.

A White House fact sheet says 20 million people visit the United States under the Visa Waiver Program every year, and the program had utilized security checks designed to keep terrorists and other potential security threats out of the nation.

Those who sought to reform the program said there were shortcomings in that screening process, and Congress voted to approve the changes in December.

Representative Candice Miller (R-Michigan), who originally introduced the legislation, issued a statement when it was passed. She said the bill “improves our ability to identify and stop individuals who have traveled to terrorist hotspots to join ISIS and other like-minded organizations before they reach U.S. soil.”

In a news release, State Department officials said “the great majority” of people who use the Visa Waiver Program would not be affected by the changes.

The department added that Secretary of Homeland Security can waive the visa requirement for individuals who went to the aforementioned four countries on a case-by-case basis. People who traveled for diplomatic reasons, humanitarian work, military service or as a journalist may qualify for waivers.

Senate blocks bill for tighter Syrian refugee screening

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Democrats narrowly blocked legislation on Wednesday that would slow the entry of refugees from Syria and Iraq into the United States in a contentious vote cloaked in presidential election-year politics.

The vote was 55-43, with “yes” votes falling short of the 60 needed to advance the Republican-backed measure in the 100-member Senate. No Republicans voted against the bill, and only two Democrats backed it.

Among other things, the bill would have required high-level U.S. officials to verify that each refugee from Iraq and Syria posed no security risk before being allowed into the United States.

Republicans said the tighter screening was essential to ensure the safety of Americans and prevent attacks within the country by Islamic State and other militant groups.

Democrats called the legislation an attack on people who are fleeing war. They accused Republicans of holding the vote to allow their 2016 presidential candidates in the Senate to back legislation touted as tough on security.

All three of the Senate Republican 2016 presidential hopefuls, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio, backed the bill.

Democrats had also sought to play politics. They tried and failed to reach a deal with Republicans that would have set up a vote on an amendment establishing a religious test for would-be immigrants.

That vote was planned to see if Republicans would side against 2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has advocated barring Muslims from entering the United States.

The Syria refugee bill passed the House by a large, bipartisan margin in November days after the Nov. 13 Islamic State attacks in Paris, supported by dozens of Democrats who broke from their party despite Democratic President Barack Obama’s threatened veto.

“We need to talk about efforts to defeat ISIS, not creating more paperwork for cabinet secretaries,” Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, told reporters before the vote.

It currently takes 18-24 months for Syrian refugees to be screened before they can move to the United States.

The United States has offered refuge to far fewer of the millions fleeing war in Syria and Iraq than many of its closest allies in Europe and the Middle East.

Obama announced last year that he would admit 10,000 Syrians, a plan opposed by many Republicans as a potential threat to U.S. security.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Eric Beech and Cynthia Osterman)

Government announces new anti-terrorism task force, initiative

The United States government took new steps in the fight against the Islamic State and other extremist groups on Friday, with three separate departments unveiling new measures designed to help stop terrorist organizations from spreading their radical messages to a global audience.

The Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security teamed up to establish a new anti-extremism task force and the State Department created a new Global Engagement Center that will help counter terrorist propaganda, according to news releases from the departments.

“The horrific attacks in Paris and San Bernardino this winter underscored the need for the United States and our partners in the international community and the private sector to deny violent extremists like ISIL fertile recruitment ground,” National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement about the new efforts, using an acronym for the Islamic State.

Price noted the announcement came on the day that top White House and national security officials were meeting with several leading technology companies in California’s Silicon Valley.

Lawmakers and President Barack Obama have publicly called for more to be done to help prevent terrorist organizations from using social media to share information about their actions and messages. In December, George Washington University’s Program on Extremism released a report that said it identified at least 300 Islamic State sympathizers in the United States who spread propaganda or communicated with other “like-minded individuals” on social media.

Following the San Bernardino terrorist attacks, lawmakers proposed legislation that would require social media companies to report any evidence of terrorist activities to the proper authorities. The Department of Justice has said one of the San Bernardino shooters pledged allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State on Facebook on the morning of the deadly rampage.

“Today’s developments reflect President Obama’s commitment to take every possible action to confront and interdict terrorist activities wherever they occur, including online,” Price said in a statement.

The State Department said its Global Engagement Center would “more effectively coordinate, integrate and synchronize” its anti-terrorism communications. The State Department currently runs a social media campaign called “Think Again Turn Away,” that says it offers “truths about terrorism.” Its recent Twitter postings tout victories the United States-led coalition and Iraqi military have scored against ISIS, including killing of 75 terrorists and destroying equipment.

It’s not exactly clear if or how this new effort will differ from the existing campaign.

The State Department’s news release said the Global Engagement Center will “focus more on empowering and enabling partners … who are able to speak out against these groups and provide an alternative to ISIL’s nihilistic vision.” The department said the efforts will center on things like how terrorists treat women and defectors, rather than what the groups publicize.

The Department of Justice said the Countering Violent Extremism Task Force is part of the government’s increased effort “to prevent extremists from radicalizing and mobilizing recruits, especially here at home.” The task force will aim to coordinate the anti-terrorism efforts of a variety of government agencies, bringing officials from the Homeland Security and Justice departments, FBI and National Counterterrorism Center together under one roof.