Homeland Security Project

Juliette Kayyem writes that there are no excuses for the U.S. government separating children from their families with no serious effort at an accounting and tracking system to be able to reunite them at some stage.

Even the Trump administration is now backing away from the immoral and unsustainable policy of separating the families of migrants when prosecuting the parents for illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexican border. That’s welcome, but the current proposals—whether banning family separations or expediting the legal processing of apprehended migrants—fail to address the source of the crisis. 

Juliette Kayyem comments on the new estimate of the death toll in Puerto Rico after last year's Hurricane Maria, critiques the response, and advocates for using "lessons learned"  to build resiliency.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen recently announced a zero tolerance policy on border security. Though its contours have not been described in great detail, at its core, it is a commitment to criminally prosecute every person who illegally crosses the border.

This strategy may provide sound bites, and harsh rhetoric may generate some short-term deterrent effect, but it is impossible for this policy to actually be implemented over any reasonable time period. By announcing a threat that is effectively a bluff, the Trump administration likely will harm border security rather than enhance it.

To argue the southwest border is in a state of crisis and out of control overlooks the extraordinary progress that has been made in securing the southwest border during the last 30 years. Worse still, it is deceptive and poisons the debate about what additional steps the United States should take to address southwest border security.

Juliette Kayyem discusses responsible gun ownership and advocates for legal liability for those whose guns are taken and used in a crime.

Juliette Kayyem analyzes President Donald Trump's berating of Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.

Speaking in Davos this January, President Donald Trump promised that, "when it comes to terrorism, we will do whatever is necessary to protect our nation." It's a commitment we share with the President. In fact, developing and implementing lawful and effective counterterrorism strategies and policies used to be our jobs in the intelligence community, at the White House and at the National Counterterrorism Center, respectively. That's precisely why we are opposed to Trump's travel ban, which heads to the Supreme Court this week for oral arguments.

The lesson of the safe landing isn't that a female pilot performed heroically, but that a professional pilot performed exactly as trained.

The author writes that a disaster averted is still significant because it can tell schools, businesses, communities, etc. what they can do better given that the system was tested.