The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice,and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all legal matters. The attorney general is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States.
The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security,military,and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House,it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States,and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.
Thomas Joseph Ridge is an American politician and author who served in the George W. Bush administration as the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security from 2001 to 2003 and as the United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2003 to 2005. He was the first person to hold either office. A member of the Republican Party,he previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1995 and as the 43rd governor of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2001.
The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security,the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the United States. The position was created by the Homeland Security Act following the attacks of September 11,2001.
The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is a senior cabinet-level United States government official,required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to serve as executive head of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) and to direct and oversee the National Intelligence Program (NIP). All IC agencies report directly to the DNI. The DNI also serves,upon invitation,as an advisor to the president of the United States,the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council on all intelligence matters. The DNI,supported by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI),produces the President's Daily Brief (PDB),a classified document including intelligence from all IC agencies,handed each morning to the president of the United States.
Frances M. "Fran" Fragos Townsend is an American lawyer and business executive who served as Homeland Security Advisor to United States President George W. Bush from 2004 to 2007,and was formerly the executive vice president for corporate affairs,corporate secretary,and compliance chief officer for Activision Blizzard,until September of 2022,due to Microsoft acquiring Blizzard for $75 billion. She previously served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism. In 2008,Townsend joined CNN as a contributor,but later switched over to CBS where she is a national security analyst for them. Townsend was president of the Counter Extremism Project.
Section 287(g) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deputize selected state and local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration law. Section 287(g) allows the DHS and law enforcement agencies to make agreements,which require the state and local officers to receive training and work under the supervision of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE provides the officers with authorization to identify,process,and—when appropriate—detain immigration offenders they encounter during their regular,daily law-enforcement activity.
In the United States,black conservatism is a political and social movement rooted in African-American communities that aligns largely with the American conservative movement,including the Christian right. Black conservatism emphasizes social conservatism,traditionalism,patriotism,capitalism and free markets. What characterizes a "black conservative" has changed over time,and proponents do not necessarily share the same political philosophy.
Evelyn Nicolette Farkas is an American national security advisor,author,and foreign policy analyst. She is the current executive director of the McCain Institute,a nonprofit focused on democracy,human rights,and character-driven leadership.
Kenneth Leonard Wainstein is an American lawyer. He served as the first Assistant Attorney General for National Security,and later as the Homeland Security Advisor to United States President George W. Bush. In 2022 under the Biden administration,he was appointed Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis.
Margo Jane Schlanger is a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School,and the founder and director of the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Previously,she was at Washington University School of Law. From 2010 to 2012,while on leave from her professorial position,she served as the presidentially-appointed Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the United States Department of Homeland Security. As the top civil rights official at the Department of Homeland Security,Schlanger led the office that advises department leadership about civil rights and civil liberties issues,engages with communities whose civil rights and civil liberties may be affected by Department activities,investigates and resolves civil rights complaints,and leads the Departments equal employment opportunity program. Schlanger's major initiatives as Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Officer included:creating and managing a structure for overseeing the Department's controversial Secure Communities program to ensure that it did not serve as a conduit for unconstitutional practices by local law enforcement agencies in jurisdictions covered by the program;publishing guidance for agencies that receive DHS funding on providing meaningful access to people with limited English proficiency;working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the reform of detention practices;and improving the department's civil rights complaint process.
Rachel Lee Brand is an American lawyer,academic,and former government official. She served as the United States Associate Attorney General from May 22,2017,until February 20,2018,when she resigned to take a job as head of global corporate governance at Walmart. Brand was the first woman to serve as Associate Attorney General. She also served as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy in the George W. Bush administration and was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. Prior to becoming Associate Attorney General,Brand was an associate professor at Antonin Scalia Law School.
John Marshall Mitnick is an American lawyer who served as General Counsel for the United States Department of Homeland Security.
The Presidential Memorandum on Military Service by Transgender Individuals,officially the Presidential Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security,is the 27th presidential memorandum signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on August 25,2017. The intent was to prevent transgender people from serving in the U.S. military,on the basis that they would be a financial burden due to sex reassignment procedures and associated costs. Federal courts delayed the implementation of this rule by issuing four injunctions. On January 22,2019,however,the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration's ban to take effect.
Kirstjen Michele Nielsen is an American attorney who served as United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019. She is a former principal White House deputy chief of staff to President Donald Trump,and was chief of staff to John F. Kelly during his tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security.
Elizabeth Lee "Lisa" Branch is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She is a former judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals.
Andrea Lee Thompson is an American government official and former military officer. She is the former Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs. Prior to this,she was the National Security Advisor to Vice President Mike Pence. Before entering government service,she was a career intelligence officer in the United States Army.
Julia Nesheiwat is an American national security adviser who served as the 10th homeland security advisor in the Trump administration from 2020 to 2021. She also served in the Bush and Obama administrations.
Christopher Cox Krebs is an American attorney who served as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in the United States Department of Homeland Security from November 2018 until November 17,2020,when President Donald Trump fired Krebs for contradicting Trump's claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia is an American lawyer serving as the officer for civil rights and civil liberties of the United States Department of Homeland Security since 2023. She is an associate dean for diversity,equity,and inclusion,the Samuel Weiss Faculty Scholar,and a clinical professor of law at Penn State Law.
