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Department of Homeland Security’s Public Relations Effort Fools No One

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Department of Homeland SecurityThe Department of Homeland Security hasn’t received a lot of praise recently, and the lack of it has finally gotten to them.  So, they’ve announced an initiative aimed at fighting the negative views that communities have developed over time. From the Chicago Tribune:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is “taking it to the streets.” Or at least that’s the motto behind a new pilot program aimed at combatting the negative image that some community groups have about the department.

The program is being launched next week in Chicago with the hopes of undoing stereotypes, mistrust and misinformation about the department and its agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The idea is to bring together DHS officials with immigrants, Muslims and other groups to encourage them to reach out with any questions or concerns.

“All they see is that we’re standing at the borders, searching luggage,” said Robyn Dessaure, a Homeland Security field director, said about CBP. “It’s time for us to get back on the ground.”

True – the Department of Homeland Security is not just standing at the border, looking through our luggage. The various departments under its banner are doing much worse, like removing a four year old U.S. citizen child from her undocumented parents, staking out elementary schools looking for undocumented immigrants to arrest, and giving hope to thousands of married, bi-national LGBT couples – and then taking it away.