DHS Employees Volunteer to Review Visas for DOS
DHS employees are being asked to volunteer for assignments at U.S. diplomatic missions to help State Department officials review applications for visas.
The assignments, “some of which are located in high-threat areas,” would last at least 30 days, the notice states.
ICE agents already are posted in a dozen countries to weed out applications from potential terrorists or criminals, but the new notice seeks people to conduct in-depth background checks and write intelligence reports. Federal officials told CNN they would back up State Department officials who lack law-enforcement experience to look for security threats.
After meeting with his homeland security and counterterrorism team Tuesday, Obama told reporters that the government “has to do better” to stop attacks like the December 25 attempt to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253.
Additionally, U.S. anti-terrorism officials are pushing to get more air marshals on American jetliners and beef up efforts to screen visa applicants overseas after some stinging criticism from President Obama.
Internal notices issued Tuesday and Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security is asking employees to step up to train as air marshals and to serve at U.S. diplomatic posts abroad. Both moves follow Obama’s call for immediate reforms to prevent the kind of “potentially disastrous” failure involved in the unsuccessful attempt to bomb a U.S. jetliner on Christmas Day.