Hemp, Inc. Announces Strategic Hemp Growing Partner "Veteran Village Kins Community Arizona, Inc." Completes Final Site Plan Blueprints
GOLDEN VALLEY, AZ -- (Marketwired) -- 10/24/17 -- Hemp, Inc. (OTC PINK: HEMP), a global leader in the industrial hemp industry with the largest patent-pending multi-purpose industrial hemp processing mill in the western hemisphere, announced today that its strategic growing partner, "Veteran Village Kins Community Arizona, Inc.," has completed its final site plan blueprints for its 500-acre site in Golden Valley, Arizona (20 miles north of Kingman, AZ and 90 minutes from Las Vegas, NV). The site plan has been submitted to the Mohave County Building Department for final review. The Company is also in the final stages of completing the necessary infrastructure to support an off-grid, renewable, energy system. The remainder of the solar equipment is expected to arrive in the next few days, completing the site's solar power operation.
Dwight Jory, Project Manager for the "Veteran Village Kins Community Arizona, Inc.," said, "We are very happy with the progress. Our Kins Community is really beginning to come together." In anticipation of planting to begin after the first of the year, 300 acres have been fenced, 16 overnight trailer park sites are under construction, and six 40x40-ft organic vegetable gardens are ready for seasonal planting, according to Jory. As for the 6 geodesic domes mentioned in an earlier press release, 1 is structurally complete with only the electrical and plumbing to be completed. The rest are on site awaiting final site plan approval. "We are now accepting volunteers who have expressed an interest in helping to build the first Kins Community for our veterans," said Jory. Those interested in making the first hemp growing CBD-producing "Veteran Village Kins Community" become a reality should contact Ms. Sandra Williams via email (swilliams@hempinc.com).
One thousand trees, on 36 of the 500-acres, have also been planted, with an additional 1,000 trees on order. The "Veteran Village Kins Community" site plan also includes a 100,000 square foot GMP compliant, central processing plant, CBD testing laboratory, and various health and wellness centers to support veterans who may have psychological, emotional or health issues.
Hemp, Inc. and "Veteran Village Kins Community Arizona, Inc." began development on the "Veteran-Village Kins Community in Arizona" approximately 5 years ago. Kins Communities are designed to grow hemp and produce cannabidiol (CBD) products to benefit veterans and to generate revenue for Hemp, Inc., the Veteran Village, and the individuals living on the land. Each 2.5 acre lot is designed to be self-sustainable, with 1 acre allocated to grow hemp and other areas for an organic garden, natural bee-hives, a living fence, a pond, a family tree and other elements that make up a "Kins Domain."
To learn more of what a Kins Domain is, click here. Volunteers who want to help build America's first "Veteran Village Kins Community" can contact Ms. Sandra Williams via email (swilliams@hempinc.com).
"As Hemp, Inc. strives to be on the forefront of America's industrial hemp revolution, we see our partnership with 'Veteran Village Kins Community Arizona, Inc.' being paramount in supporting the small family farm movement that we are confident will reshape the American landscape," said Hemp, Inc. CEO Bruce Perlowin. "As we work toward getting our eco-village up and running in Arizona, we are also aggressively scouting strategic locations in other states including North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. Giving veterans and other Americans a place to learn new skills and take part in this multi-billion dollar hemp CBD market is very exciting. It's a big part of our mission to give back."
According to Perlowin, seven "master hemp growers" from Oregon, Colorado, California, Kentucky, North Carolina, Nevada and, of course, Arizona have expressed an interest in pursuing a joint venture with Hemp, Inc. to each grow industrial hemp on the 300 fenced acres in Arizona. Perlowin says he'll call this "The Great United American Hemp Project."
To learn more about Veteran-Village Kins Communities to grow hemp, click here.
ABOUT THE "HEMP GROWING, CBD PRODUCING VETERAN VILLAGE KINS COMMUNITIES"
Aligned with Hemp, Inc.'s Triple Bottom Line approach, CEO Bruce Perlowin is exploring the possibilities of developing "Hemp Growing, CBD Producing Veteran Village Kins Communities" in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and several other states similar to the 500-acre demonstration community being built in Arizona. He currently has 4,500 acres of land north of Kingman, Arizona where he's building a Veteran Village on 500 of those acres that would consist of 160 lots of 2 1/2 acre parcels for Kins Domains(eco-villages). Each parcel would grow 1 acre of hemp as well as having organic gardens, natural beehives, a pond, a living fence and other elements that make up a Kins Domain.
An additional 100 acres of hemp will be grown in each one of these 500-acre communities which will also include a 100,000 square-foot hemp (CBD) processing facility and a 10 acre holistic and learning center designed to treat and retrain veterans. The revenue from fifty of those acres is used to support that community. The revenue from the other fifty acres of hemp will be used to purchase 2 additional 500-acre parcels of land, thus keeping up with the needs of a large number of veterans that exist now and in the future. The eco-friendly "Veteran Village Kins Communities" were inspired by the book series, The Ringing Cedars of Russia (https://www.ringingcedars.com).
Perlowin has since found a way to incorporate it into Hemp, Inc.'s strategy of building hemp growing, CBD-producing "communities" or "villages." The first part of these "Veteran Village Kins Communities" is a "holistic healing and learning center" whose function in each community is to treat, train and re-train our veterans. The prototype "Veteran Village Kins Community in Arizona" is expected to be completed by late 2017.
Perlowin has been personally creating the Arizona "Veteran Village Kins Community" since 2013 as a solution to America's multifaceted veteran problem. To date, forty-four percent of America's homeless are veterans. Twelve percent of that group are combat women veterans with children. Twenty-two veterans commit suicide EVERY DAY. Two million veterans are on food stamps. As for the future, 238,000 veterans are leaving the armed services every year, according to Dannion Brinkley, Chairman of the Twilight Brigade.
From rehabilitation to job creation, Perlowin says this model presents a comprehensive, holistic solution to those individuals that all Americans owe a great debt of gratitude... our American veterans. Perlowin expects this model to produce very lucrative revenue for Hemp, Inc., the veterans themselves and the local communities these Kins Communities are built near. "The infrastructure for 'The Hemp Growing, CBD-Producing, Veteran-Village Kins Community, which takes time to build, is already in place in Arizona. I've been building this infrastructure since 2013 and it can be duplicated for any state," says Perlowin.
To see a series of videos on what a Kins Domain is, visit http://www.kinsdomain.us/. To see the Hemp, Inc. mill in operation and processing product, visit Bruce Perlowin's personal Facebook page and scroll down to August 1, 2017.
HEMP, INC. AND NORTH CAROLINA HEMP IN THE NEWS
1. Industrial hemp bill passes Wisconsin Senate committee (Oct. 19, 2017)
A state Senate committee has approved a bill that would bring industrial hemp farming back to Wisconsin. Under the Republican-backed proposal, Wisconsin farmers could apply for a state permit to grow the crop. Supporters say Wisconsin land is good for hemp farming, and argue the crop would be very profitable. (Read the full published article here.)
2. Roxboro Hemp Famers Have High Hopes for Success (Sept. 28, 2017)
"September in North Carolina means tobacco is in the warehouses and the cotton bolls will soon pop open, but one of the newest signs of the season in the state is hemp harvesting." (Read the full published article here.)
3. Hemp is Back After 80 Years (Sept. 28, 2017)
Hemp has made a comeback and that's being felt in Randolph County and North Carolina's Tobacco Belt. (Read the full published article here.)
4. Up Close with Chris Tinney (September 26, 2017)
"...In this show, he shares what's happening on the farms in North Carolina, which is now the biggest hemp processing plant in North America, and how Hemp University is empowering everyday people to grow hemp. Bruce also shared his passion to bring back the small family farm to the American landscape..." (To hear the full interview on Up Close with Chris Tinney, click here.)
5. North Carolina is Harvesting its First Legal Hemp Crop in Decades (September 25, 2017)
"...Hemp, Inc., has recently begun operations at a new 70,000 square foot multipurpose hemp processing mill in Spring Hope, North Carolina. The facility, which is North America's largest, is able to process hemp for industrial products as well as other cultivars grown for their CBD-rich flowers..." (Read the full published article in High Times.)
6. Hemp Pilot Program an Early Success for Tar Heel Agriculture (September 19, 2017)
"He told The Wilson Times for a story last week that hemp 'will take the place of tobacco' -- at least in his fields..." (Read the full published article in Wilson Times.)
7. Hemp: The New Cash Crop? | The Wilson Times (September 12, 2017)
"...Tony Finch likes the idea of carrying his crop to market and getting paid on the spot. The fourth-generation Nash County farmer is one of about 100..." (Read the full published article here.)
8. Hemp: It's Not Just for Ropes Anymore - The Daily Record (September 11, 2017)
"In reality, the hemp plant is useful from the root all the way to the seeds embedded in the flower." (Read the full published article here.)
9. Industrial Hemp is North Carolina's Newest Crop (August 29, 2017)
"...Because all North Carolina hemp growers are on a steep learning curve this year, opportunities to network and learn from other growers and researchers are highly prized..." (Read the full published article here.)
10. Hemp Inc. Launches New Extractor - Rocky Mount Telegram (August 28, 2017)
"With a solid hemp manufacturing and processing infrastructure via the largest hemp mill in the western hemisphere now in full operation in Spring Hope, Hemp, Inc." (Read the full published article here.)
11. Hemp, Inc. Announces Official Launch of its CO2 Supercritical Extractor (Aug 17, 2017)
"Hemp, Inc. (OTC PINK: HEMP) is pleased to announce that its NuAxon Tech CO2 Supercritical Extractor has officially launched and is in its first phase of operation." (Read the full press release here.)
12. Sky's the Limit for NC's Budding Hemp Industry (August 11, 2017)
"Mullen, a fifth-generation tobacco farmer in Franklin County, is planting a new seed for success: hemp, the cousin of marijuana minus the THC." (Read the full published article here.)
13. Breaking News: Hemp, Inc.'s Industrial Hemp Processing Facility Operational (Aug 08, 2017)
"...after 3 1/2 years, millions of dollars spent on purchasing, disassembling, transporting, reassembling, rebuilding, refurbishing, beta testing and debugging, the largest multipurpose industrial hemp processing facility in the Western Hemisphere is now operational and is processing its first product..." (Read the full press release here.)
14. Milling Operation Powered Up for Industrial Hemp Production -- Hemp, Inc. (Jul 05, 2017)
"Hemp, Inc. (OTC PINK: HEMP) is pleased to announce that the milling portion of its industrial hemp decorticator is online for beta testing and is being debugged." (Read the full press release here.)
15. Spring Hope Firm Bets on Hemp - Rocky Mount Telegram (June 25, 2017)
"A Spring Hope hemp plant is continuing its efforts to make hemp the next cash crop for local farmers." (Read the full published article here.)
16. Person County Farmers Testing Hemp as NC's Next Cash Crop (June 19, 2017)
"WRAL Evening News. 7:30p. North Carolina... Person County farmers testing hemp as NC's next..." (Read the full published article here.)
About Hemp, Inc. With a deep-rooted social and environmental mission at its core, Hemp, Inc. seeks to build a business constituency for the American small farmer, the American veteran, and other groups experiencing the ever-increasing disparity between tapering income and soaring expenses. As a leader in the industrial hemp industry with ownership of the largest commercial multi-purpose industrial hemp processing facility in North America, Hemp, Inc. believes there can be tangible benefits reaped from adhering to a corporate social responsibility plan.
Subscribe to Hemp, Inc.'s video updates: "Hemp, Inc. Presents" is capturing the historic, monumental re-creation of the hemp decorticator today as America begins to evolve into a cleaner, green, eco-friendly sustainable environment. What many see as the next American Industrial Revolution is actually the Industrial Hemp Revolution. Watch as Hemp, Inc., the No. 1 leader in the industrial hemp industry, engages its shareholders and the public through each step in bringing back the hemp decorticator as described in the "Freedom Leaf Magazine" article "The Return of the Hemp Decorticator" by Steve Bloom.
"Hemp, Inc. Presents" is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by visiting www.hempincpresents.com. To subscribe to the "Hemp, Inc. Presents" YouTube channel, be sure to click the subscribe button.
Social networks: http://www.twitter.com/hempinc (Twitter)
http://www.facebook.com/hempinc (Facebook)
http://investorshangout.com/Hemp-Inc-HEMP-87248/ (Investors Hangout)
FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER AND DISCLOSURES
This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties.
The statements in this press release have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. The Company does not sell or distribute any products that are in violation of the United States Controlled Substances Act. The Company does sell and distribute hemp-based products.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Hemp, Inc.
(855) HEMP-OUT
info@hempinc.com
http://www.hempinc.com
For Investor Relations, please send correspondence to:
ir@hempinc.com
Source: Hemp, Inc.
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Trump and Congressional Delegation Cave to Special Interests
On Friday, President Trump called Senator Orrin Hatch with his decision to shrink Bears Ears National Monument. Senator Jim Dabakis (D - Salt Lake City) released the following:
"The President decided to listen to Mia Love and Orrin Hatch and dismantle Bears Ears. We can expect Grand Escalante next. Combined with the Trump proposal to charge a $70 entrance fee into National Parks, this move to shrink protection for our most sacred lands is a plan to hurt tourism, Utah's biggest growth industry. Trump, with the conniving help of the Utah Congressional delegation, just strangled the golden goose of Utah's future jobs--the outdoor recreation industry."
Dabakis continued,
"The winners in the President's decision are the fossil fuels industry, giant international coal companies, and the pollution industry. The losers are Utah families, outdoor enthusiasts, hunters, campers, climbers and all who appreciate the unspeakable beauty of our State. This is an ugly violation of the stewardship responsibility we have to protect our sacred land."
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(Weekly Update: Live with Tom Fitton)
The FBI Recovered 72,000 Pages of Clinton Records – Court Orders Explanation on Processing
Judicial Watch Helps Grieving Father Fight for Purple Heart for his Son
Border Agency Computers Can’t Screen Harmful Aliens
The FBI Recovered 72,000 Pages of Clinton Records – Court Orders Explanation on Processing
President Trump’s efforts to drain the Washington swamp are being seriously hindered by Deep State, particularly in the State and Justice Departments.
As an example, the State Department just revealed in a federal court hearing that it has yet to process 40,000 of 72,000 pages of Hillary Clinton records that the FBI recovered last year. The revelation came in our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails that were sent or received during her tenure from February 2009 to January 31, 2013 (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00687)). The case is before Judge James E. Boasberg.
The hearing, which took place last week, focused on the State Department’s progress on processing the tens of thousands of emails Clinton failed to disclose when she served as Secretary of State, some of which were emails sent by Clinton aide Huma Abedin that were found on the laptop of her estranged husband Anthony Weiner.
The State Department has processed 32,000 pages of emails so far, only a small number of which have been released, but 40,000 pages remain to be processed.
We asked the court to require the State Department to identify any records from the seven FBI discs that it intends to withhold, and why, in a timely manner. The State Department disclosed to the court that it was adding extra resources to its FOIA operation but would not commit to a faster production of the Clinton emails.
But right after the hearing, Judge Boasberg ordered the State Department to “explain how its anticipated increase in resources will affect processing of records in this case and when the processing of each disk is likely to be completed.” Surprisingly, the Tillerson State Department and Sessions Justice Department previously argued to the court that there was diminished public interest in the Clinton emails.
In November 2016, the State Department was ordered to produce no fewer than 500 pages of records a month to Judicial Watch, emails which the FBI found in its investigation into Clinton’s non-government email system. The State Department has produced 23 batches of documents so far.
At the current pace, the Clinton emails and other records won’t be fully available for possible release until at least 2020! (We originally filed the lawsuit in May 2015.)
Clinton attempted to delete 33,000 emails from her non-government server. The FBI investigation recovered or found a number of these missing emails, many of which were government documents. We know that some of these recovered emails are in the pile of documents on which the State Department now sits.
Secretary Tillerson should be asked why his State Department is still sitting on this mother lode of Clinton emails. It is disheartening that an administration elected to “drain the swamp” is stalling the release of documents in order to protect Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration.
In a related lawsuit, the State Department admitted it received 2,800 Huma Abedin work-related documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that were found on her estranged husband Anthony Weiner’s personal laptop. The State Department expects to complete its review and production of the FBI records by December 31, 2017.
This is all a slow-motion cover-up, and it’s being conducted in a department allegedly reporting to President Trump. The President needs to clean house and get the American people these Clinton documents ASAP!
Judicial Watch Helps Grieving Father Fight for Purple Heart for his Son
On November 5, 2009, U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan, under the influence of a foreign terrorist organization, opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 people and injuring dozens. Judicial Watch is proud to help seek justice for one of the heroes from that terrible day.
This week, JW attorneys proudly filed a lawsuit on behalf of Howard M. Berry, the father of the late U.S. Army Sgt. Joshua A. Berry, against the Secretaries of Defense and Army to award the Purple Heart to Sgt. Berry for injuries sustained at Fort Hood (Howard M. Berry v. Ryan D. McCarthy, Acting Secretary of the Army and James Mattis, Secretary of Defense (No. 1:17-cv-02112)).
Sgt. Berry was among the service members injured during the attack.
Following the Fort Hood attack, the Obama administration declined to recognize the mass shooting as an international terrorist attack against the United States. Instead, the attack was characterized as “workplace violence.” As a result, active duty service members injured in the attack were ineligible for the Purple Heart, among other awards and benefits.
In response, Congress enacted legislation in 2014 mandating that service members killed or wounded in an attack targeting members of the armed forces and carried out by an individual in communication with and inspired or motivated by a foreign terrorist organization be eligible for the Purple Heart.
Our lawsuit describes how the late Sgt. Berry was injured during the Fort Hood terrorist attack and should be awarded a Purple Heart:
On November 5, 2009, U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan (“Hasan”) opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, killing thirteen people and injuring more than 30 service members and civilians. Sgt. Berry was among the service members injured in the attack. Sgt. Berry was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery, at Fort Hood. He had deployed to Afghanistan for approximately a year in June 2008 and was at Fort Hood as part of a transition program following his return from deployment. He was one of the last soldiers awaiting redeployment to Fort Knox at the time of the attack.
The briefing room in Building 42004 had a set of metal double doors leading to the outside. In witness statements given to the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command (“CID”) and in a separate statement given to a Texas Ranger, Sgt. Berry estimated that Hasan fired 30-40 rounds outside Building 42004. Sgt. Berry told those around him to get down on the floor and stay away from the doors and windows. When Sgt. Berry heard gunshots hit the metal doors near him, he leaped over a desk to take cover and, in so doing, dislocated his left shoulder. He then heard Hasan trying to kick in the doors.
According to a witness statement from another individual, Hasan fired three rounds at the briefing room doors.
Investigative photographs and sketches of the SRP center show the layout of buildings and the location of shell casings from the shots fired by Hasan. The photographs and sketches show a number of shell casings around the metal doors of the briefing room where Sgt. Berry was located during the shooting.
Following the attack, Sgt. Berry was admitted to the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009, where his dislocated shoulder was surgically repaired.
The attending physician who admitted Sgt. Berry found that Sgt. Berry’s injury occurred during the mass shooting at the SRP center.
Sgt. Berry’s commander found the injury to have been incurred in the line of duty and documented that Sgt. Berry was a casualty of the mass shooting at the SRP center.
On November 6, 2009, Sgt. Berry was entered into the U.S. Army casualty reporting system with a diagnosis of shoulder dislocation as a result of the mass shooting at the SRP center.
A photograph of Sgt. Berry meeting with President Barack Obama at a November 10, 2009 memorial service at Fort Hood, included herewith as Exhibit A, shows Sgt. Berry’s left arm in a sling.
By memorandum dated December 7, 2009, the Fort Hood Installation Adjutant General confirmed that Sgt. Berry’s shoulder dislocation occurred in the line of duty.
CID, the Texas Rangers, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted a joint investigation of the shooting and subsequently found probable cause to believe Hasan committed the offense of attempted murder when he fired at Sgt. Berry.
On May 2, 2011, a Physical Evaluation Board found Sgt. Berry unfit for continued military service due to post-traumatic stress disorder, the shoulder injury received in the Fort Hood shooting, and degenerative arthritis of the spine. It recommended a combined disability rating of 80%.
On May 31, 2011, Sgt. Berry was released from active duty and placed on the temporary disability retired list.
On February 13, 2013, Sgt. Berry committed suicide. He was 36 years old. Sgt. Berry is survived by his father and now a 7-year-old daughter.
At his August 2013 court martial, Hasan admitted to being influenced by Anwar Awlaki, chief propagandist for the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula terrorist group.***
On February 6, 2015, the Secretary of the Army announced that the Fort Hood attack met the criteria for awards of the Purple Heart. In its review of the mass shooting, the Army found sufficient evidence to conclude Hasan “was in communication with the foreign terrorist organization before the attack,” and that his radicalization and subsequent acts could be considered to have been “inspired or motivated by the foreign terrorist organization.”
The U.S. Army Decorations Board denied Mr. Berry’s application, for a posthumous award of the Purple Heart to his son. In April 2015, the Army awarded the Purple Heart to 47 service members injured in the Fort Hood attack. Sgt. Berry was not among them.
On April 17, 2016, a three-member panel of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records recommended that all Army records concerning Sgt. Berry be corrected by awarding Sgt. Berry the Purple Heart. The panel found “[t]here is no question that [Sgt. Berry’s] injury met the basic medical criteria for award of the [Purple Heart].”
In the lawsuit, we ask the court to declare the Secretary of the Army’s October 28, 2016, decision to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and otherwise not in accordance with the law; to declare that the denial of Berry’s application was unsupported by evidence; and to prevent the Army from continuing to deny Sgt. Berry a Purple Heart.
Sgt. Berry deserves the Purple Heart, and the bureaucracy should stop obstructing his just cause. Frankly, we can’t imagine that President Trump, President Obama (there’s nice picture of Sgt. Berry with President Obama here) or Secretary Mattis would disagree that Sgt. Berry should be posthumously awarded the Purple Heart for the injuries he sustained during the Fort Hood attack.
I’m hoping that some senior official sees fit to take steps to rectify this injustice, so Sgt. Berry’s father can get due recognition for his son. Until then, Judicial Watch will fight in court!
Border Agency Computers Can’t Screen Harmful Aliens
A border wall is important, but equally critical to our safety is the ability to track individuals wishing to do us harm. That requires sophisticated information technology. After eight years of President Obama trying to eliminate our borders it should not be surprising that our border agents are using inadequate, antiquated computer systems. Our Corruption Chronicles blog has the story.
The computer system used by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) front-line border protection agency is slow, frequently blacks out, and can’t prevent the entry of inadmissible aliens with “harmful intent,” a disturbing federal audit reveals. Incredibly, thousands of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents rely on the flawed information technology (IT) system to fulfill their duty of securing the nation’s borders and keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the United States.
“CBP’s IT systems and infrastructure did not fully support its border security objective of preventing the entry of inadmissible aliens to the country,” a DHS Inspector General report states. “The slow performance of a critical pre-screening system greatly reduced Office of Field Operations officers’ ability to identify any passengers who may represent concerns, including national security threats. Further, incoming passenger screening at U.S. international airports was hampered by frequent system outages that created passenger delays and public safety risks. The outages required that CBP officers rely on backup systems that weakened the screening process, leading to officers potentially being unable to identify travelers that may be attempting to enter the United States with harmful intent.”
This may seem inconceivable 16 years after the worst terrorist attack on American soil. CBP is one of the world’s largest law enforcement agencies with 60,000 employees and annual budget of around $13 billion. It’s a crucial DHS agency that must balance national security with facilitating lawful international travel and trade. On a typical day CBP processes more than a million passengers and pedestrians, 280,000 vehicles and conducts more than 1,000 apprehensions. The agency also has an Air and Marine Operations (AMO) that protects sea borders by interception inadmissible aliens and cargo approaching American borders. The division has about 1,800 agents, 240 aircraft and 300 marine vessels throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
The agency watchdog found that “frequent network outages hindered air and marine surveillance operations, greatly reducing the situational awareness needed to detect inadmissible aliens and cargo approaching U.S. borders.”
Information technology is a critical part of CBP’s operations and the agency has a special Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) to assure everything is functioning properly. The office is charged with providing effective technology, infrastructure and communications to adequately carry out border security operations. It’s also well funded to the tune of $1.4 billion in 2016, the DHS IG report says. That accounts for the largest IT budget within DHS, comprising around 23% of DHS’s $6.2 billion IT budget.
The CBP IT division also has a staff of around 5,200, including nearly 2,000 federal employees and thousands of contractors. This is a big-time and handsomely funded enterprise that should run smoothly and effectively. Instead, it’s notorious for being inefficient and dangerously unreliable.
As an example of traveler delays and safety issues, the DHS report offers recent system outages that affected about 119,774 international travelers nationwide. More than 10,000 arrived at Miami International Airport and the backlog created “hazards and security concerns,” the audit says. CBP had to call local police and fire departments to help mitigate the risks, and 258 CBP officers worked 762 overtime hours, resulting in more than $58,000 in overtime pay. The incident “created numerous secondary challenges and risks, including difficulties with crowd control, temperature, health emergencies and officer and public safety,” according to the audit.
Border Patrol agents face similar issues with a system known as e3 that’s famously slow and suffers lots of outages. Agents are frequently unable to carry out border apprehension and enforcement activities, DHS investigators found, with the most common outages related to a key portal that shares information in real time with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE). Some of the outages were prolonged and others occurred monthly. “The most significant impact of outages and slow processing in the e3 system was Border Patrol agents’ inability to meet court deadlines for submitting information about criminal aliens for possible prosecution,” The report states. For example, 48 individuals apprehended in the Tucson sector of the southwest border were not prosecuted in 2015 due to late records submissions. The same Border Patrol sector missed the deadline for transferring records for another 36 individuals due to e3 system failures.
CBP management does not dispute any of the findings in this alarming report. The question is, what will the agency do to fix the problem.
As you can see, building a wall may be necessary but won’t be sufficient to secure our borders as long as Big Government bureaucracy remains ascendant.
Until next week …
