Janet Napolitano Staying on at Department of Homeland Security
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Alex Wong/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano will remain at her post during President Obama’s second term, a development that could have implications for the debate over immigration reform.
Officials from the White House and the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to ABC/Univision on Monday that Napolitano will stay in her current job.
As Homeland Security chief, Napolitano oversees the bulk of the nation’s immigration enforcement agencies, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The federal government has beefed up resources dedicated to immigration enforcement during Napolitano’s tenure. The government spent $18 billion in fiscal year 2012 to fund agencies like ICE and Border Patrol, more than what was spent by all other federal law enforcement agencies combined, according to a report released last week by the Migration Policy Institute.
Under Napolitano, the former Democratic governor of Arizona, the Obama administration has overseen a record pace of deportations of undocumented immigrants.
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