The 'Wall of Moms' group protesters marches at the nightly protest in front of the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse on July 21, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. The federal police response to the ongoing protests against racial inequality has been criticized by city and state elected officials. (Photo: Paula Bronstein/Washington Post)
Citing 'Years of Chaos and Impunity,' ACLU Calls for Breakup of Department of Homeland Security
"We have to remove the loaded weapon that sits on the proverbial coffee table in the Oval Office."
After years of challenging the actions and authority of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the ACLU Monday called for Congress to dismantle the agency and break it into smaller parts.
"Its dysfunction is one of the Beltway's worst kept secrets," Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, wrote in an op-ed. "DHS' overbroad mandate and unchecked powers have turned it into a tinderbox, now ignited by a president willing to trample on the constitutional limits of presidential powers."
"The very premise of a 'homeland security' bureaucracy is chilling and ought to be questioned," Romero wrote in USA Today. Noting that DHS is an "ineffective superagency" composed of 22 different agencies, Romero argued that breaking up the department would "allow for more effective oversight, accountability, and public transparency."
"Years of chaos and impunity make a clear case for the dismantling of DHS," Romero wrote. "President Trump's use of DHS as his personal militia should be enough to start a meaningful bipartisan debate about DHS' future."
"If there is one thing we have learned from the authoritarianism on display in Portland, it's that we have to remove the loaded weapon that sits on the proverbial coffee table in the Oval Office," he concluded.
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
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After years of challenging the actions and authority of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the ACLU Monday called for Congress to dismantle the agency and break it into smaller parts.
"Its dysfunction is one of the Beltway's worst kept secrets," Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, wrote in an op-ed. "DHS' overbroad mandate and unchecked powers have turned it into a tinderbox, now ignited by a president willing to trample on the constitutional limits of presidential powers."
"The very premise of a 'homeland security' bureaucracy is chilling and ought to be questioned," Romero wrote in USA Today. Noting that DHS is an "ineffective superagency" composed of 22 different agencies, Romero argued that breaking up the department would "allow for more effective oversight, accountability, and public transparency."
"Years of chaos and impunity make a clear case for the dismantling of DHS," Romero wrote. "President Trump's use of DHS as his personal militia should be enough to start a meaningful bipartisan debate about DHS' future."
"If there is one thing we have learned from the authoritarianism on display in Portland, it's that we have to remove the loaded weapon that sits on the proverbial coffee table in the Oval Office," he concluded.
After years of challenging the actions and authority of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the ACLU Monday called for Congress to dismantle the agency and break it into smaller parts.
"Its dysfunction is one of the Beltway's worst kept secrets," Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, wrote in an op-ed. "DHS' overbroad mandate and unchecked powers have turned it into a tinderbox, now ignited by a president willing to trample on the constitutional limits of presidential powers."
"The very premise of a 'homeland security' bureaucracy is chilling and ought to be questioned," Romero wrote in USA Today. Noting that DHS is an "ineffective superagency" composed of 22 different agencies, Romero argued that breaking up the department would "allow for more effective oversight, accountability, and public transparency."
"Years of chaos and impunity make a clear case for the dismantling of DHS," Romero wrote. "President Trump's use of DHS as his personal militia should be enough to start a meaningful bipartisan debate about DHS' future."
"If there is one thing we have learned from the authoritarianism on display in Portland, it's that we have to remove the loaded weapon that sits on the proverbial coffee table in the Oval Office," he concluded.