Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says Colorado has one of the best security systems in the country to protect itself from terrorist attacks and recover from disasters.
“Colorado sits pretty,” she said Thursday, lauding the partnerships of the state’s law enforcement agencies and military. “It’s in good shape.”
In a wide-ranging interview with the Denver Post editorial board, Napolitano discussed cyber attacks, homegrown terrorists, immigration, border security and airport travel.
Napolitano was in Colorado for a symposium on cyber terrorism in Colorado Springs and to speak at a panel discussion on counterterrorism sponsored by the nonprofit Center for Empowered Living & Learning in Denver.
One of Napolitano’s main concerns is the rise of homegrown terrorists in the U.S., such as Najibullah Zazi, the Aurora airport-shuttle driver who pleaded guilty to planning a terrorist attack in New York.
“Al-Qaeda groups have been using Westerners to recruit people with dual citizenship and who speak English,” she said.
Many are using the Internet to organize, and al-Qaeda publishes on online magazine called Inspire that is used to recruit people, she said.
Napolitano also is concerned with the way Americans are informed of potential threats and is looking to revamp the color-coded system that measures the nation’s threat level.
“Colors don’t tell you what you are looking at or tell you what to do,” she said.
Research is underway to find alternative ways of identifying passengers in airports and to improve security screening with things such as iris identification.
“We are really thinking of the airport of the future and making it easier to pass through,” she said. “If we are going to ask people to take off their shoes, let’s tell them why.”
Napolitano also answered criticism from Tiffany Hartley — the widow of a man believed killed by Mexican pirates — who urged the Obama administration to improve security at the border.
The secretary said the federal government offered help to Mexican authorities on that case. She said statements made by a Texas sheriff that enough wasn’t being done by the federal government are not true.
“I can’t think of more we could have done in that situation,” she said.
Napolitano said border violence is not spilling over into the U.S. and that some of the safest cities in the country — San Diego, Austin, Phoenix and El Paso — are near the border.
The U.S. has offered help to Mexican President Felipe Calderon as he takes on deeply entrenched drug cartels.
On Thursday, the federal government sent two helicopters to Mexico and has trained Mexican law enforcement officers to establish their own border patrol, Napolitano said.
“There is a lot going on to assist Mexico,” she said. “It’s a long-term project and something both countries have an interest in.”
As for immigration, Napolitano says federal agents have removed a record number of illegal immigrants in the last year. She believes programs like Secure Communities, which sends fingerprints of locally jailed suspects to federal immigration officials, will help root out criminal elements.
Gov. Bill Ritter wants to hold off on implementing the plan to review how it works but Napolitano believes it is an effective tool.
“We want to remove people from this country who are committing crimes, particularly serious crimes,” she said.
