Center for Homeland Security & Immigration

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Center Vision

The America First Policy Institute’s (AFPI) Center for Homeland Security & Immigration is devoted to protecting the American people, American interests, and the American way of life. Our “America First” approach requires an immigration system that prioritizes border security and the value of citizenship, a strong and persistent counter-terrorism effort, resiliency of our critical physical and digital infrastructure, and agility in the face of ever-shifting foreign threats and influence.

As our world becomes more complex, so do the threats we face. Terrorism remains a global reality, and America’s ability to prevent attacks in the United States is only as strong as its weakest link at any given moment. America’s enemies no longer need to physically come to our shores to hurt us in the digital age. Threats that strike at the heart of our infrastructure—and, therefore, our civilization—can be achieved with the touch of a button from anywhere in the world. In some cases, these threats are sponsored or shielded by foreign governments; in some cases, they are foreign governments. While these threats are omnipresent, courageous leadership at all levels of government and society is essential for success and security.

POLICY OVERVIEW

  • Strengthen America’s border security and immigration policies
  • Support counterterrorism efforts
  • Create and maintain a strong physical and digital infrastructure
  • Defend against foreign influence

CLICK TO READ THE TOP AMERICA FIRST ACTIONS TO SECURE THE BORDER

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FACT SHEET: In His Own Words: Mexican President Defends the Drug Cartels

TESTIMONY: The Impact of Biden’s Open Border on the American Workforce

Robert Law

No Borders, No Nation

RESEARCH REPORT: The America First Approach to Defeat the Cartels

Kristen Ziccarelli

EXPERT INSIGHT: The ‘Extremists’ who want to End Human Trafficking for Good

Kristen Ziccarelli

ISSUE BRIEF: DHS’s Unlawful Use of Parole is a Profit Driver for Cartels and Human Traffickers

Robert Law

Top 10 America First Actions For Key Policy Areas

ISSUE BRIEF: Post-Title 42: How the Biden Administration’s New Border Policies Hide the Border Crisis

Robert Law

Combating Fentanyl - The America First Action Plan

ISSUE BRIEF: 2021-2023: Child Exploitation at the Southern Border

Kristen Ziccarelli

FACT SHEET: How Open Borders Incentivize Exploitation of Children

The Border Crisis Hits Your Community: Key Facts and Figures 

EXPERT INSIGHT: Congress Explores ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence. Will America First Solutions Prevail?

Robert Law

Top America First Solutions in H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act

Expert Insight: Biden Administration Deprioritizes Criminal Alien Deportation in FY24 Budget

Kristen Ziccarelli

Expert Insight: Examining The Asylum Fraud Loophole

Robert Law

President Biden’s FY2024 DHS Budget Has Misplaced Priorities

Robert Law

DHS Docket Number USCIS 2022-0016: Circumvention of Lawful Pathways

Robert Law

FACT SHEET: How Fentanyl Enters American Communities

Kristen Ziccarelli

FACT SHEET: Deceptive border numbers: Funneling illegal aliens through Ports of Entry

Robert Law & Kristen Ziccarelli

FACT SHEET: Understanding U.S. Asylum Law

Robert Law & Kristen Ziccarelli

FACT SHEET: The Worst January Ever: Border Crisis Continues in New Year

The Biden Administration’s Day One Immigration Proposal: Mass Amnesty and No Border Security

Robert Law & Kristen Ziccarelli

The Worst Border Month Ever: December 2022 In Perspective

Another Record-Breaking Month for the Southern Border Crisis

Analysis of H.R. 29, the Border Safety and Security Act of 2023

Rob Law & Kristen Ziccarelli

The Biden Administration’s New Plan Fails to Solve the Border Crisis

Robert Law

The Biden Administration, Not Congress, is Responsible for the Border Crisis

Fact Sheet - H.R. 29, the Border Safety and Security Act of 2023

Rob Law & Kristen Ziccarelli

Using Executive Action to Secure the Border

Using Executive Action to Secure the Border: In-Depth

State Legislative Priority: Ensuring a Legal Workforce

Rob Law & Kristen Ziccarelli

State Legislative Priority:  International Wire Transfer Fees

Rob Law & Kristen Ziccarelli

Fentanyl: The Deadly Consequences

Robert Law, Heidi Overton, MD, PhD, Kristen Ziccarelli, & Abigail Chance

Fentanyl Fatalities in Perspective

Fentanyl Q&A: The Pills That Are Plaguing Our Population

Rob Law & Kristen Ziccarelli

FY 2022: By the Numbers

Perspective on The Record-Breaking Fiscal Year 22 Border numbers

Fact Sheet - A Border Crisis by Design

Fact vs Fiction: The Southern Border

Immigration Survey: The Biden Administrations Border Crisis

Expert Insight: Biden Administration Setting All the Wrong Border Records

Robert Law

How the Biden Administration Exploited the Botched Afghanistan Withdrawal to Import Countless Unvetted Afghans into the U.S.

Issue Brief: Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022

Bill Woolf

Murderous Cartels, Illicit Drugs, and Human Trafficking: The Threat and Atrocity of America’s Porous Southern Border

Alex Zemek

Twenty Years After 9/11: Strong Federal, State, and Local Law Enforcement Collaboration Remains Essential in the Fight Against Terror – But It’s Under Attack

Scott G. Erickson

America is Less Secure Today: How Our Adversaries Are Gaining Strength

Chad Wolf

The Case for an “America First” Approach to Homeland Security and Immigration

Center for Homeland Security and Immigration Overview

The Honorable Chad Wolf and John Zadrozny

Top 10 America First Actions For Key Policy Areas

Combating Fentanyl - The America First Action Plan

National Security Experts Urge Congress to Investigate the Investigators

STATEMENT: House Homeland Security Committee Takes Steps to End the Humanitarian and Security Crisis at the Southern Border

Protecting Title 42 Amicus Brief

The Honorable Chad Wolf & The Honorable Pam Bondi

STATEMENT: House GOP’s American Security Task Force unveils legislative blueprint to secure the border in the next Congress

STATEMENT: Total Border Apprehensions Surpass Last Year’s Record with 3 Months Remaining in the Fiscal Year

STATEMENT: AFPI URGES BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO SECURE THE BORDER AFTER BIDEN V. TEXAS RULING ALLOWS FOR MPP TERMINATION

Statement on May’s Record-Setting Border Apprehensions Including 50 Individuals on the Terrorist Screening Database

Statement on Police Week

Chad Wolf joined America Reports to discuss the end of Title 42 and the growing crisis at the border

NEW POLLING: Biden Administration is Wrong at the Border and on Masks on Airplanes

2022 State of America’s Border and Security

The Leadership of the America First Policy Institute Provided the Following Reactions and Insight Into the State of America One Year Into the Biden Administration

CHSI Post: The Biden Administration Expands the (Illegal) Central American Minors Program

John A. Zadrozny

STATEMENT: CHAD WOLF ON THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S ATTACK ON U.S. BORDER PATROL

Biden Administration Moves on to Censorship to Conceal Border Failure

John A. Zadrozny

STATEMENT: CHAD WOLF ON AUGUST BORDER APPREHENSION NUMBERS

STATEMENT: CHAD WOLF ON SCOTUS REINSTATING ‘REMAIN IN MEXICO’ POLICY

AFPI Statement from Chad Wolf On June Illegal Border Apprehension Numbers

AFPI’s President & CEO Brooke Rollins Issues Statement on VP Harris’ Border Visit

ICYMI: LT. GEN. (RET.) KEITH KELLOGG PREVIEWS BIDEN’S PRESS CONFERENCE ON RUSSIA SUMMIT

CHSI Post: The Victims of Illegal Alien Crime Demand Vigilance

John A. Zadrozny and Emily Tubb

Solving the Immigration Crisis Starts at Home

Chad Wolf

AMERICA FIRST POLICY INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES ADDITIONS TO CENTER LEADERSHIP

President & CEO Brooke Rollins Issues Statement on President Biden’s First 100 Days in Office

VIDEO: America First, Always.

FACT SHEET: In His Own Words: Mexican President Defends the Drug Cartels

EXPERT INSIGHT: The Border Numbers Don’t Lie: Biden Administration Policies Fueling Crisis

TESTIMONY: The Impact of Biden’s Open Border on the American Workforce

Robert Law

Op-Ed: How the Border Crisis is Impacting Montana

Chad Wolf

ISSUE BRIEF: Post-Title 42: How the Biden Administration’s New Border Policies Hide the Border Crisis

Robert Law

Combating Fentanyl - The America First Action Plan

FACT SHEET: How Open Borders Incentivize Exploitation of Children

The Border Crisis: Is the Law Being Faithfully Executed?

EXPERT INSIGHT: Congress Explores ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence. Will America First Solutions Prevail?

Robert Law

Statement: House Judiciary Committee Unveils Legislative Package to End Biden Administration’s Border Crisis

Expert Insight: Biden Administration Deprioritizes Criminal Alien Deportation in FY24 Budget

Kristen Ziccarelli

President Biden’s FY2024 DHS Budget Has Misplaced Priorities

Robert Law

Remarks - Panel on the Case for Impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas

Robert Law

State of the Union Address Glosses Over Border Crisis

Robert Law

House Committee Hearings Confirm: Open Borders are Bad for Everyone

Kristen Ziccarelli

Biden’s refusal to act on Title 42 creates ‘state of emergency’ at border, and Nationwide

Chad Wolf

Let’s Put America First and Secure the Border

Chad Wolf

As the Mexican press disappear, cartels take over and endanger public

Alex Zemek

The Crimes that are 100% Preventable

Kristen Ziccarelli

The American People Know that the Failure to Secure the Border is the Real Immigration Scandal

Rob Law

Border governors taking action on illegal immigration because Biden administration caused crisis

Chad Wolf & Rob Law

Expert insight:  As we remember 9/11, DHS is Forgetting ITS Mission

Robert Law and Kristen Ziccarelli

21 Years After 9/11, Has DHS lost its Mission?

Robert Law, Andrew Whitaker, and Kristen Ziccarelli

H.R. 1901, the Stopping Border Surges Act

Robert Law

The Biden Administration’s Afghan Executive Amnesty Exploited our Immigration Laws and Jeopardizes National Security

Supreme Court’s “Remain in Mexico” Decision is Not the Win Open Borders Crowd Think it is

Robert Law

Op-ed: Biden’s open borders encourage child trafficking and smuggling

Robert Law

AFPI 2022 Annual Policy Summit

Selection of America’s Next Top Cop to Regulate Firearms

Bill Woolf

AFPI Speaker Series: The Systematic Dismantling of American Border Security ft. Rep. Jim Jordan

Chad Wolf joined Stuart Varney on Fox Business to discuss the latest on the border crisis

Chad Wolf joined Newsmax to discuss the Buffalo shooting and the latest on the border crisis

Chad Wolf joined Fox & Friends to discuss the Buffalo shooting and the border crisis

Chad Wolf joined Newsmax to discuss the record levels of drugs pouring across the border

Chad Wolf joined Mornings with Maria to discuss the historic border crisis

America First Policy Institute Applauds the American Governor’s Border Strike Force Initiative

Happy First Birthday AFPI!

Chad Wolf joined Sunday Night in America to discuss his recent border trip and the ongoing crisis

Chad Wolf joined Sunday Night in America to discuss his recent border trip and the ongoing crisis

The deliberate plan behind the border crisis

Chad Wolf

WOLF: Biden Admin Pulled The Plug On Title 42. Now America Is In For A Reckoning

Chad Wolf

Chad Wolf joined Mornings with Maria to discuss the latest on the border crisis

DHS-DOJ Joint Rule Latest Deliberate Attempt to Dismantle the Immigration System

Scott Erickson

Chad Wolf joined the National Report on Newsmax to discuss border security and immigration

Chad Wolf joined Fox and Friends to discuss threats from China and border security

Chad Wolf reacts to President Biden’s State of the Union address on Fox & Friends

Federal Labor Relations Authority’s Small Victory for Immigration Enforcement

John A. Zadrozny and James Sherk

Biden’s First Year of Immigration Failures

Chad Wolf

An Examination of the First Year of Biden’s Presidency

Chad Wolf joined America Reports on Fox News to discuss border security and immigration

Where is President Biden on Human Trafficking?

Chad Wolf and Bill Woolf

Chad Wolf joins Fox News Live to Discuss Border Security & Immigration

No Law and No Order, The Policies of the Left

Troup Hemenway

The Anti-tyranny Case for a Smaller Federal Government

John Zadrozny and Alex Caro Campana

The deadly consequences of emboldening criminals and undermining police

Chad Wolf joined Fox News Live

Protecting the Role of State and Local Law Enforcement in the Nation’s Collective Effort to Prevent Terrorism

Scott G. Erickson

In Biden’s World, Parents are the Threat

Troup Hemenway

Questioning Kamala with Chad Wolf on OAN’s The Real Story

Putting Americans last: Biden’s immigration payout

Chad Wolf and Keith Kellogg

Biden’s Vaccine Tyranny Threatens National Security, Public Safety

John Zadrozny

Op-Ed: Biden’s Federal Bureau of Intimidation

John Zadrozny

VIDEO: Chad Wolf joined America Reports on Fox News with John Roberts

The Reality Behind the Biden Administration’s Talking Points

VIDEO: Chad Wolf joins Eric Bolling on Newsmax to discuss immigration and border security

Op-Ed: Democrats’ reconciliation amnesty push puts Americans last

John Zadrozny in The Washington Times

VIDEO: Chad Wolf joined America Reports on Fox

VIDEO: John Zadrozny joined OAN’s “The Real Story with Natalie Harp”

VIDEO: John Zadrozny joined American Agenda on Newsmax

VIDEO: Chad Wolf joined Elizabeth MacDonald on Fox’s “The Evening Edit”

Blog: House Oversight Republicans Demand Hearing on Border Security, COVID-19, and Title 42 Implementation

John A. Zadrozny

VIDEO: Chad Wolf joined American Agenda on Newsmax

Op-Ed: Texas Has A Sovereign Obligation To Protect Its Citizens With Border Enforcement

John A. Zadrozny in The Federalist

Op-Ed: As COVID-19 pandemic continues, Biden must maintain Title 42 at the southern border

John Zadrozny in The Washington Times

Blog: Report Shows Americans are Paying for the Southern Border Disaster in Display of Government Abuse

John A. Zadrozny and Emily Tubb

Blog: Trafficking and Oversight Issues with R-1 Visas

Emily Tubb

VIDEO: Chad Wolf joined Rob Schmitt on Newsmax

Op-Ed: Is Biden making terrorism great again?

John A. Zadrozny in The Washington Times

ICYMI: Chad Wolf joins Hallie Jackson Reports on MSNBC

Op-Ed: New York Sun: Squad’s Success in Moving Democrats on Israel Portends Trouble on Other Issues

Larry Kudlow

Former Acting Secretary Wolf joins “Your World” on Fox

VIDEO: John Zadrozny joins OANN’s Dan Ball

VIDEO: John Zadrozny joins Seb Gorka: America First

Op-Ed: Jerusalem Post: Ex-US Intel Chief to ‘Post’: Biden is Surrendering to Iran-Opinion

John Ratcliffe

The Honorable Chad Wolf Executive Director, Chief Strategy Officer & Chair, Center for Homeland Security & Immigration

Chad F. Wolf serves as AFPI’s Executive Director, Chief Strategy Officer, and the Chair for the Center for Homeland Security & Immigration. In this role, Wolf is responsible for the day-to-day management and strategic direction of AFPI with a focus on setting policy goals and research priorities. Prior to joining AFPI, Wolf served as Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the third-largest federal department in the U.S. Government. During his time at DHS, he successfully navigated numerous global and domestic challenges to the nation’s security, including COVID-19, civil unrest, numerous border and immigration crises, historic natural disasters, and threats to global aviation security. Wolf is a former Visiting Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and currently a Member of the Texas Public Policy Foundation Border Security Coalition. He also serves as President and Founder of Wolf Global Advisors. Wolf has written and speaks frequently on national security, border security, immigration, China, counterterrorism issues. Prior to his service at DHS, he spent over 10 years in the private sector helping clients manage risks and earlier in his career worked on Capitol Hill. He has received the U.S. Secretary of Transportation 9/11 Medal, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal, and the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal.

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood ....”

Theodore Roosevelt

Scott Glabe Senior Fellow, Center for Homeland Security & Immigration

Scott Glabe is from Columbia, Missouri, and serves as a Senior Fellow in the Center for Homeland Security and Immigration at AFPI. Previously, Glabe served as Acting Under Secretary for Policy at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where he led a 200-person team focused on issues including cybersecurity, counterterrorism, and economic security. Before DHS, Glabe was a Special Assistant to the President and Associate Counsel at the White House in the Trump Administration and worked for the U.S. House of Representatives in progressively senior legal and policy roles, including Staff Director of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He also practiced at two large law firms, clerked for a federal appellate judge, and served in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Glabe is a graduate of Yale Law School and Dartmouth College; he earned a master’s degree in defense and strategic studies from Missouri State University. Outside of work, Glabe enjoys spending time with his wife and children. 

“Peace-time plans are of no particular value, but peace-time planning is indispensable.”

Dwight Eisenhower

Robert Law Director, Center for Homeland Security and Immigration

Robert Law grew up in Northern Virginia but now calls Washington, D.C., home and serves as the Director of the Center for Homeland Security and Immigration at AFPI. From 2017 to 2021, he served in the Trump Administration as a senior policy advisor and chief of policy at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services within the Department of Homeland Security. Law has a decade of immigration law, regulation, and policy expertise and has held leadership positions at other immigration-focused think tanks. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a Juris Doctor from The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. When not working, Law and his wife, Torrey, are kept busy by our two daughters and Irish doodle puppy, though they try to find time to travel, enjoy the D.C. restaurant scene, and cheer on the Nationals and Capitals.

“The wise know their weakness too well to assume infallibility: and he who knows most, knows best how little he knows.”

Thomas Jefferson

Sam Mims Director of Data and Cybersecurity Policy Advisor

Sam Mims is from Niceville, Florida, and serves as the Director of Data and the Cybersecurity Policy Advisor at AFPI. She is currently completing her Master of Engineering in Cybersecurity degree at George Washington University where she also teaches cybersecurity courses. Sam previously served as the Data Director for President Donald J. Trump’s re-election campaign and Governor Ron DeSantis’ gubernatorial campaign. Sam also ran Operations for Governor DeSantis’ inauguration before becoming a Policy Chief in his administration. She spent most of her life growing up on Eglin Air Force Base. Sam was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) D1 student-athlete and NCAA Conference Champion at the University of North Florida, while majoring in political data and international studies and minoring in Spanish. She also studied at the University of Málaga in Málaga, Spain. One of the proudest moments of her life was getting to wear the Team USA jersey for 2 years in two different sports (Beach Volleyball, Volleyball). In her free time (and even in her not-so-free time), you can find Sam enjoying a nice cup of black coffee.

“You cannot succeed without believing in yourself, and that belief is completely under your control.”

Karch Kiraly, Gold Medal Olympian & Women's National Team Head Coach

Alex Zemek Senior Fellow, Center for Homeland Security & Immigration

Alex Zemek from McLean, Virginia, and serves as a Senior Fellow in the Center for Homeland Security & Immigration at AFPI. He is also the founder and president of The Gethsemane Group. Previously, Zemek served at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as Assistant Secretary (acting) for Counterterrorism and Threat Prevention, where he oversaw strategy and policy related to combating violent extremists, aviation security, international information sharing, and identity management. Before DHS, Zemek was served as Chief of Staff for the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security. Additionally, during his two decades of federal service, he has served at multiple agencies in a range of disciplines, including as a State Department diplomat, Legislative Fellow with the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, and an intelligence officer. As a senior executive in the private sector, Zemek led the strategy, policy, and congressional affairs disciplines for the non-profit National Defense Industrial Association while serving as Vice President. Prior to 9/11, he traded stocks on Wall Street, taught high school, and coached high school athletics. Zemek has degrees from Yale University and the National Defense University and conducted advanced studies with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Zemek lived in rural Kenyan village for a summer while training with professional distance runners. He enjoys coaching the sports teams of his three sons.

“The struggle of today, is not altogether for today – it is for a vast future also. With a reliance on Providence, all the more firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great task which events have devolved upon us.”

Abraham Lincoln

KRISTEN ZICCARELLI Policy Analyst, Center for Homeland Security and Immigration; Production Assistant

Kristen Ziccarelli grew up in Germany, Slovenia, Boston, Chicago, and Virginia, and serves as a Production Assistant and Policy Analyst in the Center for Homeland Security and Immigration at AFPI. She was previously a White House Intern with the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs during the Summer of 2020, where she helped coordinate between state and local leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kristen also nurtured her passion for diplomacy working at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, Germany for three summer terms. In 2021, she founded the media organization Respect Perspective to encourage people to see all sides of controversial issues. Kristen attended the University of Edinburgh in Scotland for her Master’s in International Business and received Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Finance at Christopher Newport University.

“We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars”

Oscar Wilde

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