Janet Napolitano biography

She also directed school boards to issue construction plans for building 21st century schools. Governor Napolitano was also an outspoken critic of the federal government’s immigration policies and pushed for tougher penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants. She implemented one of the first state homeland security strategies in the nation and opened a counter-terrorism center.

Janet Napolitano also made a reputation for herself setting a record for the total number of vetoes in a single session (58) and during her second term as governor she issued record 115 vetoes. Among these was a bill to crack down on employers who hired illegal aliens and authorized police to arrest illegal immigrants on trespassing charges for merely being in the state. She said the bill was too weak at penalizing guilty employers and enforcing the trespassing law would overwhelm police.

Secretary of Homeland Security

On January 11, 2008, Janet Napolitano endorsed then-Senator Barack Obama for president. After the election, she was appointed to the Obama-Biden transition team and in January, 2009, was nominated and confirmed as United States Secretary of Homeland Security. While serving as Secretary, she has forged new partnerships with international allies and expanded information sharing with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

However, in her first year as Secretary, Napolitano suffered from several bouts of “misspeak.” In April, 2009, she incorrectly claimed the 9/11 terrorists entered the United States from Canada, provoking an angry response from the Canadian ambassador. That same month, the Department of Homeland Security produced an internal threat assessment report that cited "disgruntled returning military veterans" as possible targets for recruitment by right-wing extremist groups. Napolitano made multiple apologies for any offense experienced by veterans in the assessment and promised to meet to discuss the report. The American Legion criticized the report while the Veterans of Foreign Wars praised it, though they agreed it could have been worded differently.

Then, in late December, 2009, in an interview with CNN’s Candy Crowley discussing the attempted terrorist attack of the “underwear bomber” who tried to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear on a flight landing in Detroit, Napolitano claimed “the system worked.” She later indicated her remarks were taken out of context and that that the system indeed had failed, and extensive review was under way.

Secretary Janet Napolitano continues to work on counterterrorism, border security and making sure the country is prepared and ready to respond to any threat. She continues to build upon the skills and resources of the young Department of Homeland Security deploying the necessary science and technology, forging partnerships between state, local and tribal governments, and the private sector to make the Department better equipped to protect the nation.

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