The United States Federal Emergency
Management Agency has numerous detainment
camps throughout the United States. Some
camps have been recently constructed and /
or renovated and are fully staffed. The
existence of the camps coupled with
Presidential Executive Orders giving the
President and Department of Homeland
Security (of which FEMA is now part) control
over ‘national essential functions’ in the
event of ‘catastrophic emergency’ have
resulted in concerns that the camps will be
used to forcefully detain American citizens
for unconstitutional purposes.
2. Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) [top]
History
FEMA was created on April 1, 1979 pursuant
to President Jimmy Carter’s Executive Order
12127. It amalgamated the Federal Insurance
Administration, the National Fire Prevention
and Control Administration, the National
Weather Service Community Preparedness
Program, the Federal Preparedness Agency and
the Federal Disaster Assistance
Administration activities formerly carried
out by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development. It also took over Civil Defense
from the Department of Defense, which was in
charge of preparing citizens for military
attack. [1]
In 1993 Bill Clinton turned the directorship
of FEMA into a Cabinet position. In 2003
FEMA became part of the Department of
Homeland Security’s Emergency Preparedness
and Response Directorate. [2]
Stated Purpose
The stated purpose of FEMA is to “reduce the
loss of life and property and protect the
Nation from all hazards, including natural
disasters, acts of terrorism, and other
man-made disasters, by leading and
supporting the nation in a risk-based,
comprehensive emergency management system of
preparedness, protection, response,
recovery, and mitigation.” [3]
Recent Operations
FEMA’s most notable large-scale operation in
recent times was in the aftermath of August
2005 hurricane Katrina, which occurred along
the north-central Gulf Coast, particularly
affecting New Orleans, Louisiana. FEMA’s
response to the disaster was widely
criticized due to a slow and inadequate
response, blocking external private and
public assistance from individuals and
groups including the Red Cross, [4] banning
photographs of the dead [5] and confiscating
reporter’s equipment [6] and homeowner’s
registered firearms. [7]
The 2006 Congressional report on FEMA’s
handling of Katrina stated that it was "… a
national failure, an abdication of the most
solemn obligation to provide for the common
welfare," [8]
Criticisms
Some have criticized FEMA’s failure as being
due to is focus on ‘civil defense’
continuity of government and terrorism
response programs to the detriment of its
natural disaster response readiness. It is
further alleged that hurricane Katrina was
used to test run of a continuity of
government program, allowing FEMA to
rehearse rounding up and relocating large
numbers of people to camps, suspending their
constitutional rights and militarizing the
region [9] with the help of private military
contractors (mercenaries). Black Water USA,
a private security company, was used in the
aftermath of Katrina. [10]
3. Powers and Preparations for a
Declared State of Emergency [top]
REX-84 and Operation Garden Plot
Readiness Exercise 1984 (REX-84)
is an emergency response program involving
the implementation of martial law, the
movement of civilian populations and the
arrest and detainment of segments of the
population. A rehearsal of the program was
carried out April 5-13, 1984. It was led by
FEMA and the Department of Defense and
involved the coordination of 34 other
Federal departments and agencies. [11]
REX-84 was mentioned during the Iran-Contra
hearings [12] and publicly exposed by the
Miami Herald on Sunday July 5th, 1987. [13]
Similar large-scale emergency preparedness
drills have taken place regularly since
then. The most recently announced, organized
by NORTHCOM, are scheduled for October
15-20. [14] Some assert that the drills
continue to include preparations for the
suspension of the Constitution and the
implementation of martial law. [15]
Operation Garden Plot is a
United States Army and National Guard
program under control of the US Northern
Command (NORTHCOM) to provide Federal
military support during domestic civil
disturbances. One example of the program’s
implementation was during the 1992 Los
Angeles riots when US Army and Marine forces
were used in conjunction with the California
National Guard. [16] In Los Angeles an
Executive Order was made to permit the use
of the Federal army to uphold domestic laws
pursuant to the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act,
which places restrictions on the domestic
use of the military for law enforcement
purposes. [17]
Recently, however, Section 1076 Public Law
109-364, or the "John Warner Defense
Authorization Act of 2007" (H.R.5122) has
amended Posse Comitatus and The Insurrection
Act (which also places limits on domestic
military deployment) to allow the Federal
government to unilaterally take control of
state National Guards and position Federal
troops anywhere in the country during a
‘public emergency’. [18]
Executive Orders
Throughout the 1960s numerous Presidential
Executive Orders were issued authorizing
Federal agencies to take over essential
functions in the case of a declared
emergency. The powers include, among many
others, the authority of the Federal
government to take over transportation
infrastructure including highways and
seaports (10990), food resources and farms
(10998) and mobilize citizens into
government supervised work brigades (11000).
[19]
On May 9, 2007 President George Bush
reasserted the role of the Federal
government during a declared emergency by
issuing Executive Order NSPD 51/ HSPD-20.
The Order states that in the event of a
‘catastrophic emergency’ all ‘national
essential functions’ may be taken over by
the Executive branch of government and the
Department of Homeland Security (including
FEMA). [20]
In August 2002, then Attorney General John
Ashcroft called for American citizens who
are deemed ‘enemy combatants’ to be detained
indefinitely without charge and
independently of the judiciary. [21] This
legal position was upheld in the case of a
US citizen detained abroad by the 4th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals in a January 2003
ruling. [22]
In October 2006 the Military Commissions Act
was passed by Congress. [23] The legislation
applies to non-US citizens and permits
individuals labeled as ‘enemy combatants’ to
be imprisoned indefinitely and without
charge. It also denies non-military tribunal
judicial review of detainment (Section 7),
disregards international treaties such as
the Geneva Convention, and states that it is
the President who defines what constitutes
torture (Sections 5 & 6).
In January of 2007 the American Civil
Liberties Union released a report based on
documents obtained by a Freedom of
Information Act suit showing that the
Pentagon had monitored at least “186
anti-military protests in the United States
and collected more than 2,800 reports
involving Americans in an anti-terrorist
threat database.” [24]
For some time FEMA has been renovating and
constructing new detention camps throughout
the country. In January 2006 Haliburton
subsidiary KBR announced that it had been
awarded an “indefinite delivery / indefinite
quantity contract to construct detention
facilities for the Department of Homeland
Security worth a maximum of $385 million
over 5 years. [25]
Stated Purpose
Little has been said about the purpose of
the detainment camps but when official
comment has been made it has stated that the
camps are for the temporary detainment of
illegal immigrants. [26]
Quantity and Locations
Citizens who are concerned about the purpose
and potential use of the detainment camps
have documented and, when possible, filmed
the detainment facilities. A current
estimate of the number of detainment camps
is over 800 located in all regions of the
United States with varying maximum
capacities. [27] If one includes government
buildings currently used for other purposes
the number is far greater. Video of
renovated but empty detainment camps has
also been released. [28]
[4] Federal Emergency Management Agency. News
Release. “First Responders Urged Not To Respond
To Hurricane Impact Areas Unless Dispatched By
State, Local
Authorities” 29 August 2005
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18470;
Rodgers, Ann. “Homeland Security won't let Red
Cross deliver food” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 3
September 2005 <http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05246/565143.stm;
[11] Reynolds, Diana. “The Rise of the National
Security State: FEMA and the NSC.” Publiceye.org.
1990 <http://www.publiceye.org/liberty/fema/Fema_1.html>.
[15] Rogers, Lee. “NORTHCOM Plans 5 Day Martial
Law Exercise.” Intel Strike. 5 September 2007
http://intelstrike.com/?p=57>.
[16] Global Security. “Operation Garden Plot JTF-LAJoint Task Force Los Angeles”<http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/jtf-la.htm>.
[17] Morales, Frank. “U.S. Military Civil
Disturbance Planning:
The War At Home” Covert Action Quarterly, #69
Spring / Summer 2000.
http://cryptome.org/garden-plot.htm>.
[18] Morales, Frank. “Bush Moves Towards Martial
Law” Toward Freedom. 26 October 2006 <http://www.towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/911/>.
[20] The White House. “Presidential Directive NSPD 51, HSPD-20.” 9 May 2007 <http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html>.
[21] Turley, Jonathan. “Camps for Citizens:
Ashcroft's Hellish Vision” Los Angeles Times. 14
August 2002 <http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0814-05.htm>.
[25] Halliburton Public Relations “KBR Awarded
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Contingency
Support Project for Emergency Support Services.”
24 January 2006
http://www.kbr.com/news/2006/govnews_060124.aspx>.
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