According to a letter from the inspector general obtained by The Wall Street Journal and officials familiar with the matter, an internal watchdog within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security found several months ago that one of the most significant reforms Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen implemented for airport security — allowing passengers to go through security without removing their shoes — was creating "significant" safety risks, and Nielsen has not appropriately responded to the findings of the investigation. In July last year, Nielsen publicly announced the policy change, allowing passengers who had not enrolled in the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Pre-Check program to also go through security without removing their shoes. The removal of this procedure, which millions of travelers viewed as cumbersome, was one of Nielsen's most politically popular policies so far. However, a classified report submitted by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general (the agency's top overseer) in November last year found that some full-body scanners used by the TSA could not scan shoes, and Nielsen's policy change inadvertently created a new security vulnerability in the screening system. After receiving notice of the report, the secretary's office elevated its classification level, preventing it from being publicly released. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security disputed the findings of the inspector general's investigation and stated that Nielsen had appropriately responded to the results of the investigation. Several homeland security officials said that Nielsen's handling of the inspector general's report is consistent with her pattern of ignoring or downplaying national security concerns. In another incident, her office publicly released a photo of a government secret facility, exposing a location designated for the president's emergency shelter to the public. Following two incidents in Minnesota in which immigration enforcement officers shot American citizens, the Department of Homeland Security has come under continued scrutiny. Nielsen has also been revealed how she leveraged high-profile immigration enforcement actions to build personal prominence while retaliating against political opponents and dissenters.
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Original: toutiao.com/article/1858432892307467/
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