Question about Homeland Security

[peaches2003]

I'm wondering if anyone knows why Homeland Security would be involved in a legal matter which is totally local. An internet aquaintance was arrested in LA disembarking from a cruise ship. The arrest was for a long ago DUI outstanding warrant in Orange County, CA. It was apparently a similar name/mistaken identity thing, but port authorities/local police do check ship manifests looking for names for which there are outstanding warrants.

BUT, why would HOMELAND SECURITY be involved when this was an LAPD matter? It seems there are no bounds to what HS gets into against American citizens.

[MindPilot]

1. Probably because of the international / interstate nature of a ship

But what concerns me more is the local authorities combing the passenger manifests looking for outstanding warrants. Do you know if that's a common practice?

[peaches2003]

2. Yes

There are posters on my cruise boards that it turns out know a lot about this and HS and local authorities comb the manifests before a ship reenters the U.S., looking for 'suspicious' names on God knows what lists and for names with outstanding warrants. I'm probably next with the anti-Bush rhetoric I speak on my phone.

One woman reported her husband was recently arrested getting off a Disney ship with his children and held in jail for several months. He had skipped out on community service and not reporting moving to his probation officer on a minor offense as a youth years before. So, yes, they are now checking manifests for everything.

Of course I'm sure records of what they are doing is classified so there can be no investigation.

I found this out after I posted here.

[MindPilot]

3. It may sound odd but now I feel better

I was on a cruise less than a month ago and I didn't get arrested--so I guess I'm clean...so far

[melissinha]

4. Depends on the local authority's layout

My boyfriends brother is deputy director of Homeland Security of a city (liberal mayor) and they really work with PD, FD etc....

YOu really can't argue about this, because the chain of command may not make sense to you... GEt my gist?

[peaches2003]

5. However,

when we last disembarked a cruise in Ft. Lauderdale, just a few weeks ago, there was not an Immigration official to be seen now part of HS), we never showed our passport or ID to anyone, and we walked right off the ship and into FL without anyone knowing or caring who we were, after having been out of the country for 14 days. What kind of port security is that? Anybody was free to walk off that ship, including SE Asian crew or a stowaway, and disappear.

The difference in how HS operates in different locales makes no sense to me, but maybe I just don't understand these security matters.