Theresa Brown - Of Counsel
Theresa Cardinal Brown came to Sentinel HS Group after serving as the first Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Attaché at the Embassy of the United States in Ottawa from February 2008 to July 2011. Prior to moving to Ottawa, Ms. Brown served as the Director of Canadian Affairs for DHS in Washington, D.C. from July 2006-February 2008 and also served in the DHS Office of Policy in 2006 as Director of the Department's Immigration Legislation Task Force. Ms. Brown began her government career in 2005, serving as a policy advisor in the Office of the Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection working on the development of policy and regulations for border management and enforcement.
Ms. Brown has developed international, multilateral, and bilateral strategies and operational protocols in all areas of homeland security, including:
- Coordinating DHS assistance to Canada for security of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and G-8/G20 meetings.
- The "Beyond the Border" Declaration on Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness between the United States and Canada, announced by President Obama and Prime Minister Harper on February 4, 2011.
- US and Canadian response to incidents including the 12/25/09 attempted bombing of NW253 and the Al-Qaida plot to insert explosives into toner cartridges.
- Bilateral emergency response strategies for cross-border incidents involving WMD.
- International strategies for identity management for immigration and border control, including through use and sharing of biometric data under the Five Country Conference.
- Coordinating among DHS components and the US government and interagency and with Canadian and Mexican Counterparts on the development and implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
- Serving on the Secretary's Task Force for the Second Stage Review on Business Transformation at USCIS.
- Serving as a CBP subject matter expert on the Secretary's task force on detention and removals to re-engineer the process to eliminate "catch and release."
- Serving as a technical expert to the Data Management Improvement Act Task Force in 2000 to recommend options for implementing an entry-exit system for the United States in air, land and sea modes, a precursor to US-VISIT
Before joining government service, Ms. Brown developed 15 years of experience in the private sector in the areas of immigration law and policy and border security and management while serving as Director of Immigration Policy for the United States Chamber of Commerce from 2000 to 2005, and Business Immigration Policy Director at the American Immigration Lawyers Association from 1998 to 2000. Prior to this she worked in immigration law practices for well-known law firms in Washington, D.C.
Ms. Brown is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Delaware, with a degree in International Relations and Economics.