William D. (“Bill”) West is a Federal law enforcement veteran who served 29 years, 25 with the Investigations Division of the U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service. He retired in May 2003 as the Chief of the National Security Section for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, (the INS prior to 3/1/03) in Miami, Florida, where he supervised and managed investigative efforts in counter-terrorism, counterespionage and human rights persecutor cases in the State of Florida.
Bill West initiated the first-ever program within the INS to identify, locate, apprehend, prosecute and deport foreign human rights persecutors and modern day war criminals. That program, begun in 2000, realized the arrest of forty-six such violators by the time West retired and was the precursor to ICE’s “Operation No Safe Haven,” which targets such suspects nationally.
Bill West initiated the criminal investigation into the Tampa Palestinian Islamic Jihad cell which operated under the direction of USF professor Sami Al-Arian, who is now facing trial with other defendants for their alleged terrorism-related crimes stemming from that investigation.
West currently resides in Palm Beach County, Florida, where he runs his own private investigation and security consulting business, and has written several articles related to national security matters that have been published in nationally recognized media.
