Terry Goddard, the former attorney general of Arizona, argues that to curb illegal immigration effectively the federal government must target drug cartels and smugglers, aggressively cutting off funding and freezing assets; Goddard argues that current measures to bolster border defenses are costly and ineffective as cartels will continue to find ways to smuggle drugs and immigrants across the border because it is simply too lucrative a practice

As the United States has stepped up its efforts to secure its southern border, drug cartels have been forced to become increasingly ingenious in sneaking their cargo into the country; in an effort to avoid border agents, radars, and fences, cartels have increasingly gone underground

More and more, smugglers are using tunnels between the United States and Mexico to smuggle drugs and people into the United States. Washington is investing considerable resources searching for a high-tech solution to the problem. There are different technologies to detect tunnels, but all have their limitations. Experts say that old-fashioned investigative work may well be more effective.

With the U.S. economy in a tail spin and violent Mexican drug cartels raging out of control, immigration from Mexico into the United States has fallen to all-time lows; Mexican census figures show that net migration is close to zero with few Mexicans immigrating to the United States and many returning home

Veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could be heading to the U.S.-Mexico border next; seeking to take advantage of the military technology and personnel returning from the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, federal border officials are considering a plan to use these newly freed resources

Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) recently spoke with Homeland Security NewsWire’s Executive Editor Eugene K. Chow; in the interview Representative McCaul offered his views on President Obama’s current administration strategy, cost-effective strategies to secure the border, and ways DHS could improve Secure Communities; McCaul: “Technology working in concert with boots on the ground is the key to securing the border… [Border Patrol] agents need the benefit of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and infrared sensor technology to conduct surveillance, and then the resources to quickly pursue what is found”

Recently released government e-mails indicate that the FBI had strong doubts about Secure Communities, a controversial DHS immigration program; officials worried that the misunderstanding over whether or not cities and states could actually opt out of the program would lead to a rift between local and federal law enforcement agencies

Last week the Los Zetas drug cartel sent a gruesome message to hackers by decapitating a Mexican blogger and dumping his body in public; the cartel has taken to targeting online activists who have been using social media to report on gang activities or criticize local drug lords; the latest murder was the fourth of its kind

Sixteen nations are challenging a controversial new South Carolina immigration law; Mexico, Honduras, and Chile as well as thirteen other countries from Latin America and the Caribbean have asked to join the U.S. Justice Department’s lawsuit against the South Carolina law aimed at curbing undocumented immigrants