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Aviation security
Heathrow Airport is deploying facial recognition scanners at two of the airport’s terminals; the technology aims to help prevent a scenario in which an international passenger swaps tickets with a domestic passenger in the departure lounge
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Immigration
Australian businesses claim that unless overseas migration into Australia is kept at 180,000 people a year or higher, there will not be enough skilled workers to meet employer requirements and to sustain the country’s aggregate economic growth; a new study challenges many of the assumptions reinforcing the arguments for continued high levels of immigration, and shows that Australia’s economic growth can be maintained with overseas migration at 90,000 people a year
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Immigration
There has been a dramatic decrease in the past three years in illegal immigration into the United States — but the same years saw a dramatic increase in illegal immigration from one country: India; in May, DHS secretary Janet Napolitano told a Senate committee that at some point this year, Indians will account for about 1 in 3 non-Mexican illegal immigrants caught in Texas; experts say that at least one reason is that, beginning in 2009, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua no longer require Indians to obtain a visa before entering any of the four Central American countries, making it easier for smugglers to bring Indians there, and from there to the United States
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Border security
U.S. lawmakers have lingering concerns about the ability for terrorists to enter the country following last week’s Senate hearing that investigated how two Iraqi nationals with terrorist ties were able to enter the United States and live in Bowling Green, Kentucky for several years; A Government Accountability Report (GAO), released on the same day as the hearing, found four critical gaps in preventing terrorists from entering the United States
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Immigration
On Monday, a New York judge ordered federal immigration officials to provide clarification on whether or not states and local law enforcement agencies had the ability to opt out of the controversial Secure Communities immigration enforcement program; the judge’s ruling comes as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit launched by several immigration and legal rights groups
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Border agents in south Texas will be getting additional help thanks to the deployment of a second unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the area; currently there are four UAVs deployed along the U.S.-Mexico border and three of them are based in Arizona; the second drone is expected to arrive later this year or in the early part of next year.
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A sweeping new Alabama immigration law is generating sharp controversy and unease with many likening it to a return to the state’s brutal Jim Crow laws; among the strict immigration measures passed last month, undocumented immigrants are banned from enrolling in or attending college, applying for work, and landlords are restricted from renting property to illegal aliens; the law even requires school districts to check the immigration status of children; the bill has drawn fierce criticism from immigration advocates, churches, and civil liberties groups.
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Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York) is demanding that the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) release its Northern Border Counternarcotics strategy immediately; the strategy was due on 5 July as stipulated by a law passed in January; the law came in response to a to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report which found that only thirty-two miles along the nearly 4,000 mile U.S.-Canada border had “an acceptable level of security”
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Immigration
On Monday Boston mayor Thomas M. Menino announced that he will withdraw the city from the controversial Secure Communities program unless changes are made; Boston was among the first cities in the United States to test the program in 2006, but now Mayor Menino is one of the many growing voices that have taken aim at the Secure Communities program
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Mexico
Over the weekend more than twenty people were killed in a hail of bullets in Monterrey, Mexico; last Friday gunmen open fired on a bar indiscriminately killing patrons and even the hot dog vendor outside; in a weekend filled with violence, eleven bodies with gunshot wounds were found on the outskirts of Mexico City and ten decapitated heads were found in Torreon
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Privacy vs. security
On Friday, a federal judge heard arguments in a lawsuit that challenged the government’s right to search laptops, cell phones, and other electronic devices at the border and hold them indefinitely; civil liberties groups say the policy violates a travelers’ First Amendment right to free speech and the Fourth Amendment’s protection from unreasonable search and seizure; according to the civil liberties groups, more than 6,500 travelers have been subject to such search and seizure of their electronic devices from October 2008 to June 2010
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Immigration
A jail in North Carolina is currently under federal investigation on charges that local law officers mistreated detainees held as part of an immigration enforcement program; the investigation comes at the request of the state’s American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which requested that DHS officials investigate the Wake County jail based on fifty-seven complaints made by individuals detained there in 2009 and 2010; the complaints stem from the 287(g) program which allows local police officers to enforce federal immigration laws
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Border security
With federal lawmakers struggling to reduce spending and cut the deficit, Austin, Texas, could lose as much as $2 million in federal grant money that it uses to combat Mexican drug cartels; on Tuesday, Austin police chief Art Acevedo and Representative Michael McCaul (R-Texas) urged lawmakers not to cut their funding citing the fact that the city is a dangerous hub for drug cartels
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A recent study found the United States has spent an estimated $90 billion over the past decade to secure the U.S - Mexico border with mixed results;annual border spending had tripled over the last decade; the increased spending has helped curb illegal immigration, but for Mexican drug cartels business is booming and they are smuggling more drugs than ever into the United States
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On Monday, portions of a Georgia immigration law were blocked by a federal judge on the grounds that the role of enforcing immigration was a federal responsibility; under the law, all businesses in Georgia would be required to check the immigration status of all new hires, police officers would be able to verify the immigration status of anyone unable to provide proper identification during a routine stop, and it would be illegal for anyone to knowingly or willingly transport illegal aliens
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Immigration
On Tuesday the Senate held its first hearings on the DREAM Act, a bill first introduced in August 2001 to give children of illegal immigrants a path to U.S. citizenship if they attend college or serve in the U.S. military; the bill is not likely to pass as the Republicans control the House, but Democrats plan to continue pushing for the bill
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Border security
The recent attack on Arizona’s Department of Public Safety by LulzSec has revealed that law enforcement officials in the Southwest are battling drug cartels that use a variety of sleek gadgets and hidden weapons; the sensitive documents published by LulzSec show that smugglers have become increasingly clever using a variety of methods to sneak drugs past border officials; the cartels have hollowed out cell phones to plant 180,000 volt stun guns or a .22 caliber pistol
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Immigration
With local police departments struggling to protect citizens amidst deep budget cuts, some agencies are getting help from some unlikely places; In California, DHS agents are stepping in to help local police battle soaring crime rates; two agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are helping the San Jose police department battle (SJPD) street gangs as the city struggles with its highest murder rate in twenty years
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Immigration
Federal immigration officials are seeking to deport a veteran of the Army and Navy who has served with distinction in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay; authorities have held Elisha L. Dawkins in a federal lockup in Miami since May. His crime: lying on a passport application
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Border security
President Obama has ordered the National Guard currently deployed along the U.S.-Mexico border to remain there for at least an additional three months to assist with border security; the Pentagon has agreed to spend $35 million to extend the deployment of the 1,200 National Guardsmen sent last year to California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas through the end of September
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The long view
Social Acceptance of Immigrants Working as Politicians or Judges Is Low
Often, the dominant society develops negative attitudes towards immigrants and their descendants because their integration is too successful – and not because they are unwilling to integrate. A possible explanation for negative attitudes towards successful immigrants could be the dominant society’s fear of immigrants occupying influential and value-based occupations. This applies, for example, for immigrants working in local politics or law.