• SBInet replacement takes shape

    After spending more than $1 billion on the failed virtual fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, DHS is moving ahead with the latest incarnation of the high-tech system; rather than using a one-size fits all strategy, DHS will use readily available technology to create tailor made approaches to the geographically diverse 2,000-mile long border; under the new plan, border patrol agents will use a combination of towers, truck mounted surveillance systems, ground sensors, hand-held equipment, and a host of other technologies to secure the border; the new program, dubbed “Alternative (Southwest) Border Technology,” will begin with an initial trial in Arizona

  • Immigration bill moves ahead in South Carolina, stalls in Oklahoma and Tennessee

    In South Carolina, a tough immigration law is making its way through the House, while similar bills stalled in Oklahoma and Tennessee; South Carolina’s House Judiciary Committee voted fifteen to seven to pass a bill that requires law enforcement officials to check the immigration status of individuals they encounter; the legislative session ends in two weeks, and the bill still needs to be approved by the full House; immigration bills in Oklahoma and Tennessee were tabled until next year

  • U.S. to receive Canadian radar feeds to combat drug smugglers

    The Canadian government will soon start supplying DHS with data from its radar feeds to help border officials prevent low-flying airplanes from entering U.S. airspace to smuggle drugs along the northern border; in November the Canadian government will begin sending surveillance information collected from its twenty-two radar feeds to the U.S. Air and Marine Operations Center in Riverside, California; the data will be used to detect “unlawful entry into the United States”