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"Absent individualized suspicion": DHS "search at will" policy violates the Fourth Amendment
Customs agents can now instruct you to log on to your laptop so they can read your e-mails and personal files and examine which Web sites you have visited; they can make a copy of your hard drive, and of any other storage device, so the government can comb through the contents more leisurely; this contents, without your knowledge, may be shared with any other government agency; it can be kept in perpetuity; the same applies to your BlackBerry, iPhone, and other digital devices; customs agents can do all that, according to DHS policy, “absent individualized suspicion”; a law professor says the government’s substitution of “search at will” for “reasonable suspicion” is a flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment
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Mexican drug cartels may target U.S. companies
The U.S. growing involvement in Mexico’s drug war could put more American interests at risk
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U.K. Post Office will do biometric enrollment for foreign nationals
The U.K. Post Office has volunteered seventeen offices to collect dabs on a trial basis, with tests to start next week; so far the Identity and Passport Service has issued 90,000 cards mostly to students and people renewing marriage visas. This beats its previous target of 75,000 cards by November 2009
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DHS collects -- and keeps -- large amount of information on U.S. citizens traveling abroad
Are you an American citizen frequently traveling abroad? You may be surprised by how much of your personal information DHS collects — and stores; now you have a way of finding out
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Judge allows E-Verify rule to go into effect
The U.S. District Court for Maryland denied an injunction for another delay to five industry groups that are appealing the court’s earlier decision to allow implementation of the rule to go forward
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Improving inspections of agricultural products
Agricultural goods crossing into the United States are subject to Agricultural Quarantine Inspection (AQI) by DHS’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP); current practices call for inspecting 2 percent of the items in a container; a new study says that applying decision-making theory to inspections would improve them and make them more effective
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GAO: More technology can improve security along Southwest border
New GAO report notes that whenever a specific checkpoint received additional resources or personnel, officials typically would see a spike in the number of seizures and apprehensions, followed by a gradual decline as smugglers and criminals looked for a less secure point of entry into the United States
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Businesses seek to delay implementation of E-Verify
A business coalition files suit to prevent DHS from implementing E-verify as of next Tuesday; E-Verify would require federal contractors to verify the legal status of their workers
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U.S., Mexico in public security communications network agreement
U.S. and Mexico sign agreement to build public security communications network; the new network will allow participating public safety organizations to coordinate incident response
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Immigration reform without Kennedy
Kennedy dramatically changed the U.S. immigration system with the Immigration Act of 1965, which eliminated the quota system and allowed immigration from Latin America and Asia to increase substantially
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Mexico's Ciudad Juarez is the world's most violent city
With 130 murders for every 100,000 residents per year on average last year, Ciudad Juarez, a manufacturing city of 1.6 million people across from El Paso, Texas, is more violent than any other city in the world
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Hutchison skeptical of U.S.-Mexico border fence
Growing debate in Republican Party circles about the fence along the U.S.-Mexico border; in addition to the effectiveness of a fence in stopping illegal immigration, many point to the cost: the project could cost up to $60 billion over the next 25 years, and involve government seizure of private property
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How effective is CBP in keeping U.S. borders safe?
According to DHS, the vast majority — more than 70 percent — of illegal aliens and contraband attempting to move across our border through official ports of entry will succeed
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Protecting information at border crossings
DHS reasserted its right to search, even without a cause, laptops at border crossings; travelers may want to make sure their data are safe
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Laptops at border crossings may be searched without probable cause
DHS formalized policy regarding searches of electronic devices and media at border crossings; such searches may be conducted without suspicion or probable cause
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