• U.S., Canada issue a joint statement of privacy principles

    The United States and Canada issue a joint statement about the two countries’ perimeter security approach; the statement aims to reassure Canadians that their privacy rights would not be sacrificed to satisfy the U.S. security demands

  • Biometrics proves 1 percent of applicants to enter U.S. are unsuitable

    Chris Archer, the online content editor at IDGA (the Institute for Defense & Government Advancement), talked with James Loudermilk, Senior Level Technologist, FBI Science and Technology Branch, about biometrics and biometrics and homeland security; Loudermilk says that biometrics applications helped the FBI determine that about 1 percent of people who seek visa to visit the United States as tourists have previously done things that make them unsuitable guests; the conversation examines the application of biometrics for homeland security, issues relating to privacy and civil liberties, and what can be learned from international biometrics projects, including India’s UID scheme

  • Supreme Court deals near-fatal blow to Arizona SB 1070; states’ immigration efforts now in question

    In a major victory for the Obama administration, the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday struck down three of the four main provisions in Arizona’s tough SB 1070 immigration law, saying these provisions were pre-empted by federal law; the Court left in place the fourth provision – the one requiring Arizona local law enforcement during routine stops to check the immigration status of anyone they suspect is in the country illegally – but in reading the provision very narrowly, the Court left its implementation open to legal challenges on grounds that it violates racial profiling prohibition and other laws; in any event, the administration moved quickly to make that remaining provision meaningless by pulling back on a program known as 287(g), which allows the federal government to deputize local officials to make immigration-based arrests; the move means that even if local police step up immigration checks, they will have to rely on federal officials to make the arrests

  • Supreme Court suggests Obama’s DREAM initiative is legal

    On 15 June the Obama administration announced a new deportation policy, saying that it would defer deportation action against undocumented immigrants in several categories; the administration based its decision on the doctrine of “prosecutorial discretion”; critics charged that such deferment policy is illegal; the Court, in its decision on Arizona SB 1070, suggests the administration is right, saying: “A principal feature of the removal system is the broad discretion exercised by immigration officials”

  • Immigration growth in Spain has not caused more crime

    Society tends to perceive an increase in the immigrant population with an increase in crime; according to a new study, however, it is not possible to infer this cause-effect relationship in the case of Spain

  • Obama and Romney stopped talking about immigration until the Democrats dropped the Dream Bomb

    The 15 June announcement by DHS secretary Janet Napolitano of an executive order which, in effect, implements the Dream Act, gives the 2008 presidential election the appearance of offering a discussion of immigration issues; the fact remains, though, that since  the Immigration and Reform Act (IRCA) of 1986, both parties studiously avoided a serious debate of the issue during presidential campaigns; democracy is a messy form of government, and few other topics are as messy and convoluted as U.S. immigration policy, but both political parties are wrong to avoid a broad public discussion of this vital national issue

  • House bill allows Border Patrol to ignore environmental, safety protections along borders

    The House of Representatives passed a sweeping bill which would allow the Border Patrol to ignore dozens of environmental protection laws — among them the Wilderness Act and Endangered Species Act — on all federally managed land within 100 miles of the Mexico and Canada borders; supporters argue that the measure is necessary to give the border patrol more freedom to chase illegal immigrants and drug smugglers; critics charge that the measure has little, if anything, to do with border security, and more to do with opening federally managed land to exploitation by private businesses, or pandering to local political constituencies

  • The changes to the U.S. deportation policy

    Last Friday, 15 June 2012, DHS announced what analysts regard as the most significant immigration action in more than two decades; the executive action aims to stop – or defer — the deportation of undocumented youth; individuals cannot yet file for consideration for deferred action under the new policy until the protocols and procedures are announced, which DHS must do within sixty days

  • The complexities of the human face: analyzing facial recognition technologies in unconstrained environments

    Chris Archer, the online content editor at IDGA (the Institute for Defense & Government Advancement), talked with Thirimachos Bourlai, research assistant professor at West Virginia University, about facial recognition technologies; the human face has several advantages over other biometric traits: it is non-intrusive, understandable, and can be captured in a covert manner at variable standoff distances; Bourlai examines the various challenges of facial recognition as a biometric technology faces; defines “unconstrained recognition” and how this challenge is being met; he also explores how facial recognition will be used by the military and commercially in the short and long term future

  • Arizona police preparing to begin implementing SB 1070

    Anticipating at least a partially favorable decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration bill, Governor Jan Brewer has issued an executive order instructing police officers across the state to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the law and prepare to begin to implement it; the Court decision is expected before the end of June

  • CBP receives Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion ahead of schedule

    The P-3 Orion is considered the standard for maritime patrol and reconnaissance, and is used for homeland security, hurricane reconnaissance, anti-piracy operations, humanitarian relief, search and rescue, intelligence gathering, antisubmarine warfare and, recently, to assist in air traffic control and natural disaster relief support

  • Why the perception persists that undocumented immigrants cause more crime

    Undocumented immigrants in the United States do not commit more crimes than native-born Americans, yet the perception persists that they do; researchers found that the belief that undocumented immigrants cause crime was due in part to the perceived population size of the immigrant community overall: if individuals perceive undocumented immigrants to be a larger proportion in the population, they are going to perceive undocumented immigrants as posing a higher level of criminal threat

  • CPB’s translation assistance to other agencies questioned

    An alliance of immigration advocacy groups says that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has an agenda of its own when it provides translation assistance to other law enforcement agencies and participate in 911 dispatch activities along the U.S.-Canada border: to question individuals about their immigration status and, in many cases, initiate removal proceedings

  • Reliable measurement, program evaluation, and institutional memory: The Border Patrol’s new national strategy

    What the Border Patrol vitally needs, along with all our members of Congress, is an adequate measurement of Border Patrol performance which, placed within an historical context, allows anyone to fairly and consistently judge the progress of this vital law enforcement agency regardless of which party holds power; instead, what we may likely see from the Border Patrol new National Strategy, announced on Tuesday, 8 May, is a multi-million dollar quagmire metric generated by a one-of-a-kind software package premised upon the Border Patrol’s same old unreliable data — apprehension rates; or, worse still, an opaque metric which is classified so the public has no idea what it really measures or leaves out

  • Biometric data collection in U.S. immigrant communities and beyond

    DHS takes approximately 300,000 fingerprints per day from non-U.S. citizens crossing the border into the United States, and it collects biometrics from noncitizens applying for immigration benefits and from immigrants who have been detained; in addition, state and local law enforcement officers regularly collect fingerprints and DNA, as well as face prints and even iris scans