• Young undocumented immigrants in U.S. face obstacles, difficult futures

    Undocumented Latino youth who migrate to the United States face futures clouded by limited rights and the constant fear of deportation, a new study finds; “Rites of passage common to American youth — getting a driver’s license, traveling, working and applying to college — are either denied, unattainable or dangerous to pursue for undocumented immigrants,” said one of the authors of the study

  • Border Security Expo changes hands

    E.J. Krause & Associates sells the Border Security Expo to newly formed Eagle Eye Expositions; the 2012 even showed a 24 percent increase in exhibit space and 21 percent increase in attendance

  • Aware provides biometrics products for border management systems

    Aware’s software products will be used for biometric enrolment, watch-list checks, verification, and workflow in Europe, the Middle East, and North America

  • New approach to U.S. border security

    CBP has unveiled a new approach to securing the U.S.-Mexico border; the new strategy puts less emphasis on technology, and more on risk analysis; the Border Patrol believes it now knows enough about those who try to cross the border to begin imposing more serious consequences on almost everyone the agency catches; in January the Border Patrol expanded its Consequence Delivery System to the entire border, dividing border crossers into seven categories, ranging from first-time offenders to people with criminal records

  • Critics slam administration’s “minor offenses” deportation stance

    Critics if the administration’s immigration policies slam the administration’s last week announcement that it will no longer initiate enforcement actions against deportable aliens identified by the Secure Communities program who have committed minor criminal offenses

  • Supreme Court hears arguments on Arizona immigration law

    The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday heard arguments about the tough Arizona immigration law, known as SB107; the case highlights a fundamental disagreements over the precise balance of power between the states and the national government; the judges appeared skeptical of the administration’s arguments; the Arizona case may occasion a redrawing by the Supreme Court of established boundaries between the federal government and the states on immigration enforcement

  • Border security bill would harm U.S. National Parks: environmentalists

    A bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives would suspend the enforcement of almost all the U.S. environmental laws on all lands under the jurisdiction of the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture within 100 miles of the northern border with Canada and the southern border with Mexico; the 100-mile zone includes fifteen National Parks which cover 21,657,399 acres, or nearly 25 percent of the overall footprint U.S. National Park System; supporters of the bill claim it would bolster border security, while environmentalists say it would gut a century’s worth of proven federal lands protection

  • Increasing effectiveness of border patrols by making them random

    A new study finds that combining historical data on illegal border crossings with unpredictability and randomness of patrols would be the most effective approach to increase interdiction of illegal border crossers

  • New app cuts travelers wait times at U.S. border crossings

    Nearly 340,000 people travel every day through the San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, and Tecate border crossings linking California and Mexico’s Baja California;  more than eight million trips across the border are lost because travelers are unwilling to deal with the congestion and an average wait time of forty-five minutes; a new app addresses the problem

  • Isotec Security receives Safety Act designation

    Isotec Security’s Automated Weapons Control Portals has been awarded SAFETY Act designation by DHS; the company notes that no strategic, public facility, or bank using the solution has suffered an armed incursion or successful armed robbery

  • DHS brings military technology to border surveillance

    The long list of products and equipment developed for the military but which were adapted to and adopted by civilian and law enforcement agencies has a new entry. Add to the list the Kestrel: a L-3 Wescam MX 360-degree camera mounted to a Raven Aerostar aerostat

  • ICE deported 47,000 parents who had least one U.S. citizen child

    Between 1 January 2011and 30 June 2011, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 46,686 parents who had at least one U.S. citizen child; more than 5,100 children of immigrants have ended up in foster care because their parents had either been detained or deported; if the second half of 2011 saw the same rate of deportations, there would be 100,000 kids who are U.S. citizens who had parents deported, and about 15,000 would end up in foster care

  • Arizona's illegal immigrant population takes a downward turn

    The number of illegal immigrants in Arizona has declined in recent years, according to U.S. census data

  • Small UAV wins Border Security Product Challenge award

    A small surveillance UAV catches the eye of law enforcement and the military; it is an electric-powered, lightweight, portable system that fits in a small rucksack. Its modular design enables assembly and launch in less than two minutes

  • Surveillance technology along the border

    A South Dakota blimp maker has one of its airships take part in a border security technology demonstration; the demonstration was put together to allow the CBP to evaluate a new surveillance system for use on the border