• Deportation backlog prompts DHS to review cases, procedures

    In a move aimed at reducing the strain on overburdened immigration courts, DHS recently began a review of 300,000 ongoing deportation cases; illegal immigrants with a criminal record will face expedited deportation proceedings, while many with no criminal history could have their cases closed

  • The challenges of detecting drug tunnels

    As the United States has stepped up its efforts to secure its southern border, drug cartels have been forced to become increasingly ingenious in sneaking their cargo into the country; in an effort to avoid border agents, radars, and fences, cartels have increasingly gone underground

  • DHS takes down suspected Mexican gang members in New York

    On 16 November DHS agents arrested twenty-five suspected members of the Mexican Los Vagos gang on a variety of charges including murder conspiracy, assault, firearms offenses, narcotics trafficking, and immigration violations. Los Vagos allegedly used drug trafficking and violence to defend their turf from the Latin Kings, a rival gang

  • Is tunnel detection technology for the U.S.-Mexico border worth the effort?

    More and more, smugglers are using tunnels between the United States and Mexico to smuggle drugs and people into the United States. Washington is investing considerable resources searching for a high-tech solution to the problem. There are different technologies to detect tunnels, but all have their limitations. Experts say that old-fashioned investigative work may well be more effective.

  • DHS offers new guidance for when to dismiss immigration cases

    On Thursday, DHS issued guidelines to federal officials, advising that they should consider dismissing pending immigration cases involving some groups of illegal immigrants, among them children, college students, the elderly, and victims of domestic violence.

  • U.S. recession drives Mexican immigration to record lows

    With the U.S. economy in a tail spin and violent Mexican drug cartels raging out of control, immigration from Mexico into the United States has fallen to all-time lows; Mexican census figures show that net migration is close to zero with few Mexicans immigrating to the United States and many returning home

  • Alabama lawmakers backpedal on tough immigration law

    Republican senators in Alabama are currently working on a series of amendments that would ameliorate the tough immigration law that has sharply divided the state

  • Returning vets and military tech could be deployed to border

    Veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could be heading to the U.S.-Mexico border next; seeking to take advantage of the military technology and personnel returning from the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, federal border officials are considering a plan to use these newly freed resources

  • Major drug tunnel discovered, 14 tons of marijuana seized

    On Tuesday customs officials discovered a major drug tunnel below the U.S.-Mexico border which led to the seizure of fourteen tons of marijuana

  • Congressman says Obama's immigration strategy a “backdoor amnesty policy"

    Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) recently spoke with Homeland Security NewsWire’s Executive Editor Eugene K. Chow; in the interview Representative McCaul offered his views on President Obama’s current administration strategy, cost-effective strategies to secure the border, and ways DHS could improve Secure Communities; McCaul: “Technology working in concert with boots on the ground is the key to securing the border… [Border Patrol] agents need the benefit of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and infrared sensor technology to conduct surveillance, and then the resources to quickly pursue what is found”

  • EU to allow full-body scanners at airports

    In response to the continued threat of terrorism, the European Union (EU) recently passed legislation that would formally European airports to use full-body scanners; prior to Monday’s announcement, trial usage of full-scanners was limited to a period of thirty months; under the new rules, member states will have the option for unlimited deployment of the scanners, but will not be required to use them

  • Internal e-mails reveal FBI confused by Secure Communities

    Recently released government e-mails indicate that the FBI had strong doubts about Secure Communities, a controversial DHS immigration program; officials worried that the misunderstanding over whether or not cities and states could actually opt out of the program would lead to a rift between local and federal law enforcement agencies

  • GAO hammers CBP over border surveillance plan

    A recently released Government Accountability Office (GAO) report blasted DHS’ latest attempt to build a virtual fence along the U.S.-Mexico border; the report concluded that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) lacked critical information needed to fully support and implement its Arizona Border Surveillance Technology Plan; without this information CBP could not guarantee that its cost estimates were reliable

  • Los Zetas decapitate blogger

    Last week the Los Zetas drug cartel sent a gruesome message to hackers by decapitating a Mexican blogger and dumping his body in public; the cartel has taken to targeting online activists who have been using social media to report on gang activities or criticize local drug lords; the latest murder was the fourth of its kind