Representative John Mica (R-Florida), the incoming chairman of House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is urging U.S. commercial airports to consider private screening companies/contractors as an alternative to the TSA; he has labeled TSA a “bloated bureaucracy” in need of revamping and has emphasized that airports, according to federal law, still have other security options available to them

The Mexican drug war among the drug cartels — and between the cartels and the government —- continues to escalate as more and more weapons pour into the country; Ciudad Juarez, the homicide capital of the world, saw 1,623 people killed in drug-related violence in 2008; the toll increased to 2,763 deaths in 2009; on Tuesday the tolls reached 3,000 for 2010; also Tuesday: the Mexican navy reported it seized nine go-fast boats and a total of 15 metric tons (16.5 tons) of marijuana during two days of searches in the Gulf of California.; on 13 December; and the lower house of Mexico’s Congress voted 384-2, with 21 abstentions, to rescind the congressional immunity from prosecution of a fellow legislator accused of links to La Familia; La Familia leader Nazario Moreno, nicknamed “The Craziest One,” was killed in battles that lasted two days and spread to key parts of Michoacan state

A recent government report says the Border Patrol has limited capabilities to detect illegal activities along the U.S. northern border from Washington to Montana; the Government Accountability Office report says that among other things, the area is considered an entry point for low-flying aircraft that carry high-potency marijuana from Canada

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush criticizes Arizona’s controversial immigration law; Bush, whose wife is Mexican, said that his own children might look suspicious if seen walking on the streets of Phoenix; “It’s the wrong approach” he told the National League of Cities convention in Denver this past weekend

Increased monitoring and interdiction efforts along the U.S.-Mexico border have resulted in what the administration describes as “unprecedented” seizures of illegal drugs, currency, and firearms; CBP intercepted $282 million in illegal currency, a 35 percent increase over the prior two years; authorities seized in excess of 7 million pounds of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs, up 16.5 percent; agents confiscated 6,800 weapons heading for Mexico, a 22 percent increase over the previous two-year period

A new report assess business opportunities presented by business security — what the research firm calls “one of the most exciting emerging markets within the global defense and security marketplace”; the report examines the commercial prospects for companies involved in supplying products ranging from integrated networks of video surveillance cameras and radar systems to unmanned platforms in the air and on the ground

The biometric microprocessor card market is growing by leaps and bounds; the microprocessor smart card market will hit 5.32 billion units shipped in 2010 and rise to 6.02 billion units in 2011; the growth owes to rising sales of e-ID cards, especially from the European residence permit, and growth in e-services for citizens

The war among Mexico’s seven drug cartels — and between the cartels and the Mexican government — is intensifying and becoming more gruesome; the preferred form of cruelty by drug cartel assassins is to capture enemies and behead them; decapitations emerged alongside another gruesome tactic — dumping the bodies of rivals in vats of acid; cartel goons have moved away from that method, however; the latest move by the cartels is to employ kids as young as 14-year old as assassins; Mexico police last night has captured one such youngster and his 16-year old sister; the two are implicated in four assassinations

An Arizona legislator is set to introduce a bill to create a new state volunteer force that could be used help patrol the U.S.-Mexico border; the bill would establish a new homeland security force of volunteers who could be called to duty during civil disasters and for border security; the border security role could kick in if the federal government withdraws National Guard soldiers now assisting in border security