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Land down under
The Australian government has launched a $69 million plan which will require citizens of ten countries — not named yet — to submit fingerprint and facial images to apply for electronic visas to enter Australia; Foreign Minister Stephen Smith: “there may well be a diplomatic effort required in respect of some of those countries as you would expect”
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GAO investigators test for vulnerabilities along the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders; they examine both ports of entry and unmonitored areas of the border; GAO concluded that a determined cross-border violator would likely be able to bring radioactive materials or other contraband undetected into the United States by crossing the U.S.-Canada border
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DHS has spent $57.7-million – and waived more than thirty environmental laws in 2008 — to build a 3.6 mile fence on Otay Mountain; critics question the cost, effectiveness and environmental effect of erecting a fence where those who hiked three days up a steep, arid peak were often met by border agents anyway
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As of 31 March 2009, all U.K. universities have been required to monitor foreign students and academics; for instance, university staff must check international student attendance, and if a student fails to attend 10 “expected interactions” (seminars, lectures, tutor meetings, etc.), the professor is obliged to report them to the U.K. Border Agency; professor say this is too much
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The population of illegal immigrants in the United States has declined by 7 percent – from an estimated 11.6 million to 10.8 million – for the year ending January 2009, compared to the previous year; about 37 percent are believed to have entered the country in the last decade; 44 percent entered the United States during the 1990s and 19 percent during the 1980s
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The future of the U.S.-Mexico border fence is in doubt; the project, contracted by DHS to Boeing, has been plagued by technical glitches from the start; among other things, the radar system had trouble distinguishing between vegetation and people when it was windy; also, the satellite communication system took too long to relay information in the field to a command center; by the time an operator moved a camera to take a closer look at a spot, whatever had raised suspicion was gone; Obama’s proposed 2011 budget cuts $189 million from the venture
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Federal program aims to keep illegal immigrants off job sites; a coalition of labor unions wants Baltimore County Council members to adopt a new requirement that contractors working for the county verify the immigration status of their employees or risk losing county business; the hourly pay rate of members of the Ironworkers Union – a pay which includes health and retirement benefits — is about $40; workers in the United States illegally often get $12 an hour with no benefits
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Two South Korean women have managed to fool Japan’s expensive biometric border-control system by using special tapes on their fingers; the invisible tape carries the finger prints of another person, and the South Korean broker who supplied the tape also provided false passports to go with it; this is the third known case of South Korean women using the fingerprint-altering tape to enter Japan; in all three cases, the women managed to fool the biometric screening, but were later caught because they over-stayed their visas
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Native American companies may not have expertise in running detention centers, but they have something more important: preference rights; preference gives Alaska Native corporations a priority shot at getting federal contracts; immigrant detention means business, and several Native American firms are profiting from the get-tough policy on immigration; contract awards to Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) by all federal agencies increased by 916 percent from 2000 to 2008, rising from $508.4 million in 2000 to $5.2 billion in 2008
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents searched more than 1,500 electronic devices at the U.S. border over a period of nine months between October 2008 and June 2009; customs agents forwarded electronic files found on travelers’ devices to other agencies almost 300 times; civil liberties groups argue this policy is overly broad without meaningfully contributing to U.S. security
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A proposal will be debated in Congress to create a new class of visa eligibility; the start-up visa would be granted to foreign entrepreneurs if their business plan attracts either $250,000 from a venture capital operating company that is primarily U.S. based or $100,000 from an angel investor; they must also show that the business will create five to ten jobs or generate a profit and at least $1 million in revenue
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Researchers at the University of California-San Diego develop GPS-based cell phone application aiming to help illegal immigrants by directing them to prepositioned water bins in the desert; critics say this amounts to aiding law-breaking, while supporters argue this is the humane thing to do
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The only thing we can say for sure about 2010 is terrorists, criminals, and mother nature will surprise us at some point during 2010; still, based on what we do know, we offer a short list of topics we predict will dominate the homeland security discussion in the coming year – from whole-body scanners to 100 percent air cargo screening to social Web sites to communication interoperability to the consequences of climate change (or is there a climate change?)
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Canada has a long borders, and before 9/11 the Canadian federal government made it easier for travelers to cross into Canada at remote border crossing where security is not as tight as it is in major cross points; a new study says this system must change because it is not secure enough
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A husband and wife from Hull trying to take a ferry to Rotterdam for Christmas shopping were denied boarding after the ferry’s crew refused to accept the U.K.’s new biometric ID card as a means of identification; the couple applied for the card when it was offered on a voluntary basis to the public in Greater Manchester; the card is meant to allow travel across Europe as an alternative to a passport, but the crew, saying they had never seen such a card before, insisted on the couple producing their passports; since the couple had left their passports at home, they could not take their trip
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For the first time in Arizona, a company employing illegal immigrants has been punished for violating the law; the company has its business license suspended for ten days and was put on a 3-year probation; the punishment is symbolic because the company is already out of business
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The U.K’s. £1.2 billion e-Border scheme would mandate that, say, someone flying from the United Kingdom to Spain would be required to submit their name, date of birth, and passport details ahead of a flight and well before they got to the airport, or face the risk of being prevented from boarding; the EU says this violates the union’s rules on free movement within the EU region.
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An Illinois Democrat introduces an immigration reform bill that would allow illegal immigrants currently in the United States to gain legal status and possibly citizenship; they would have to demonstrate they had been working, pay a $500 fine, learn English, and undergo a criminal background check, among other provisions; unlike previous proposals in Congress, they would not have to return to their homeland first, something known as “touchback”
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Illegal border crossers into the United States are becoming more sophisticated – the latest is a GPS application which is supposed to help crossers evade Border Patrol agents – but those in charge of protecting U.S. borders are also employing advanced technology to keep the border secure.
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Visits to the United States by Canadians have dropped since 1 June, when the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative began requiring new documentation for cross-border land travel; DHS agrees to advertise alternatives to passports as valid border-crossing documents.
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