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Senate DHS budget version highlights difference with House over immigration; among other things, the Senate bill would require the Obama administration to complete 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the Mexican border by the end of 2010 — disallowing using only virtual fencing and vehicle barriers for border protection
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The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has deployed another UAV to the New York-Canada border; the New York deployment is part of a multi-agency effort called Operation Empire Shield
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The Obama administration said it would support a George Bush administration regulation that would only award federal contracts to employers who use E-Verify to check employee work authorization
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CBP Air and Marine currently operates a fleet of specialized, high-speed interceptor vessels that are approaching the end of their service life; the agency is testing a new interceptor in order to determine CBP’s next-generation fleet
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Tunnel detection
DHS researchers place radar antennas in a trailer which is towed by a Border Patrol truck; the antennas shoot a signal directly into the ground and use it to construct a multi-colored picture of the earth; tunnels show up as red, yellow, and aquamarine dots against a blue background
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Clear went out of business Friday; company may sell customer data to a TSA-approved provider
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has adopted a new addition to help the agency watch over the northern border in upstate New York: a Predator B UAV
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Southern command
Drug smugglers now use semi-submersibles which are 60 foot long and 12 feet wide fiberglass boats powered by a diesel engine, with a very low freeboard and a small “conning tower” providing the crew (usually of four) and engine with fresh air, and permitting the crew to navigate the boat
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Southern command
Colombian drug kingpins still use old smuggling methods to bring drugs into the United States — aircraft, hidden in ship or aircraft cargo— but small submersibles can move the most cocaine at once, with the lowest risk; U.S. Navy, Coast Guard have detected more than 120 of these subs off the coast between Mexico and Colombia
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DHS created E-Verify to allow employers to check on line the eligibility of employees to work in the United States; implementation of the system has been delayed for the fourth time; new deadline: 8 September 2009
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Southern command
Between 75 percent and 80 percent of all the cocaine moving toward the United States — on go-fast boats, fishing vessels, and narco-submarines — first goes to Mexico, where it can be broken into much smaller packages that are harder to detect
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Oakland’s city council voted to offer IDs illegal immigrants who live within the city limits; supporters of proposal say the cards will give these immigrants easier access to services, improve their civic participation, and encourage them to report crimes
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Southern command
Trying to stay ahead of U.S. drug interdiction efforts, Colombian drug traffickers are looking to build remote-controlled SPSSs to smuggle drugs risk-free from Colombia into the United States
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The Canadian federal government plans to start fingerprinting applicants for temporary residency permits
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DHS says that more than 118,000 public, private, and government employers enrolled in its E-Verify database as of 1 May; enrollment is growing, but E-Verify still is used by less than 2 percent of the nation’s more than 7.4 million employers
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Thirteen border states will receive $60 million from DHS to strengthen their capabilities to secure U.S. borders and territories
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San Diego County Sheriff’s Department deputies are the first law enforcement unit in California to use DHS Secure Community program to receive biometric-based immigration information
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DHS relaunches a project to scan the fingerprints of international travelers leaving the united States; CBP will take fingerprints exiting the United States from Detroit, while TSA will do the same in Atlanta
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Obama’s stimulus package earmarks $6.8 billion for wireless communications upgrades and new deployments; the health care and education market will receive some of it, but the real money is in selling wireless equipment to DHS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a new ABI Research report says
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The last part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) kicks in Monday; U.S., Canadian land and see travelers entering the United States will have to present a passport or other approved documents; air travelers have already been doing so since 23 January 2007
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The long view
The “Invasion” Invention: The Far Right’s Long Legal Battle to Make Immigrants the Enemy
The Trump administration is using the claim that immigrants have “invaded” the country to justify possibly suspending habeas corpus, part of the constitutional right to due process. A faction of the far right has been building this case for years.