• Was/is border National Guard really worth it?

    Since 2006, National Guard troops have been deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border under the assumption that they would help bolster security; with little training, Congressional oversight, or analysis, it is difficult to say how effective the National Guard Troops were; $1.35 billion later, was it really worth it?; as Congress authorizes another $60 million to keep troops stationed along the border, we must ask once more, was it really worth it?

  • Every day, every minute CBP serves

    In the first column in an ongoing series featuring contributors from the North American Center for Transborder Studies (NACTS) at Arizona State University, Rick Van Schoik, the center’s director, provides an overview of U.S. Custom and Border Protection’s broad mission as well as the key challenges the agency faces in securing the nation’s borders

  • Cross-border security application integrates data from diverse sources

    An application unites data from local, regional, and federal public safety agencies in a common operating picture; the data is integrated with feeds available from Web sources (weather, road and air traffic, nautical conditions), and displays the data on an interactive map and timeline

  • ICE union slows Obama’s deportation policy shift

    An internal disagreement within DHS is hampering the implementation of President Obama’s new immigration strategy which focuses primarily on deporting immigrants convicted of violent crimes

  • DHS IG critical of ICE deportation review process

    DHS Inspector General’s report on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (ICE) handling of the review process of 300,000 pending deportation cases offers ammunition to critics of the administration’s immigration policies

  • Feds to unseal portions of slain border agent’s case

    Federal prosecutors have agreed to unseal portions of its case against the people who stand accused of slaying Brian Terry, a U.S. Border Patrol agent killed in the line of duty while deployed near the Arizona-Mexico border

  • DHS launches hotline for jailed immigrants

    DHS recently announced that it is launching a new hotline for people who believe they have been falsely imprisoned on immigration charges or victims of a crime

  • Border fences impede black bears’ movements

    A new study finds that fences along the Arizona portion of the U.S.– Mexico border are hindering the natural movement of black bears

  • Giant weed complicates border security

    To add to the difficulties of patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border, an invasive species of giant weeds has infested rivers throughout the southwest, particularly the Rio Grande in Texas, providing dense cover for illegal activities

  • Inmate-trained wild horses help secure U.S. border

    Border patrol agents have a new ally in the fight to secure the U.S-Mexico border – specially trained horses – and it is all thanks to prison inmates

  • Volunteers and cash pour in for private border fence

    Donations and volunteers continue to pour in for a privately funded fence along the U.S.– Mexico border in Arizona, according to Republican state legislator Steve Smith

  • Senate Homeland Security Committee probes Fast and Furious

    Last Wednesday, Senator Joe Lieberman (I – Connecticut), the chair of the Homeland Security Committee, directed his committee to examine the miscommunication between law enforcement agencies and the Justice Department in regards to the beleaguered gun tracking program dubbed “Fast and Furious”

  • DHS to drawdown troops along U.S.-Mexico border

    Beginning in January the National Guard troops deployed along the U.S-Mexico border will begin heading home to their respective states as part of a broader shift in their mission; the 1,200 troops currently deployed will be reduced to 300, with the majority of them focusing on supporting border patrol efforts in the air rather than on the ground

  • CBP receives its ninth UAV

    CBP announced it has received its fourth Predator-B UAV to be used for patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border; CBP can now deploy its unmanned aircraft from the eastern tip of California across the common Mexican land borders of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas

  • Cartels eye Puerto Rico as new cash smuggling route

    Over the past year law enforcement officials in Puerto Rico have seized an increasing amount of smuggled cash, indicating that cartels may be shifting their attention to the island as an alternative route to transport drug money