Border monitoring / protection

Environmentalists in arms over border decision
Yesterday, House Natural Resources Committee 26-17 vote to approve H.R. 1505, the National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act; the proposed legislation would waive thirty-six environmental and other laws for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol activities on public lands within 100 miles of U.S. borders; environmentalists are angry
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U.S. immigrant population at record 40 Million in 2010
The decade of 2000-2010 was the highest decade of immigration ever; nearly fourteen million new immigrants (legal and illegal) settled in the United States during the decade, despite the decline in the number of jobs; while the number of immigrants in the country is higher than at any time in American history, the immigrant share of the population (12.9 percent) was higher ninety years ago
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Alabama: students do not need birth certificates to attend school
After thousands of fearful Hispanic students failed to show up for classes on Monday in Alabama, the state’s top education official announced that children would still be allowed to attend even if they did not have birth certificates
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U.S.-Canada reach border agreement
The U.S.-Canada border security pact reached earlier this year by President Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper is nearing completion
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Defying governor, Mass. officials seek to join Secure Communities
Local law enforcement officials and state lawmakers are increasingly working to circumvent Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick’s decision to opt out of the controversial Secure Communities immigration program; last Wednesday U.S Senator Scott Brown (R-Massachusetts) called on DHS secretary Janet Napolitano to allow the state to join Secure Communities without Governor Patrick’s approval; Under Secure Communities, a detained individual’s fingerprints are automatically scanned and checked against DHS and FBI databases to determine their immigration status
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Immigration raid nets nearly 3,000 illegal immigrants
On Wednesday, federal immigration authorities announced they had detained nearly 3,000 illegal aliens in the largest nation-wide raid of its kind; of the 3,000 aliens arrested, more than 1,600 were felons convicted of crimes like manslaughter, attempted murder, armed robbery, sex crimes against minors, and drug trafficking
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Report finds Texas border violence worsening
A recently released report concludes that violence from the Mexican government’s war against the drug cartels is increasingly spreading into the United States; the report found that as the Mexican military cracks down further on drug cartels, these organizations have pushed further north into Texas to create a “sanitary zone”
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Undocumented university student fights to stay in U.S.
As federal immigration officials implement President Obama’s latest immigration guidelines, many undocumented immigrants face an uncertain future with authorities still reviewing existing procedures; an undocumented junior at New York’s Stony Brook University is fighting to stay in the United States following notice by immigration authorities that she and her mother will be sent back to Bangladesh
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InfoZen wins $90 million ICE contract
On Monday InfoZen announced that it had won a $90 million five-year contract with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to provide IT services
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Sector Report for Thursday, 22 September 2011: Border / Immigration control
This report contains the following stories.
* Challenging conventional wisdom on border security

* Lack of comprehensive border security strategy hampers National Guard: GAO

* U.S.-Canada border security deal threatens Canadians' privacy: security expert

* Also noted
Plus 1 additional story.
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Challenging conventional wisdom on border security
Two new papers say that if the United States is serious about border security, then instead of building bigger walls or throwing more resources at empty enforcement efforts, the United States should adopt strategies that address real threats to U.S. border security — drug cartels
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Lack of comprehensive border security strategy hampers National Guard: GAO
A new GAO report says that that fact that there is no comprehensive security strategy for the U.S.-Mexico border makes it difficult for the Pentagon effectively to use the National Guard units assigned to help the Border Patrol guard the border
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U.S.-Canada border security deal threatens Canadians' privacy: security expert
A new report by a Canadian think tank provides a critique of the recently announced Shared Vision Declaration between Canada and the United States; the report emphasizes what it calls the threat to the privacy of Canadians’ personal information posed by this new initiative
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Fingerprints to be used at U.S.-Mexico border
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers working at the Paso Del Norte (PDN) international crossing in El Paso have initiated work on a system which uses fingerprints to expedite the pedestrian entry process; CBP says the new system will result in more efficient processing of arriving pedestrian traffic
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Environmentalists worry border environment protection
Environmentalists have taken aim at an amendment to the Senate appropriations bill for DHS that would allow border enforcement agencies ultimate authority within 100-miles of the U.S. border
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