Border monitoring / protection

San Jose halts gang violence, ends ICE partnership
Two months after it began its alliance with immigration officials to crack down on gang violence, the San Jose Police Department in California announced that it was ending its partnership with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency; on 24 June, two ICE agents stepped in to help San Jose which was struggling to contain its highest murder rate in twenty years
- Read more
Sector Report for Thursday, 25 August 2011: Border / Immigration control
This report contains the following stories.
* North Dakota receives $10 million for border security

* Obama administration seeks hold on tough Alabama immigration law

* Union Pacific settles drug fines, invests $50M in border security

* Also noted
Plus 1 additional story.
Read more

Obama administration seeks hold on tough Alabama immigration law
The Obama administration has requested a federal judge to temporarily block a tough new immigration law set to take effect in Alabama on 1 September
- Read more
Union Pacific settles drug fines, invests $50M in border security
Railroad giant Union Pacific Corp. agreed last week to invest $50 million to help protect the U.S.-Mexico border and to improve supply chain security; the announcement comes as the settlement of an ongoing dispute between the railroad company and U.S. border officials over nearly $500 million in fines
- Read more

Mexican trucks cited for 1 million violations since 2007
Trucks transport roughly $275 billion worth of goods — or 70 percent of the total — that pass between the United States and Mexico annually; the trucks from Mexico, however, often fail to meet U.S. safety standards
- Read more
Rampant insider hacking at U.S. immigration agency
A yearlong investigation by the DHS Inspector General has revealed multiple instances of insider hacking at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS); the inspector general found that employees had accessed management-level email and other confidential files
- Read more

ICE breaks up international artifact smuggling ring
Immigration officials recently broke up an international gang of thieves who were using the Orlando International Airport to smuggle ancient artifacts into the country
- Read more
CBP, railroad settles smuggling dispute
Smugglers use trains which go from Mexico to the United States to smuggle drugs and other contraband. In the last few years, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) has imposed fines totaling millions of dollars on Union Pacific Railroads for carrying the smuggled goods — even though UP maintained it knew nothing about the illegal shipments; CBP and UP have now settled their dispute
- Read more

DHS cracks down on sham universities
DHS officials are cracking down on sham universities that make millions of dollars by preying on foreign students, especially those from India, with promises of student visas; in January, officials shut down Tri-Valley University in California on suspicion of visa fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering; officials believe that the university made millions of dollars by giving foreign nationals illegally obtained student visas
- Read more
Sector Report for Thursday, 11 August 2011: Border / Immigration control
This report contains the following stories.
* Immigration from Mexico down to "almost nothing"

* Border fence knocked down by rain water

* Record number of immigration bills introduced in 2011

* Also noted
Plus 1 additional story.
Read more

Immigration from Mexico down to "almost nothing"
A recent report found that the number of immigrants entering the United States from Mexico has fallen to “almost nothing”; Mexico only lost about 0.09 percent of its population due to migration between March 2010 and March 2011, 83 percent lower than in 2006
- Read more
Border fence knocked down by rain water
Last week water from a rainstorm knocked over a forty-foot section of the U.S-Mexico border fence in Southwestern Arizona; according to Lee Baiza, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument’s superintendent, the fence does not permit water to flow naturally along washes resulting in environmental and structural problems for the fence
- Read more

Record number of immigration bills introduced in 2011
This year state lawmakers have introduced a record number of immigration bills and resolutions according to a new report by the National Conference of State Legislatures; so far in the first half of the year, state legislators have seen 1,592 immigration bills, 16 percent more than the same time period last year
- Read more
DHS set to expand Secure Communities over local objections
To help put an end to state and local authorities’ objections over the controversial Secure Communities program, the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced on Friday that the agency would end its memorandum of agreements with state governors “to avoid further confusion”; the move is designed to ease DHS’s efforts to expand the immigration program across the nation, despite the increasing criticism that the program has received
- Read more
Foreign sham marriage ring broken up
Last week fourteen people were charged with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud in an attempt to secure citizenship in the United States; the plan involved paying U.S. citizens to enter into false marriages with foreigners from Eastern Europe and Russia to legalize their immigration status; the U.S. recruits were offered as much as $5,000 to participate in the scheme
- Read more