• ARGUMENT: NEW BORDER RULESOpen Questions, Legal Hurdles for Biden’s New Border Rule

    The Biden administration announced on May 16 a new border rule that creates new pathways for lawful entry and limits access to asylum for unauthorized entrants. Shalini Bhargava Ray writes that the rule takes important steps to create alternatives to unauthorized entry for those seeking refuge, but serious questions remain about the viability and practical accessibility of those pathways.

  • BORDER SECURITYTexas Senate Approves Creation New Immigration Enforcement Unit, Allow State Police to Arrest for Border Crossings

    By Jolie McCullough and James Barragán

    The House has already passed the bill, but the two chambers will need to iron out the differences in their versions before it is sent to Gov. Greg Abbott. It’s the most sweeping of a Republican package of bills that aims to stiffen the state’s response to a record number of crossings at Texas’ southern border.

  • LABOR TRAFFICKINGLabor Trafficking in the United States

    In 2020, DHS developed a strategy to guide its efforts to curb trafficking worldwide. Principally, the strategy calls for improving the identification and reporting of suspected trafficking. Questions about the current state of research on U.S. labor trafficking and future research needs need to be answered as the initial step in building a research agenda focused on labor trafficking.

  • BORDER SECURITYTitle 42 Ends as Migrants Lined Up and Border Cities Braced for the Unknown

    By Uriel J. García

    Long lines formed again next to the border wall in El Paso — a scene repeated in other parts of the southern border — as migrants anticipated the end of a policy that has allowed immigration agents to quickly expel them.

  • BORDER SECURITYSeeking Protection: How the U.S. Asylum Process Works

    By Diana Roy

    Record numbers of migrants seeking to cross the southern U.S. border are challenging the Biden administration’s attempts to restore asylum protections. Here’s how the asylum process works.

  • BORDER SECURITYConfusion Reigns at US-Mexico Border as Title 42 Expires

    By Aline Barros

    Title 42, the emergency health order used during the COVID-19 pandemic at the U.S.-Mexico border to quickly expel migrants back to Mexico or to their home country, ends Thursday night at midnight. Some border analysts say about 150,000 people are waiting to enter the U.S., but DHS says the majority of them will be expelled if they cross into the United States.

  • BORDER SECURITYU.S. Unveils New Border Restriction Ahead of Thursday’s Title 42 Expiration

    By Aline Barros

    The Biden administration announced today (Wednesday) new restrictions which affect migrants who attempt to cross into the United States without authorization. The restrictions are part of a plan for the end of Title 42, a 2020 COVID-19 related measure which allowed CBP to quickly expel migrants without giving them the chance to seek U.S. asylum. Title 42 expires on Thursday.

  • BORDER SECURITYTexas House Republicans Revive Border Policing Unit in Early-Morning Vote

    By James Barragán and Alexa Ura

    The proposed unit would let those who are not law officers arrest or detain suspected undocumented immigrants in border-region counties.

  • ARGUMENT: EMERGENCY POWERS AT THE BORDERBiden’s Resurrection of Emergency Powers at the Southern Border

    The Biden administration’s decision to send 1,500 active-duty troops to the border shows the striking similarity between Biden’s and Trump’s approach at least in one respect their willingness to use “law (both emergency and non-emergency powers) to sustain the continued deployment of thousands of military personnel at the southern border,” Chris Mirasola writes. “[E]asy access to any component of the Defense Department appears to be turning into a new normal, made available under shifting but substantially similar emergency declarations,” he adds.

  • DRUG DETECTIONImproving Capabilities of Portable Drug Detection Systems

    DHS S&T and partners are working to improve their ability to identify different narcotics, like fentanyl. Narcotics detection systems libraries will be enhanced via the collection of data on approximately 50 restricted substances, primarily related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl, that are scheduled and controlled by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

  • BORDER SECURITYWhy Are Active-Duty Troops Being Sent to U.S.-Mexico Border?

    By Aline Barros

    The Biden administration is sending 1,500 active-duty military personnel to the U.S.-Mexico border. The troops will support U.S. Customs and Border Protection efforts on the border for about 90 days.

  • FENTANYL TRAFFICKINGU.S. in a Massive Crackdown on Darknet Fentanyl Trafficking

    By Masood Farivar

    In a massive global crackdown on fentanyl trafficking on the darknet, U.S. law enforcement agencies and their international partners announced Tuesday the arrests of nearly 300 suspects and seizure of a large cache of drugs, cash, virtual currency and weapons.

  • BORDER SECURITYLithuania Legalizes Border Pushbacks

    By Lucia Schulten

    Lithuania enacted the so-called pushbacks in law, which allows border guards to push back border crossers – that is, push them back across the border – if they do not have the right papers. The move has been heavily criticized, but it is not without precedent in the EU.

  • IMMIGRATIONGermany: Immigrants Made Up More Than over 18% of 2022 Population

    Some 15.3 million people in Germany, just under one in five nationwide, immigrated there at some point in their lives, according to new government statistics for 2022. Almost 5 million more were born to migrant parents.

  • SURVEILLANCEMapping CBP’s Expansion of Its Surveillance Tower Program at the U.S.-Mexico Border

    By David Maas

    EFF is releasing a new map and dataset of more than 290 surveillance towers installed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) along the border with Mexico. The tower systems are able to automatically detect and track objects  up to 7.5 miles away and assist agents in classifying objects 3 miles away.