• Migration to the U.S. Is on the Rise Again – but It’s Unlikely to Be Fully Addressed During the Summit of the Americas, or Anytime Soon

    Migration in the Americas has dramatically increased over the past decade due to deteriorating political, economic and humanitarian conditions in several countries, particularly in Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti. High rates of crime, corruption, poverty, environmental degradation and violence all influence people’s decisions to migrate. The power of drug cartels, which can be embedded in government institutions like the police, also plays a key role in prompting migration.

  • Debunking Defining Myths About Immigration in American History

    A new book traces millions of immigrant lives to understand how they – and their children – thrived in the United States.

  • Immigrants in the U.S. Are More Likely to Start Firms, Create Jobs: Study

    Compared to native-born citizens, immigrants are more frequently involved in founding companies at all scales. A new study finds that, per capita, immigrants are about 80 percent more likely to found a firm, compared to U.S.-born citizens.

  • DHS Sued Over Vetting Program to Collect and Data Mine

    The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) the other day filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records about a multi-million dollar, secretive program that surveils immigrants and other foreign visitors’ speech on social media.

  • Send Surveillance Robot Dogs to the Pound, Not the Border

    Last week, DHS said that robotic are “one step closer” to deployment on the U.S.-Mexico border. Covered with sensors and cameras that can relay information and footage in real time to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), these machines are less cute-video or selfie fodder and more of a civil liberties-invading hellhound.

  • Biden Is Restarting the Trump-Era “Remain in Mexico” Program. Why?

    Tens of thousands of migrants were sent back to Mexico under the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” program. President Biden calls it inhumane but has been legally forced to resume it.

  • Robot Dogs Soon to Be Deployed at the Border

    DHS ST is offering a helping hand (or “paw”) with new robotic dog technology that can assist with enhancing the capabilities of CBP personnel, while simultaneously increasing their safety downrange.

  • Deaths of Undocumented Migrants in Southeastern U.S. Cluster in Hot, Dry Areas

    Deaths of undocumented migrants crossing the deserts that span the southern United States border between Mexico and Arizona are disproportionately clustered within regions of greatest physiological stress, including those where dehydration is likely, reports a new study.

  • On the Move: How Nations Address Climate-Driven Migration

    One of the most consequential human responses to climate change is and will continue to be the mass movement of people. Rising temperatures which reduce agricultural opportunities can lead to mass migrations away from struggling communities. As the environmental impacts of climate change increase in scope and severity, more and more people will move to new places to preserve or enhance their lives and livelihoods. How do nations address, and plan to address, the growing wave of migrants fleeing their home countries in search for better living conditions?

  • Israel Completes Wall along Gaza Border

    Israel says the new barrier extends underground and uses high-tech sensors to prevent Hamas fighters from using tunnels to enter Israeli territory.

  • Report: Economics Drives Migration from Central America to the U.S.

    A new survey underscores how material needs lead to movement within the Americas — at a high cost to those trying to relocate.

  • Family Separation’s Psychological Trauma in Parents, Children Persists After Reunification: Medical Study

    New analysis finds long-lasting psychological harm sustained by survivors of the “zero tolerance” policy. The study finds that forcibly separating parents and children, especially when compounded with pre-migration traumas, produced signs and symptoms of trauma that met the diagnostic criteria for at least one mental health condition such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

  • The Only Way for the U.S. to Maintain Tech Edge Over China: STEM Immigration

    U.S. global technology leadership is under serious threat. Given current trends, it is inevitable that China will overtake the United States. The most powerful—and perhaps only—lasting and asymmetric American science and technology advantage over China is the U.S. ability to attract and retain international S&T talent. But the U.S. government risks squandering that advantage through poor immigration policy.

  • DHS Strategic Framework for Addressing Climate Change

    Two weeks ago, the Biden administration released four reports, by DHS, the intelligence community, the Department of Defense, and the National Security Council, on how climate change-driven developments — among them:  worsening conflict within and between nations; increased dislocation and migration as people flee climate-fueled instability; heightened military tension and uncertainty; infrastructure destruction; worsening public health; food and water shortages; financial hazards, and more – are posing an increasingly more serious challenge to global stability and to U.S. national security.

  • Official Reject Claims of Terrorists Infiltrating U.S. From Mexico

    DHS Counterterrorism Coordinator said that fears the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan could reinvigorate terror groups like al-Qaida and Islamic State, and lead to a surge of attempted infiltrations along the southern U.S. border, have not been realized. “It is just factually inaccurate to frame the southern border as a place where we are seeing a significant number of al-Qaida or ISIS-related terrorists or foreign terrorists,” he said.