• DHS gives itself 30 days to decide SBInet fate

    DHS has given Boeing a temporary 30-day extension on the troubled SBInet border virtual fence contract; DHS has spent $1.1 billion over three years on the ambitious project, without much to show for it; “one insider says: the question is whether to carry on with a Cadillac version of the network—- or to exchange it for a Chevy model that gets the job done faster”

  • Tunnels, boats used to defeat stronger border security

    As border fences along the U.S.-Mexico border get stronger, smugglers are attempting to dodge increased security by tunneling and sailing their way into the United States; tunneling activity has increased 65 percent in the past two years, and a multi-agency team has already made 786 sea smuggling arrests, up from just 400 last year

  • Illegal immigration into U.S. continues to decline

    The Border Patrol made about 463,000 arrests during the federal government’s fiscal year that ended 30 September, down from 556,032 the previous twelve months; this marks the fifth straight year of declines; the Border Patrol arrests are down 72 percent from nearly 1.7 million arrested in 2000; the agency typically makes about 97 percent of its arrests along the 1,952-mile border with Mexico

  • GAO faults DHS, Boeing for SBInet problems

    GAO says that DHS failed adequately to oversee Boeing Co.’s work on SBInet — a troubled high-tech border security system; GAO said that DHS had not properly monitored Boeing’s progress in meeting deadlines and that some “essential controls” had never been implemented

  • Kiwi immigration authorities testing facial recognition system

    New Zealand’s immigration authorities are testing facial recognition system from Daon to verify the identity of people coming through New Zealand customs; a decision about whether or not to adopt the system will be taken after a 12-month trial period

  • Mexican cartels' assassins operate in Arizona

    Drug smuggling gangs in Mexico have sent well-armed assassins, or sicarios, into Arizona to locate and kill bandits who are ambushing and stealing loads of cocaine, marijuana, and heroin headed to buyers in the United States; the drug cartels have posted scouts on the high points in the mountains and in the hills surrounding the Vekol Valley smuggling corridor; says the country sheriff: “They have radios, they have optics, they have night-vision goggles as good as anything law enforcement has—- This is going on here in Arizona. This is 70 to 80 miles from the border — 30 miles from the fifth-largest city in the United States”

  • FY2010 sees record alien removal from U.S.

    In fiscal year 2010 DHS set a record for overall removals of illegal aliens, with more than 392,000 removals nationwide; half of those removed — more than 195,000 — were convicted criminals; the fiscal year 2010 statistics represent increases of more than 23,000 removals overall and 81,000 criminal removals compared to fiscal year 2008 — a more than 70 percent increase in removal of criminal aliens from the Bush administration

  • Final phase of TSA's Secure Flight program taking effect

    As of 1 November, all domestic airlines will collect passengers’ names, dates of birth, and gender of passengers at the time of booking a flight; international carriers will do the same by the end of the year; passengers who do not enter all information at least seventy-two hours prior to departure will not be able to print out boarding passes

  • Mexican mayors: Returning criminal Mexicans to border towns increases violence

    A coalition of Mexican mayors say the United States is contributing to the increase in violence in Mexican border towns by busing repatriated Mexicans who committed crimes in the United States to these border towns — where they join the ranks of the drug cartels — rather than drive or fly them back to their home towns

  • Italian airport security drop body scanners

    After a six-month test, Italy is giving up full-body scanners for security checks in airports; officials said it takes longer to check a person by scanner — about thirty seconds — than by hand, and privacy measures reduced the scanners’ effectiveness

  • Feds arrest Arizona buyers of guns for drug cartels

    Mexico’s violent drug war — which, in the last four years, has claimed nearly 30,000 dead — is fought with American guns; in a sweeping operation aimed at uncovering “straw buyers” blamed for funneling high-powered guns to Mexican drug cartels, federal agents have arrested dozens of Arizonans and seized a large amount of weapons

  • DHS looking for systems to detect drug smugglers' ultralights

    Mexican drug cartels have been using ultralights — slow-moving, low-flying aircraft, not much more than a hang glider equipped with an engine — to smuggle drugs into the United States; DHS wants to buy off-the-shelf systems to track these hard-to-detect craft

  • GAO: $4 billion border radiation detectors program a bust

    The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported Wednesday that the $4 billion program to install radiation detectors at U.S. border crossings yielded few tangible results; the detection machines were too big for border inspection lanes, and the software for the Cargo Advanced Automated Radiography Systems also was not up to the task; DHS: “We are mindful of getting something delivered that has a credible basis for the implementation plan that follows”

  • New report: UAVs for Border Security -- market & technologies outlook 2010-15

    The use of UAVs in border security missions around the world is expanding rapidly from very little activity today; this expansion will create new markets and new business opportunities, particularly for integrated capabilities guided by an operating concept and turn-key packages that include equipment, training, operations, and maintenance

  • DHS testing iris scan technology at border crossings

    DHS is beginning a 2-week trial of iris scanning technology at a Border Patrol station in McAllen, Texas, where they will be used on illegal immigrants; a new generation of cameras that capture images from six feet away instead of a few inches; DHS will test cameras that take photos from 3 or 4 feet away, including one that works on people as they walk by; the ACLU is raising objections, saying the cameras could be used covertly