Borders/Immig

U.S. saw record number of visitors in 2008
Dire predictions about how enhanced security at U.S. port of entry notwithstanding, 2008 saw a record 50.5 million foreign visitors come to the United States
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CBP unveils plan to modernize U.S. land ports of entry
Funds from the stimulus package — $720 million to be exact — will be directed toward address infrastructure needs at ports of entry
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U.K. border security agency to exchange fingerprints with U.S. and others
U.K. Border Agency (UKBA) said that by December 2008 it had enrolled more than 3.6 million sets of fingerprints from visa applicants, finding more than 5,200 cases of identity swaps; the agency now wants to exchange fingerprint information with the United States, Canada, and Australia
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Manchester airport recalibrate facial recognition machines to shorten lines
Five facial recognition machines at Manchester airport produced many false negatives, causing long lines of irate passengers; to shorten lines, the machines’ sensitivity was recalibrated from 80 percent to 30 percent; experts say the machines are now useless: tests show that at 30 percent, the machines cannot distinguish between Gordon Brown and Mel Gibson — or between Osama bin Laden and actress Winona Ryder
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Rapiscan wins U.K. contract for its mobile cargo scanner
The company says the Eagle Mobile 4500 can scan shipping containers and trucks in less than twenty minutes while also being capable of penetrating dense cargo at increased inspection rates without impeding the flow of commerce; Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs wants several of these scanners deployed at U.K. ports of entry
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Less bureaucracy at the border reduces poverty
The need for more security at the borders, together with typical behavior of large bureaucracies, reduce the positive effects of cross-border commerce
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U.S. installs more cameras on Canada border
The federal government has focused security efforts on the U.S.-Mexican border, but DHS says “the terrorist threat on the northern border is higher”; in response, DHS will add 64 cameras to the 20 cameras already installed (note: the U.S.-Canada border is 4,000-mile long)
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Lawmakers to add $550 million to Mexico border security
The two leaders of the Senate homeland Security Committee introduce legislation to channel another $550 million for more federal agents, investigators, and technological improvements
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GAO: TSA lax on U.S. security of commercial trucking, buses
Billions of dollars have been invested in improving air travel security; critics charge that ground transportation security has been treated as an after thought; there are more than a million U.S. companies which help transport 65 percent of the daily freight across the United States; busing companies carry 775 million passengers a year, more than the airline industry; GAO says both trucks and buses operate virtually free of security restrictions
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DHS to focus on employers in new immigration emphasis
The new policy will aim enforcement efforts at those who hire illegal workers; DHS says immigration raids will continue
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U.S. intelligence chief: Mexico not on brink of collapse
There is a debate among different U.S. intelligent services about how close to a collapse Mexico is; Dennis Blair, director of national intelligence, says the drug cartels’ escalating violence is a product of their weakening state not their strength
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Tiny sensors form robust intruder detection system
Tel Aviv University researcher develops tiny sensors — each the size of dew drop; the sensors can be programmed to monitor sounds, metals, temperature changes, carbon monoxide emissions, vibrations, or light
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Napolitano unveils new border security initiatives
With the increasing lawlessness and violence in Mexico spilling into the United States, DHS launches new security initiative along the U.S.-Mexico border — and inside Mexico
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U.S. to poison plants along U.S.-Mexico border
During the Vietnam War the United States used Agent Orange to defoliate jungle trees in order to deny the Viet Cong the ability to hide below the jungle’s canopy; the Border Patrol has similar ideas about plants along the U.S.-Mexico border
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Administration urged to end exclusion of foreign scholars
A coalition of academic groups says the federal government’s practice of denying visas to foreign scholars critical of U.S. foreign policy harms the national interest
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