• CBP overtime costs soar, agency seeks solutions

    Over the past six years U.S. Border Patrol agents have accrued more and more overtime pay at the same time that the number of arrests for illegal crossers has fallen to record lows; the cost of overtime has rocketed from roughly $156 million in 2006 to more than $331 million in 2011, with DHS spending more than $1.4 billion total during that time period

  • CBP considers relocating agents to stop corruption

    With the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) struggling to prevent corruption within its ranks, the Obama administration is considering rotating border agents to other locations to separate them from the powerful Mexican drug cartels and their bribes

  • Invaders wreak havoc on U.S. ecosystems

    In the decade since the 9/11 attacks, DHS’ focus on combatting terrorism has left some of its core agencies ill-equipped to perform its other missions, namely the Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) ability to prevent invasive plants and insects from entering the United States and wreaking havoc on crops

  • Mexico , the next private contracting boom?

    As military spending winds down in Iraq and Afghanistan, security contractors eying lucrative opportunities are looking towards Mexico, but strict gun laws and a turbulent environment greatly complicate things

  • Clearing trash along borders becomes increasingly dangerous

    Cleaning up the trash left behind by illegal border crossers is becoming increasingly more difficult and dangerous as immigrants move towards more remote areas

  • Battling smugglers along Canadian border

    To help stem the flow of drugs across the porous northern border, federal authorities are working closely with tribal law enforcement agencies on Native American lands near Canada, providing equipment and training

  • U.S. Chamber of Commerce: ease immigration laws to stimulate economy

    According to a recent report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, easing immigration policies will stimulate economic growth by encouraging more entrepreneurs from abroad to work in the United States

  • Texas pushes undocumented college students to become legal

    Texas lawmakers recently amended a law to encourage undocumented immigrants, who have been allowed to attend college and pay in-state tuition rates, to seek legal immigration status

  • Lockheed delivers fourth upgraded P-3 to CBP

    On Wednesday Lockheed Martin delivered a fourth upgraded P-3 Orion aircraft to U.S. Customs and Border Protection

  • Was/is border National Guard really worth it?

    Since 2006, National Guard troops have been deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border under the assumption that they would help bolster security; with little training, Congressional oversight, or analysis, it is difficult to say how effective the National Guard Troops were; $1.35 billion later, was it really worth it?; as Congress authorizes another $60 million to keep troops stationed along the border, we must ask once more, was it really worth it?

  • Administration loosens visa requirements, expands VWP

    President Obama, during a visit to Disneyland, announced that the administration was working on expanding the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), and waiving the consular interview requirement for people renewing U.S. visas; critics of the administration’s immigration policy are upset.

  • DHS: more than 1,600 deportation cases should be closed

    As part of the Obama administration’s ongoing efforts to shift its immigration policy to deporting dangerous illegal immigrants, last week DHS officials recommended canceling deportation proceedings against more than 1,600 illegal immigrants in Denver and Baltimore who were not deemed a threat

  • Every day, every minute CBP serves

    In the first column in an ongoing series featuring contributors from the North American Center for Transborder Studies (NACTS) at Arizona State University, Rick Van Schoik, the center’s director, provides an overview of U.S. Custom and Border Protection’s broad mission as well as the key challenges the agency faces in securing the nation’s borders

  • Cross-border security application integrates data from diverse sources

    An application unites data from local, regional, and federal public safety agencies in a common operating picture; the data is integrated with feeds available from Web sources (weather, road and air traffic, nautical conditions), and displays the data on an interactive map and timeline

  • ICE union slows Obama’s deportation policy shift

    An internal disagreement within DHS is hampering the implementation of President Obama’s new immigration strategy which focuses primarily on deporting immigrants convicted of violent crimes