Borders/Immig

Sector Report for Thursday, 10 November 2011: Border / Immigration control
This report contains the following stories.
* Sixteen nations challenge South Carolina immigration law

* Futuristic border gate system opens in El Paso

* The IEEE 2011 conference looks at border security technologies

* Also noted
Plus 1 additional story.
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One answer to the National Drug Threat Assessment Report: It’s the human component, stupid // by Lee Maril
The recent Department of Justice study of the impacts of illegal drugs upon our country, the National Drug Threat Assessment 2011 (NDTA2011), outlines significant challenges facing Customs and Border Patrol (CBP); a first step to directly addressing the NDTA2011 is to refrain from sending out a new batch of RFPs (request for proposal) to the usual defense contractors
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Sixteen nations challenge South Carolina immigration law
Sixteen nations are challenging a controversial new South Carolina immigration law; Mexico, Honduras, and Chile as well as thirteen other countries from Latin America and the Caribbean have asked to join the U.S. Justice Department’s lawsuit against the South Carolina law aimed at curbing undocumented immigrants
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Futuristic border gate system opens in El Paso
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency has opened the first pedestrian border crossing in El Paso, Texas, that deploys a combination of gate systems, mobile handheld devices, and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology more efficiently to identify and process pedestrians crossing the border into the United States
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The IEEE 2011 conference looks at border security technologies
The 2011 IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Homeland Security, to be held 15-17 November in Waltham, Massachusetts, will examine the latest in border security technology and solutions
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Local police not required to detain illegals for ICE
Internal DHS documents reveal local law enforcement agencies are not required to hold undocumented immigrants when requested by the federal government; a coalition of groups against the controversial Secure Communities program obtained a total of three documents under a Freedom of Information request that clarified the policy of detainers for local law enforcement agencies
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Mexican senators to discuss immigration law with Georgia lawmakers
In an effort to curtail the passage of harsh state immigration laws, a group of Mexican senators announced on Tuesday their plans to meet with lawmakers from several states including Georgia, Alabama, and Arizona; the senators hope to convince state lawmakers that illegal immigrants are generally law-abiding individuals who contribute to the U.S. economy
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Sector Report for Thursday, 3 November 2011: Border / Immigration control
This report contains the following stories.
* House subpoenas DHS for immigration data

* CBP to open new border crossing point in Texas

* Five people rescued from sewage-filled cross-border tunnel
Plus 1 additional story.
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House subpoenas DHS for immigration data
On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement voted to issue a subpoena for DHS documents regarding information on possible illegal aliens that the agency has declined to deport after local law enforcement reported they had been taken into custody
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CBP to open new border crossing point in Texas
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) hopes to open a new border crossing point in a remote portion of Texas by next year; the agency hopes to create a border checkpoint in Boquillas, Texas in Big Bend National Park. The crossing point would be designated as a Class B port of entry — the first of its kind in the entire history of the agency
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Five people rescued from sewage-filled cross-border tunnel
Border Patrol agents and firefighters rescue five people trapped in a sewage-filled trans-border tunnel near Chula Vista, California
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Border fence proposal draws sharp criticism in Idaho
A recently proposed plan to build fences along a 4,000-mile stretch of the U.S.-Canada border has caused quite a stir among residents of Idaho; last month U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials held a meeting in Naples, Idaho to discuss several strategies for border enforcement and open its proposals for public comment
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Debating immigration: Alabama's new law, Obama's strategy
In the first of a new ongoing Point-Counterpoint Debate series, Homeland Security NewsWire’s executive editor Eugene K. Chow interviewed Mary Giovagnoli, the director of the Immigration Policy Center at the American Immigration Council, and Ira Mehlman, the media director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform; the two weighed in on President Obama’s current immigration strategy, the effect of Alabama’s tough new immigration law, and what lawmakers can do to curb illegal immigration
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Border security market booming
The border security market will reach a value of $17 billion in 2011, as governments around the world continue to invest in a range of border security products
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Lawmakers seek to block weapons, cash heading to Mexico
DHS could soon be doubling the amount of resources it devotes to inspecting southbound shipments at U.S.— Mexico border crossings
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