• IMMIGRATIONWhat Biden Can Do After Another Failed Border Deal

    By David J. Bier

    It’s no surprise that before any actual text of the bipartisan immigration bill became public, Trump and his Republican allies in the Senate said they would oppose the bill. Republican senators and the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board say that Trump believes an immigration deal would help Biden win re‐election. To get the politics right, Biden must get the policy right first. He should bet on policy, not politics, to neuter the apocalyptic border rhetoric. Allowing more immigrants to arrive legally will curb the chaos at the order – and it is the only chance to break out of a decade of failed immigration deals.

  • IMMIGRATIONTwo More Texas Counties Declare Invasion, Bringing Total to 55

    By Bethany Blankley, The Center Square

    Two more Texas counties declared an invasion at the southern border, bringing the total to 55.County judge: ‘I’m tired of’ fentanyl poisonings occurring on weekly basis.

  • IMMIGRATIONBiden Defends Immigration Policy During State of the Union, Blaming Republicans in Congress for Refusing to Act

    By Jean Lantz Reisz

    The U.S. passed a law in 1952 that gives any person arriving at the border or inside the U.S. the right to apply for asylum and the right to legally stay in the country, even if that person crossed the border illegally. That law has not changed. Trump was able to lawfully deport migrants at the border without processing their asylum claims during the COVID-19 pandemic under a public health law called Title 42. Biden continued that policy until a 2023 court ruling that Title 42 could no longer be used since the public health emergency had ended. Biden is now considering using section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to get more control over immigration. This sweeping law allows the president to temporarily suspend or restrict the entry of all foreigners if their arrival is detrimental to the U.S.

  • IMMIGRATIONBorder Patrol: 70 Percent Drop in Successful Evasions Since Title 42 Ended

    By David J. Bier

    The United States has a legitimate interest in regulating the entry of serious criminals and other threats to Americans, and border security is a significant component of that effort. Ending Title 42 improved border security and reduced successful illegal entries. This should force the many members of Congress and the administration who opposed ending Title 42 to rethink their position.

  • DHSDHS Secretary Mayorkas Impeached by House

    The House, by a one-vote margin, on Tuesday voted to impeach DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. In a 214-to-213 vote mostly along party lines, the House impeached Mayorkas for willfully refusing to enforce border laws and breaching the public trust. Mayorkas is the first sitting cabinet secretary in U.S. history to be impeached.

  • DISASTER RESILIENCEBolstering Disaster Resilience

    NIST and NSF have awarded nearly $7.1 million in grants to fund research that will improve the ability of buildings, infrastructure and communities to withstand severe natural hazards.

  • DISASTERSExtreme Weather Cost $80 Billion in 2023. The True Price Is Far Higher.

    By Jake Bittle

    The U.S. saw 25 billion-dollar weather disasters in 2023 — more than ever before. 2024 could be worse. Congress has long punted on reforming FEMA and the nation’s disaster relief policy, but it’s only a matter of time before there’s a disaster bad enough that legislators feel pressure to act. That catastrophe didn’t arrive in in 2023, but it is surely coming.

  • DHSSandia Marks 20-year Partnership with DHS

    In response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Department of Homeland Security was created and began operations in 2003. Sandia has been involved with the homeland security mission from the department’s inception.

  • CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTUREProtecting Critical Infrastructure During Uncertain Times

    By Dimitri Kusnezov

    Throughout November, the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) will commemorate Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month. The timing of this year’s monthlong spotlight on our nation’s critical infrastructure is especially significant. Between ongoing severe weather events affecting the nation (and our neighbors to the south), a resurgence of COVID-19, the looming threat of a government shutdown, and more, now is the time to turn research into action. 

  • DISASTER RESPONSEHow Big Institutions Stymie Disaster Response, and What to Do About It

    By Christopher D. Shea

    Large institutions like government, the private sector, non-profits, and academia, are unprepared for disasters—both natural and human-created—because their incentives are not well-aligned.

  • SUPPLY-CHAIN SECURITYDARPA Selects Teams to Boost Supply-and-Demand Network Resiliency

    DARPA selected teams to develop new tools and analytics capable of helping the Department of Defense and its commercial partners improve systemic resilience in various supply-and-demand networks. Resilient Supply-and-Demand Network performers will create a general-purpose toolkit to improve systemic resilience in modern supply chains.

  • ARGUMENT: DHS & AUTOMATED SYSTEMSDHS Must Evaluate and Overhaul its Flawed Automated Systems

    DHS is likely the single largest collector and consumer in the U.S. government of detailed, often intimate, information about Americans and foreigners alike. Rachel Levinson-Waldman and José Guillermo Gutiérrez write that “these systems and the data that powers them operate behind a veil of secrecy, with little meaningful documentation about how they work, and are too often deployed in discriminatory ways that violate Americans’ constitutional rights and civil liberties.”

  • DISASTERSNew Tool Helps Communities Plan for and Mitigate Disasters

    When hurricanes make landfall, coastal communities are especially vulnerable to storm surges, high winds, and freshwater flooding. Residents can be left without clean water, food, shelter, electricity, and access to medical care for days.  Communities need proper tools to adequately prepare for these storms, especially as climate change worsens the impact of these extreme weather events. The Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard (PIRS), recently launched by S&T’s Coastal Resilience Center, helps local governments plan for hurricane season—and beyond.

  • ARGUMENT: CRITICAL MINERALSThe U.S. Government Should Stockpile More Critical Minerals

    The 2022 National Defense Strategy describes China as America’s “most consequential strategic competitor for the coming decades.” Yet, Gregory Wischer and Jack Little write, the United States is unprepared to fight a major war against the Chinese. “A longer, more intense U.S.-Chinese conflict over Taiwan would expose even deeper cracks in the defense industrial base and undermine the U.S. military’s ability to defeat the Chinese military: The United States lacks sufficient stocks of critical minerals to support the defense industrial base, from nickel in superalloys for jet engines to rare earth elements in magnets for guided munitions,” they write.

  • POWER GRIDDOE Invests $39 Million to Support a 21st Century Electric Grid

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $39 million for projects across DOE’s National Laboratories to help modernize the electricity grid. The investments will support the development and deployment of concepts, tools, and technologies needed to measure, analyze, predict, protect, and control the grid of the future while incorporating equity and the best available climate science.