Any time a person crosses the US border, the Department of Homeland Security assigns travelers with a “risk assessment” score to divine their likelihood of any involvement with a terrorist cell or criminal activity. That score is calculated by feeding a large volume of personal information into an automated system (rather imposingly) called the “Automated [...]
The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Monday in Los Angeles that he has ended quotas on a controversial program designed to go after illegal immigrants with outstanding deportation orders. John Morton, a career prosecutor who took over as assistant secretary of Homeland Security in May, said during a meeting with reporters that he [...]
Deep in the jungles of Peru or Colombia, a kilo of cocaine can be bought for as little as $3,000. By the time it makes the 7,000-plus-kilometre journey to the streets of Vancouver, that kilo is worth as much as $30,000. It is that huge increase that fuels the greed of B.C. crime groups, who [...]
Two Border Patrol agents board a bus in upstate New York, asking everyone “What’s your nationality?” Prove you’re allowed to be here. A canine barks at a knapsack. Its owner is a legal Chinese refugee with fear in her eyes. Border Patrol agents have found her with a marijuana cigarette. Hours later, she’s still being [...]
Violence from Mexican drug cartels has spilled over into Texas, state Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw said Monday. “Yes, absolutely it has occurred; there’s no question about it,” McCraw said after a hearing before the House Committee on Border and International Affairs. McCraw answered lawmakers’ questions about Gov. Rick Perry’s request for another $135 million [...]
The U.S. government spends tens of millions of dollars each year persuading federal circuit courts to uphold orders for thousands of illegal immigrants to leave the country, but those orders have been enforced in only one-fifth of the cases, according to sources familiar with a recent Justice Department study. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a branch [...]
The State Department has notified approximately 400 passport applicants in the D.C. area of a breach in its database security that allowed a ring of thieves to obtain confidential information so they could fraudulently use credit cards stolen from the mail, officials said. The scheme, involving two major government agencies, came to light months ago [...]
“A federal immigration raid at a kosher meatpacking plant in northeast Iowa was the largest such operation in U.S. history, with nearly 400 people arrested, federal officials said Tuesday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said at least 390 people were arrested on immigration charges as part of a raid Monday morning at Agriprocessors Inc. in [...]
“A congressional panel on Monday will hear about a plan to limit the federal Homeland Security Department’s ability to speed up the process of building a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.” (Houston Chronicle)
“The government is scrapping a $20 million prototype of its highly touted “virtual fence” on the Arizona-Mexico border because the system is failing to adequately alert border patrol agents to illegal crossings, officials said.” (AP)