Homeland Security waives laws to finish fence

“The Homeland Security Department used its legal authority Tuesday to waive environmental and land management laws, so it can complete 670 miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexican border.

The waivers will allow the department to move ahead with miles of pedestrian and vehicle fence construction as well as roads and detection systems.” (USA Today)

New federal push to fire illegal immigrants

“The Bush administration unveiled a revised rule Friday threatening businesses with prosecution unless they fire employees identified in government records as possible illegal immigrants, offering a new explanation but virtually no change in content from the regulation that a San Francisco federal judge blocked in October.” (San Francisco Chronicle)

Homeland Security and State Departments Announce WHTI Land and Sea Final Rule

“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced today the final rule for the land and sea portion of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), a core 9/11 Commission recommendation.  The WHTI final rule requires travelers to present a passport or other approved secure document denoting citizenship and identity for all land and sea travel into the United States.” (DHS)

U.S. catching illegals in record numbers

The Department of Homeland Security, continuing to enforce what it calls a “strict policy of arresting, prosecuting and jailing” illegal immigrants, deported a record number of those caught on the nation’s borders last year — more than 280,000 in fiscal year 2007 compared to 186,000 a year earlier.

It was the largest number of illegals ever removed from the country in a single year.” (Washington Times)

U.S. catching illegals in record numbers

“The Department of Homeland Security, continuing to enforce what it calls a “strict policy of arresting, prosecuting and jailing” illegal immigrants, deported a record number of those caught on the nation’s borders last year — more than 280,000 in fiscal year 2007 compared to 186,000 a year earlier.” (Washington Times)

Arizona city seeks moat to secure Mexico border

“Most plans to gain control of the porous U.S.-Mexico border focus on some combination of fence. But this city in far west Arizona is looking to build a moat.Faced with high-levels of crime and illegal immigration, authorities in Yuma are reaching back to a technique as old as a medieval castle to dig out a “security channel” on a crime-ridden stretch of the border and fill it with water.” (Reuters)

Coast Guard tests fingerprinting at borders

“The Coast Guard is using a new weapon to fight illegal immigration: electronic fingerprinting.

A test program in which Coast Guard sailors take digital fingerprints from people picked up on boats headed to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic has led to more than 100 prosecutions in the past year.” (USA Today)

Chertoff celebrates DHS anniversary with defense of virtual fence

“Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff Wednesday strongly defended border security projects undertaken by his department, asserting that virtual fencing in Arizona is working and that border-control efforts are not being delayed by three years.” (GovExec)

U.S. border “virtual fence” to be delayed

“Technical problems have forced the Bush administration to retool a high-tech “virtual fence” along the U.S.-Mexico border and will delay the first phase for at least three years, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.” (Reuters)

Attacks against border agents on record pace

“Violence against government agents working along the U.S.-Mexican border is escalating in response to government efforts to crack down on illegal drug and human smuggling rings, Homeland Security officials say.

Since 2004, the number of assaults has more than doubled, from 384 that year to 987 in fiscal 2007. And this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, is set to significantly outpace the last one: 409 to 275.” (USA Today)

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