“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)

“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)

“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)

“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 [...]

“The Bush administration said Friday it planned to raise fines significantly for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, part of a broader effort that includes improved border security after Congress failed to pass immigration-related legislation in 2007.” (Houston Chronicle)

“A 28-mile “virtual fence” that will use radars and surveillance cameras to try to catch people entering the country illegally has gotten final government approval.” (MSNBC)

“Border residents complained to a House panel Thursday that the Homeland Security Department has been unwilling to listen to them as it builds a security fence along the U.S-Mexico border. The complaints stem from the federal government’s effort to build 700 miles of fence along the southern border, required by a 2006 law signed by [...]

“The Homeland Security Department announced today that more than 52,000 employers have voluntarily adopted Citizenship and Immigration Services’ E-Verify employment eligibility system. About 1,000 new employers have joined the program each week since last October, CIS said in a press announcement. The online E-Verify system allows employers to verify the employment eligibility of newly hired [...]

“In a major policy shift aimed at reducing a ballooning immigration backlog, the Department of Homeland Security is preparing to grant permanent residency to tens of thousands of applicants before the FBI completes a required background check. Those eligible are immigrants whose fingerprints have cleared the FBI database of criminal convictions and arrests, but whose [...]

“Federal officials said on Friday they will raise a stretch of Rio Grande river levees in Texas instead of building a small section of the controversial U.S.-Mexico border wall across the property of reluctant landowners. The compromise only applies to about 22 miles (35 km) along the border in Hidalgo County, a small section of [...]