Border Patrol

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Rev.: Give GPS to Human Smugglers

Human rights activist aims to make border crossing safer

(Newser) - Rev. Robin Hoover, a human rights activist, wants to give GPS devices to human smugglers along the dangerous Mexico-Arizona border, reports the Christian Science Monitor . “It’s like giving a life preserver to somebody that’s using a boat,” and would allow the "coyotes" to alert search...

Border Patrol Fights Boredom as Illegals Plummet

Agents struggling to stop ennui creeping in

(Newser) - Border Patrol agents hired to keep illegal immigrants out are having trouble keeping boredom and sleepiness from creeping in. Illegal border crossings have plummeted to record lows in many areas, thanks to the US recession and tougher enforcement, leaving some agents with little to do but "watch the fence...

Ariz. Sheriff: Border Patrol Told Not to Make Arrests

Border patrol commander vigorously denies rumor

(Newser) - Are US Border Patrol agents intentionally avoiding arresting illegal immigrants on orders from higher-ups? That’s the rumor being spread by Arizona sheriff Larry Denver, who tells Fox News that he heard it from a top Border Patrol official. “The senior supervisor agent is telling me about how their...

Invisible Mexican Border Fence All But Doomed

Homeland Security to decide soon on project's fate

(Newser) - If the "virtual border fence" being constructed along the Mexican border was visible, there still wouldn't be much to look at. The high-tech project has been allocated $1 billion over the last 5 years, but has produced just 53 miles of unreliable coverage along the 2,000-mile border—a...

Record Number of Illegals Found Dead in Arizona

Authorities have found 252 bodies this year

(Newser) - Authorities have found the bodies of 252 illegal immigrants in the Arizona desert this year, an all-time high—even though the number of people crossing illegally is down. That’s in part because increased border security has driven would-be crossers to ever more remote and dangerous routes, NPR explains, and...

Drug Money Gushes Across Border

Crackdown on security fails to put a dent in cartels' wallets

(Newser) - Drug cartels are shuttling money across the US/Mexico border with relative impunity, despite an unprecedented effort to crackdown on the trade. According to a Washington Post analysis, authorities manage to snag no more than 1% of the cash crossing the border. That’s still a lot of money—the US...

Border Patrol Sees Spike in Suicides

15 agents have taken their own lives since Feb. 2008

(Newser) - The agency that patrols our nations borders is grappling with a rise in suicide among its agents. After going nearly four years without a single suicide, records obtained by the AP show that at least 15 agents have killed themselves since February 2008, the Border Patrol's biggest spike in the...

Obama to Sign $600M Border Security Bill

Indian firms complain about footing the bill for beefed-up border security

(Newser) - The Senate reconvened yesterday to pass a $600 million bill aimed at bolstering border security. The bill, which President Obama will sign into law Friday, will fund the hiring of 1,000 extra Border Patrol officers and 500 immigration and customs agents and pay for more unmanned drones to patrol...

Desert Deaths Soar Among Arizona Immigrants

Heat wave, crackdown blamed for death spike

(Newser) - The Arizona morgue in Pima County is overflowing with bodies that will probably never be identified. The bodies of 57 suspected illegal immigrants found dead in the desert have been brought in so far this month, the highest number in 5 years. "We keep hoping we have seen the...

Video Undercuts Border Agent's Self-Defense Claim

Mexican teen shot at border 'had smuggling record'

(Newser) - A US Border Patrol agent's account of the fatal shooting of a teen at the Mexican border this week is contradicted by a video obtained by CNN. The video, shot by a witness on the Mexican side of the border, shows an officer aiming at a suspect 60 feet away....

Mexico Furious After US Border Guard Kills Boy, 15

Teen was throwing rocks, say Yank officials

(Newser) - Mexico has demanded the US investigate the shooting of a 15-year-old Mexico boy by Border Patrol agents under a bridge linking El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. The FBI says the boy was part of a group of suspected illegal immigrants who were throwing rocks at an agent. Witnesses and Mexican...

Critics Decry $58M San Diego Border Fence

Wall designed to block already inhospitable mountain region

(Newser) - Critics are still gnashing their teeth over the Otay Mountain border fence, a 3.6-mile barrier that’s among the most costly and, according to detractors, least necessary ever built. The recently completed $57.7-million fence stands atop an inhospitable mountain just east of San Diego, and critics doubt that...

Drug Moles Infiltrate Border Patrol

Hiring rush making it easier for cartels to corrupt agency

(Newser) - The US Border Patrol has been stepping up its efforts to recruit agents and so have the Mexican cartels. Investigators say the traffickers, faced with tightened, high-tech security along the border, are trying to corrupt border agents any way they can and to plant their own people in jobs. The...

Massive Drug Tunnel Found Under Mexico Border

Elaborate smuggling tunnel to Arizona has electricity, ventilation system

(Newser) - The US Border Patrol has uncovered one of the biggest and most sophisticated smuggling tunnels under the Mexican border it has ever seen, CNN reports. The 83-foot tunnel to Arizona from Nogales, Mexico, was still under construction when it was found after a tipoff from somebody who heard construction sounds....

Boy Scouts Train to Fight Terror, Patrol Borders

Program trains kids in terror threats, border protection

(Newser) - Think of it as Extreme Boy Scouting: the co-ed Explorers program has trained kids across the country in law enforcement techniques for decades. But lately “our emphasis is on terrorism, illegal entry, drugs, and human smuggling,” says a Border Patrol agent of the program. That means charging around...

Border Patrol Destroys Foliage With Chemicals

Killing plants will cut hiding places for immigrants, smugglers

(Newser) - In an effort to keep smugglers and illegal immigrants from hiding in heavy vegetation as they attempt to cross the Mexican border, the US Border Patrol is looking to Agent Orange for inspiration. One plan for cutting down on possible hiding places on riverbanks is to use an herbicide that...

Drug Cartels' Latest Ploy: Ultralight Planes

Ultralight aircraft are the Mexican cartels' newest tactic

(Newser) - Mexican pot smugglers have come up with a new tool in their never-ending quest to outsmart US border patrols: ultralight aircraft, USA Today reports. An ultralight is a small plane resembling a scooter with a hang glider attached, and authorities have found several crashed or in mid-flight over the border...

Bush Commutes Sentences of Former US Border Agents

Pair was convicted of shooting drug dealer

(Newser) - In his final acts of clemency, President Bush today commuted the prison sentences of two former US Border Patrol agents whose convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer ignited fierce debate about illegal immigration. Bush's decision to commute the sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who tried to cover...

Mexican Border Arrests Hit 30-Year Low

Recession, enforcement keep Mexicans at home

(Newser) - The number of people trying to sneak into the US appears to be plummeting, thanks to tougher enforcement and the beleaguered US economy, USA Today reports. Just 705,000 people were caught trying to sneak in from Mexico in fiscal 2008, the lowest total since 1976. “We're definitely making...

Work Begins on Controversial San Diego Border Fence

Critics charge $57M fence isn't worth cost or environmental damage

(Newser) - Construction crews have launched work on a controversial section of the US-Mexico border fence near San Diego, AP reports. The Smuggler's Gulch canyon will be filled with dirt and a fence built at a cost of $16 million a mile. Critics charge the fence is no longer vital and the...

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