Homeland Security News Wire

Border security technology

U.K. police learning to battle cartels in El Paso
This week law enforcement officers from the United Kingdom are in El Paso, Texas to train with DHS; the special agents from the U.K.’s Serious Organized Crime Agency are in town specifically to learn how to combat the growing threat of trafficking
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CBP considers expanding unmanned checkpoints along southern border
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials are considering introducing more unmanned checkpoints at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border
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DHS says it will scrap any virtual border fence tech if it fails
In an effort to avoid another $1 billion virtual fence fiasco, DHS officials have vowed to scrap any border fence projects early if they are deemed to be a failure
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A Monumental diversion: put money into border ports of entry
While the new 650 mile wall between Mexico and the United States draws much media and public attention, border Ports of Entry (POE) are the real problem; we might feel safer believing that the border wall has been constructed, but fundamental challenges remain that call into question the viability of our communities throughout the nation; in many ways the monumental border wall is a monumental diversion
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U.S. constructing $4.3M maritime fence to stop smugglers
To prevent drug traffickers and human smugglers from entering the United States via boat, border authorities are constructing a steel and concrete barrier 300 feet out into the Pacific Ocean just south of San Diego
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Border Patrol begins construction on outpost in remote corner of N.M.
In New Mexico’s remote Bootheel region, drug smugglers and illegal border crossers will no longer be able to slip through undetected by Border Patrol agents; U.S. Border Patrol recently announced that it was building a new outpost in one of the last unguarded regions along the southwestern border
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Mexico , the next private contracting boom?
As military spending winds down in Iraq and Afghanistan, security contractors eying lucrative opportunities are looking towards Mexico, but strict gun laws and a turbulent environment greatly complicate things
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Clearing trash along borders becomes increasingly dangerous
Cleaning up the trash left behind by illegal border crossers is becoming increasingly more difficult and dangerous as immigrants move towards more remote areas
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Lockheed delivers fourth upgraded P-3 to CBP
On Wednesday Lockheed Martin delivered a fourth upgraded P-3 Orion aircraft to U.S. Customs and Border Protection
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Was/is border National Guard really worth it?
Since 2006, National Guard troops have been deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border under the assumption that they would help bolster security; with little training, Congressional oversight, or analysis, it is difficult to say how effective the National Guard Troops were; $1.35 billion later, was it really worth it?; as Congress authorizes another $60 million to keep troops stationed along the border, we must ask once more, was it really worth it?
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Every day, every minute CBP serves
In the first column in an ongoing series featuring contributors from the North American Center for Transborder Studies (NACTS) at Arizona State University, Rick Van Schoik, the center’s director, provides an overview of U.S. Custom and Border Protection’s broad mission as well as the key challenges the agency faces in securing the nation’s borders
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CBP wasted $69 million in building border fence
A recent government report reveals that DHS wasted $69 million by buying too much steel for a border fence project
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The long view

More money, different approach offer opportunities to border security tech companies
The number of border agents has reached roughly 21,000, up from 5,000 two decades ago. In fiscal year 2012, spending for border and immigration enforcement totaled almost $18 billion — 24 percent more than the combined budgets of the FBI, the DEA, the Secret Service, the U.S. Marshals, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (total: $14.4 billion). One major trend driving the border security industry is the government’s shift from large-scale border security infrastructure projects to small unit security systems.
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Lawmakers want more attention to be paid to security along the northern border
Over the years, concerns over U.S. border security have largely focused on the southern border, where hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants have been apprehended and millions of dollars in illegal drugs have been seized by border patrol agents. One reason for the inattention to the northern border is that it is not associated with highly charged issues such as immigration, day laborers, and violent drug traffickers.Scotty Greenwood, a senior adviser to the Canadian-American Business Council, is not surprised that the southern border gets more attention than the northern border. “The political theater isn’t as intense when you’re talking about what a good job we do.”
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