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DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner says the CBP is using contractors to do what should be inherently governmental work; “With continued heavy reliance on contractor support services, CBP risks losing control of program decisions while remaining accountable for mission results”
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The integration of several technologies — remote sensing, motion activated imaging sensors, below ground sensors, and thermal cameras — when coupled with policy coordination, offer the best means to enhance the security of U.S.-Canada border
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Canada and the United States are the world’s two biggest trading partners — with $596 billion in trade in 2008; new report says that tight U.S.-Canada border rules are bad for business
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IBM signs a £265 million contract with the U.K. Border Agency’s (UKBA) to provide UKBA with fingerprinting capabilities and run the database that will store the facial images and fingerprints needed to keep the passport in line with international standards
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Israel withdrew from south Lebanon in May 2000 to a border — called the Blue Line — demarcated by the UN; problem is, Israel erected a security fence along the border, and in several places that fence is to the south of the Blue Line; the question: Do Israeli cows grazing north of the fence but south of the Blue Line violate Lebanon’s sovereignty?
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Senate DHS budget version highlights difference with House over immigration; among other things, the Senate bill would require the Obama administration to complete 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the Mexican border by the end of 2010 — disallowing using only virtual fencing and vehicle barriers for border protection
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The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has deployed another UAV to the New York-Canada border; the New York deployment is part of a multi-agency effort called Operation Empire Shield
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The Obama administration said it would support a George Bush administration regulation that would only award federal contracts to employers who use E-Verify to check employee work authorization
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CBP Air and Marine currently operates a fleet of specialized, high-speed interceptor vessels that are approaching the end of their service life; the agency is testing a new interceptor in order to determine CBP’s next-generation fleet
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Tunnel detection
DHS researchers place radar antennas in a trailer which is towed by a Border Patrol truck; the antennas shoot a signal directly into the ground and use it to construct a multi-colored picture of the earth; tunnels show up as red, yellow, and aquamarine dots against a blue background
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Clear went out of business Friday; company may sell customer data to a TSA-approved provider
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has adopted a new addition to help the agency watch over the northern border in upstate New York: a Predator B UAV
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Southern command
Drug smugglers now use semi-submersibles which are 60 foot long and 12 feet wide fiberglass boats powered by a diesel engine, with a very low freeboard and a small “conning tower” providing the crew (usually of four) and engine with fresh air, and permitting the crew to navigate the boat
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Southern command
Colombian drug kingpins still use old smuggling methods to bring drugs into the United States — aircraft, hidden in ship or aircraft cargo— but small submersibles can move the most cocaine at once, with the lowest risk; U.S. Navy, Coast Guard have detected more than 120 of these subs off the coast between Mexico and Colombia
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DHS created E-Verify to allow employers to check on line the eligibility of employees to work in the United States; implementation of the system has been delayed for the fourth time; new deadline: 8 September 2009
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Southern command
Between 75 percent and 80 percent of all the cocaine moving toward the United States — on go-fast boats, fishing vessels, and narco-submarines — first goes to Mexico, where it can be broken into much smaller packages that are harder to detect
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Oakland’s city council voted to offer IDs illegal immigrants who live within the city limits; supporters of proposal say the cards will give these immigrants easier access to services, improve their civic participation, and encourage them to report crimes
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Southern command
Trying to stay ahead of U.S. drug interdiction efforts, Colombian drug traffickers are looking to build remote-controlled SPSSs to smuggle drugs risk-free from Colombia into the United States
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The Canadian federal government plans to start fingerprinting applicants for temporary residency permits
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DHS says that more than 118,000 public, private, and government employers enrolled in its E-Verify database as of 1 May; enrollment is growing, but E-Verify still is used by less than 2 percent of the nation’s more than 7.4 million employers
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The long view
CBP IA Operation Hometown reduces violence and corruption: Tomsheck shuts it down -- Pt. 5
Operation Hometown appears to be yet another example in a series of programs at Customs and Border Protection (CBP) demonstrating blatant dysfunctionality and mismanagement within the Department of Homeland Security. Meticulously designed to target border violence and corruption among CBP employees, Operation Hometown was labeled a success in reaching its stated objectives. CBP Internal Affair’s (IA) James F. Tomsheck,however, shut the program down. As Congress and President Obama debate various aspects of a new federal immigration policy,few politicians are willing to acknowledge the serious problems at CBP Internal Affairs – but they should, as these problems may directly impact the success of any or all new immigration reforms.
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.
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.”