100 Percent Air Cargo Screening Continues to Infect Homeland Security
On July 31, Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, along with several other majority members of committee, sent a letter to Kip Hawley, head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), expressing discontent over the agency’s interpretation of the air cargo screening [...]

The Terror Finance Blog: Searching Laptops at the Border: a Misdirected Controversy
The fact is that the internet has made it eminently possible for virtually anyone to transfer information directly from computer to computer without needing to transport an actual electronic device anywhere. The availability of myriad means to do so, from Google Documents, [...]

An Update on ICE’s “deport-yourself” program… | “IMMIGRATION LAW CONNECTION” | — A blog on all things related to U.S. Immigration Law by Steven A. Culbreath, Esq.
Reflecting further on this, one wonders why any of the estimated half-million aliens who could potentially ‘benefit’ from this and would want to do this, — other than for [...]

Immigration Watchdog » Just 6 Sign Up for Leaving Voluntarily — Bravo…
Just six illegal immigrants volunteered to leave the United States in the first week of a pilot program inviting nearly a half-million people to self-deport, federal officials said.

FEDagent - Federal Law Enforcement & Homeland Security News
Border Patrol agents will no longer be permitted to conduct warrantless searches of laptop computers and other devices at the U.S. border, if a recently-introduced bill becomes law. The legislation - H.R. 6588 - was introduced by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California) on July 23rd.

Mexican Army Crosses Border, Accosts B.P. Agent - PoliceLink
A U.S. Border Patrol agent was held at gunpoint Sunday night by members of the Mexican military who had crossed the border into Arizona, but the soldiers returned to Mexico without incident when backup agents responded to assist.

Schneier on Security: UK Electronic Passport Cloned
The headline says it all: “‘Fakeproof’ e-passport is cloned in minutes.”

Leadership Journal: Answering Questions on Border Laptop Searches
We’ve received several comments from readers regarding my recent post about laptop searches at the border. I’d like to take a few minutes to try to answer some of your questions and set straight some misinformation that is circulating with regard to this long-standing policy.

A week after dressing down TSA for suggesting that Congress did not really mean for all air cargo to be scanned, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson followed up with a letter to DHS accusing it of trying to undermine congressional intent to fully scan 100 percent of all cargo — both air and maritime.

Both the fourth circuit and the ninth circuit courts have ruled that Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) searches of laptops and other electronics are legal; however, people are still proclaiming their protests. A recent USA Today op-ed accused the CBP practice to be “without focus” and “arbitrar[y].” Constitutional objections have also been invoked, claiming the searches to be in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Immigration Watchdog » Mexico Will No Longer Jail Illegal Immigrants
Mexico will no longer jail illegal immigrants detained within its borders.
A measure that takes effect Tuesday eliminates jail times for illegal immigrants caught in Mexico. Most are crossing the country from Central America en route to the U.S.

A terrorist operative hoping to use the flow of international commerce against us found his job all the more difficult because of the security programs which Admiral Peterman oversaw and directed.

5th Circuit Court of Appeals Hears Border Wall Arguments « Nonviolent Migration
Today three judges from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on the rights of Baldomero and Hilaria Muñiz, and Pamela Rivas. Both families live in Los Ebanos and are refusing DHS access to survey their properties prior to building a [...]

Leadership Journal: CBP Laptop Searches
During border inspections of laptops, CBP officers have found violent jihadist material, information about cyanide and nuclear material, video clips of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), pictures of high-level Al-Qaeda officials, and other material associated with people seeking to do harm to our country.

Counterterrorism Blog: More Evidence of the Criminal-Terrorist Nexus
Those who are skeptical of the growing ties between drug trafficking organizations and terrorist groups-which I think will be the real war we will be fighting for many years, given the resources obtainable by drug trafficking organizations-should read the latest UN Office of Drugs and Crime report.

The most glaring problem with the “100 percent” model is that it goes against the globally accepted consensus that a risk-analysis and layered approach is a far more comprehensive and effective security model than the concept of “100 percent scanning.”

Fellow Security Debrief blogger David Olive wrote recently about the conflicting messages and mandates that flow from the 86 conflicting and contending homeland security committees in Congress. The latest example of this Hamlet-like system of self-contradiction comes from the House Appropriations Committee, which complains that US Immigration and Enforcement spends too much time on … well, immigration enforcement.

FEDagent - Federal Law Enforcement & Homeland Security News
Julie L. Myers, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Juan Jose Bravo Moises, Director for Mexico Customs, announced a major effort Monday to identify and disrupt trans-border weapons smuggling networks between the two countries’ borders

ImmigrationProf Blog: GAO on Border Security
The U.S. General Accountability Office has issued a report on border security, which RA boogged about earlier today, which cautions that: “The potential elimination or suspension of the Visa Waiver Program could cause dramatic increases in the demand for nonimmigrant visas that could overwhelm visa operations in the near term. [...]

The DHS announcement today awarding REAL ID grants seems to be a positive step in meeting the recommendation of the 9-11 Commission to make identification documents more secure. With the adoption of a “verification hub” approach, where states work with other states to verify identities, DHS is letting the folks who issue driver licenses control their own processes – previously a source of irritation for many Governors.