Morning Security Brief: U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Intel and Mexican Drug War, Surveillance Camera Subsidy, E-Verify, Fusion Centers

♦ The White House's nominee to take over the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has outlined budget cuts that would reduce its counterterrorism responsibilities, according to the USA Today. Vice Admiral Robert J. Papp Jr. says that he "wants to eliminate teams that are trained to respond to and prevent terror attacks," because other agencies now fill that role better than the USCG. 

♦ U.S. intelligence agents will help Mexican security forces combat narcotrafficking organizations as the violence along the Mexican-American border continues, reports The Dallas Morning News. The news has prompted widespread anger throughout Mexican media, which worries that an increased American presence will erode the country's sovereignty.

♦ The Boston City Council may help mom-and-pop grocery stores purchase surveillance cameras after the murder of an elderly store clerk last week, reports The Boston Globe. Already Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has given such family shops free in-store security consulting.

♦ The research company Westat finds that the Department of Homeland Security's  E-Verify program is failing to stop illegal immigrants from working inside the United States, reports FoxNews.com. According to the company, the online verification tool wrongly clears 54 percent of illegal workers. Only a small fraction of the nation's 7 to 8 million employers currently use E-Verify.

♦ The Detroit Free Press looks into the Michigan Intelligence Operations Center for Homeland Security, which it calls "one of the state's best kept secrets." One of 72 state-based intelligence fusion centers, the paper reports Michigan's center operates without oversight or adequate guidelines in its mission to stop crime and terrorism.