Site Map - Border Security

04/30/2008 - A bill (H.R. 3916) introduced by Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) that would encourage the development of new border security technology has been approved by the  House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation. Under the bill, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would be required to spell out the requirements, expected use, and operational concept of any new border or maritime security technology.

04/23/2008 - The government is taking down 28 miles of prototype “virtual” fence on the U.S.-Mexico border amid technological problems. Officials say it’s an upgrade, not abandonment.

02/28/2008 - Technical problems discovered in the virtual fencing system's prototype have led DHS officials to push back its deployment date to 2011.

02/01/2008 - The additional funding will increase the number of fences, border agents, and illegal immigration raids on workplaces.

01/29/2008 - 958 The number of investigations into human trafficking carried out by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the last three fiscal years. These investigations have resulted in 281 convictions and the seizure of $9 million in assets.

01/29/2008 - In response, senators from northern U.S. states have implored DHS to maintain oral border declarations until June 2009.

01/25/2008 - Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans a major database that will draw from more than nine federal sources to close information-sharing gaps.

01/23/2008 - His comments were provoked by the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent in California over the weekend.

01/18/2008 - DHS chief Chertoff tells critics to grow up.

01/10/2008 - The U.S. government is pursuing court orders to make landowners on the U.S.-Mexico border allow the government to assess their land for the construction of the border fence.

01/04/2008 - The House Committee on Homeland Security visited the El Paso-Juarez border to discuss security and cross-border travel.

12/17/2007 - 75The number of fugitive-operation teams now in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office, up from 15 in 2005. The increase has helped ICE catch 35,000 fugitive aliens.

12/17/2007 - The status of border security initiatives is reviewed in a new GAO report. The paper examines the ease with which radioactive materials might be smuggled into the United States.