Border
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel recently located and tracked a cocaine-filled go-fast style vessel in the Western Caribbean, resulting in a 8,791 pound, $114.6 million seizure.
Officials said a CBP Air and Marine Operations (AMO) P-3 Orion Long Range Tracker crew assigned to the... Read More »
Apprehensions along the U.S. Southwest border declined 20 percent in July, the second consecutive month of decreases, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan announced on Aug. 8.
The reductions are attributed mainly to an agreement with Mexico that was signed in June intended to... Read More »
Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rick Scott (R-FL) recently forwarded correspondence to President Donald Trump to certify to Congress that Colombia is committed to working with authorities to combat the illegal drug trade.
Colombia, who the senators said is one of the most proactive nations... Read More »
Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Mike Lee (R-UT) recently called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide Congress with the status of an overdue biometric identification technology report.
Under the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2018, DHS was required to... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials said El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents working a Highway 86 immigration checkpoint halted a methamphetamine smuggling attempt with a $210,220 street value.
The incident occurred when a 47-year-old woman driving a white Honda Pilot approached the... Read More »
U.S. and Guatemalan government officials said the nations are making continual progress regarding efforts to craft a regional approach to address irregular migration patterns.
Authorities said there has been collaboration on a series of initiatives designed to reduce the flow of irregular... Read More »
A legislative amendment introduced by Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Will Hurd (R-TX) has been incorporated into the Intelligence Authorization Act as a means of addressing trafficking and smuggling networks.
The amendment directs the intelligence community to prioritize efforts to combat... Read More »
After accessing the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 2019 Border Security Improvement Plan, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending CBP ensure the guideline addresses statutorily required elements.
GAO’s assessment stems from an effort to examine the extent to which the... Read More »
Citing the disabling of smuggling and trafficking as a national intelligence priority, Reps. Will Hurd (R-TX) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) introduced last week a measure to address the matters along the border.
The Trafficking and Smuggling Intelligence Act of 2019 ensures the intelligence... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized 20 tons of cocaine last month at the Port of Philadelphia and seized the vessel July 4.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued a seizure warrant for the vessel, MSC Gayane, after an application was filed by the U.S.... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials said a pair of recent Laredo enforcement operations yielded narcotics seizures worth a combined estimated street value exceeding $4.1 million.
“I congratulate our officers for their dedication which has prevented these dangerous narcotics from... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said an agency waiver would expedite construction of three miles of a new border wall system in the Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector.
The work would be located west of Roma near Fronton, in Starr County, Texas, with the waiver... Read More »
Immigration and Custom and Enforcement (ICE) Executive Associate Director Nathalie R. Asher recently offered an assessment of the agency’s January-March 2019 enforcement statistics, citing a commitment to arresting unlawfully present aliens.
“During this time period, more than 85 percent of... Read More »
House lawmakers have advanced an emergency spending package containing a provision restoring a robust Customs and Border Protection (CBP) presence along the northern border.
“Restoring hours at these ports is critical to commerce, emergency medical services, and to everyone who lives and... Read More »
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) last week seized more than 17.5 tons of cocaine with an estimated street value of $1.1 billion at the Philadelphia seaport.
Agents from the U.S. Coast Guard, CBP and HSI... Read More »
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has deployed 1,000 Texas National Guard troops to the Southwest border to support Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regarding border security.
“The crisis at our southern border is unlike anything we’ve witnessed before and has put an enormous strain on the existing... Read More »
Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) recently introduced legislation designed to strengthen the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Biometric Identification Transnational Migration Alert Program (BITMAP), which detects and deters illicit criminal entry.
BITMAP is... Read More »
Prosecutors from Colombia, Mexico, and the United States met in June to develop joint strategies and best practices to dismantle the transnational criminal organizations that threaten the three nations.
The meeting of the Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCO) Working Group in Cartagena,... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) issued an urgent funding request to Congress this week, stating that the immigration surge at the southern border threatens to deplete existing budgets.
Though the Trump Administration requested $4.5... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) took into custody more than 144,278 migrants along the southwest border in May, the highest total in 13 years.
It marked a 32 percent increase over April when 109,474 were taken into custody. This year over 530,000 have already been apprehended, and the... Read More »
Tucson Sector Border Patrol Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel said the unit is facing increased challenges in the wake of greater human smuggling and narcotics activity.
“Alien smuggling is a lucrative business,” Roy Villareal, Tucson Sector Border Patrol chief, said. “It is... Read More »
Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) introduced a measure Tuesday addressing the nation’s asylum laws, establishing reforms focusing on the Southern border crisis straining Department of Homeland Security (DHS) resources, among others.
Hurd said the Asylum Reform Act of 2019 would overhaul outdated laws... Read More »
The Reporting Offside Arrival-Mobile (ROAM) application, used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Field Operations to report small boats, has expanded its capabilities to new sites in Michigan and Minnesota.
In Michigan, the app now reaches four sites in the Sault Ste. Marie area: the... Read More »
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan signed last week a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) with the Guatemalan Ministry of Government to address factors driving irregular migration from Guatemala and combat human smuggling.
The MOC is an agreement between the Department of Homeland... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel said the newly created Border Patrol Processing Coordinator position would prove valuable in freeing agents for critical law enforcement operations.
“I am committed to providing the men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol the resources they need to... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers made three narcotics seizures last week.
The first seizure occurred May 20 at the Calexico East port of entry between Calexico, Calif., and Mexicali, Mexico.
A canine team detected 64 pounds of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of... Read More »
Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents recently joined Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel and Mexico’s Federal Police Force to thwart an illicit scouting network on the border.
The four-day operation yielded the seizure of more than 250 pounds of narcotics, assault weapons, and... Read More »
Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) recently sent a letter to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials expressing concern over a plan to divert personnel to the nation’s southern border.
The TSA plans to divert 40 air marshals to the southern border to work with... Read More »
Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) recently joined a group of House colleagues in introducing the Afghan Allies Protection Act, which officials said demonstrates support for the thousands Afghan and Iraqi allies.
Since 2002, the government has employed thousands of Afghan and Iraqi allies to serve alongside... Read More »
A group of Democratic senators recently announced the reintroduction of legislation seeking to address the root causes of the Central American migrant crisis, outlining the coordinated regional response needed to manage violence and humanitarian concerns effectively.
Senate Democratic Leader... Read More »
Senate Democrats blasted the U.S. Department of Defense for its transfer of $1.5 billion to build part of a wall on the southwest border.
“Once again, the Department of Defense has ignored decades of precedent and cooperation with the Congress in carrying out a transfer of funds without... Read More »
Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) recently joined 17 colleagues in expressing concerns over the expanding mission of active duty service members deployed to the southern border.
The group of legislators forwarded correspondence to Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently urged the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to maintain strong staffing levels at airports and ports of entry between the United States and Canada.
The request, made by members of the Congressional Northern Border Caucus, comes after the Department of... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials said agents are continuing to process and receive illegal aliens in unprecedented numbers through the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector.
“We’ve exceeded our capacity and we’re doing all we can to house migrants in a humane place and transfer them... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Doug Collins (R-GA) and Mike Rogers (R-AL) are proposing an amendment to fund the Trump Administration’s request for an additional $4.5 billion for humanitarian response and border operations.
“The crisis at our southern border demands additional resources,” Collins, ranking... Read More »
