By Stew Magnuson and Ashleigh Fugate Department of Homeland Security officials said they need 24 unmanned aerial vehicles to patrol the U.S. border, and carry out other domestic missions such as disaster relief. The problem is that the department has only been receiving funding for about one Predator per year. It has six UAVs now, [...]
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Senate approves $600 million in border security funds
Two senators — Democrats Charles Schumer of New York and Ben Cardin of Maryland — returned from their August recess Thursday to give the chamber’s approval for $600 million in emergency funding to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border. The measure, which has already been approved by the House of Representatives, now advances to President Barack [...]
Smuggling Attempt Thwarted on Calif. Coast
A collaborative effort between the Border Patrol and the Oceanside Harbor, Calif., police department prevented a maritime smuggling attempt early Friday morning as 22 foreign nationals who illegally entered the country at sea were arrested on the shore at Camp Pendleton. At about 3:30 a.m., Border Patrol agents on patrol along the coastline spotted a [...]
FAA Pressed To Allow Drone Flights in non Segregated Air Space
Unmanned aircraft have proved their usefulness and reliability in the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq. Now the pressure’s on to allow them in the skies over the United States. The Federal Aviation Administration has been asked to issue flying rights for a range of pilotless planes to carry out civilian and law-enforcement functions [...]
Border Patrol at 19,000 Feet Along Texas Border
A Predator UAV climbed into the early morning Arizona sky June 1 and headed east to conduct the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s first surveillance flight along the U.S.-Mexican border in Texas. Cruising at 19,000 feet, the Predator B’s camera fed a stream of video images to operators back at Libby Army Airfield in Sierra [...]
US to deploy drones to shore up border with Mexico
The United States plans to deploy two drone aircraft along the Texas-Mexico border as part of a new effort to stem organized crime and illegal immigration. The two Predator drones will be used to patrol the border and in nearby areas in the Gulf of Mexico, once Congress approves the 500 million dollars President Barack [...]
High-Tech X-ray Detects Illegal Exportation
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers stopped an illegal exportation of currency. CBP officers conducting southbound operations searched a vehicle utilizing a high-tech x-ray machine which led to the discovery of the illegal exportation of undeclared currency. On June 17, at approximately 12:30 p.m., CBP officers were screening travelers going into Mexico as part of [...]
Joint Maritime Enforcement Efforts Stops Smuggling Attempt
U.S. Border Patrol agents, with the assistance of Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Air and Marine and U.S. Coast Guard assets, stopped a maritime human smuggling attempt at a North County beach resulting in 20 arrests. A panga boat carrying 18 undocumented aliens and two smugglers was stopped off the coast of Southern California. [...]
Alenia Aeronautica delivers second ATR-42MP airplane to the NAF
The delivery ceremony was held at Alenia Aeronautica’s Training Centre at Turin-Caselle and was attended by Air Vice Marshal DS Dillimono (Chief Operation Officer) and Wing Commander AT Marquis (Programme Manager ATR-42MP NAF) who signed the acceptance of the aircraft in the presence of Alenia Aeronautica’s Managers. Having completed the final acceptance phases with the [...]
Border Patrol Agents Rescue 10 from El Paso Storm Drains
A potentially deadly situation was averted on March 24 after U.S. Border Patrol agents, helped rescue ten illegal migrants who were put in a perilous situation by a smuggler in an attempt to elude authorities. In the early hour’s yesterday afternoon on March 25, Border Patrol agents from the El Paso Station responded to the [...]
SBINET in troubles: funds frozen
The Department of Homeland Security is pulling in the reins on a high-priced border “virtual fence” system plagued by cost overruns and missed deadlines since its launch four years ago. Additional funding for the SBInet project will be frozen beyond two systems already going up along the U.S.-Mexico border near Sasabe and Ajo, the agency [...]
Radiation Detection Portals at Port Hueneme
U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced today the deployment of Radiation Portal Monitors at Port Hueneme to prevent terrorists from attempting to smuggle radiological materials used in nuclear and radiological dispersal devices. “This advanced technology enhances our capabilities in keeping the flow of legitimate trade critical to the U.S. economy, while protecting our country from [...]
SBINET in danger? No finish in sight for ‘virtual’ border fence
A multibillion-dollar “virtual fence” along the southwestern border promised for completion in 2009 to protect the U.S. from terrorists, violent drug smugglers and a flood of illegal immigrants is a long way from becoming a reality, with government officials unable to say when, how or whether it will ever be completed. More than three years [...]
U.S DHS Customs and Border Protection: Light Enforcement Helicopter Contract
From the Eurocopter booth at Heli-Expo, American Eurocopter announced that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has entered into the first option year on the Light Enforcement Helicopter (LEH) contract and placed an order for six AS350B3s. This is the second order on the LEH contract that was awarded to American Eurocopter by the Department of [...]
Miami Sector Border Patrol Agents Intercept Migrants After Landing by Boat in Florida U.S. Citizen Suspected of
Smuggling On Feb. 22, at approximately 7:15 a.m., Border Patrol agents from the West Palm Beach Station responded to a call from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office which reported a landing of migrants in the area of Sewall’s Point, Fla. Border Patrol agents interviewed and processed four Haitians and one Dominican. The subjects are adult [...]
SBInet program on delays
SBInet director shares frustrations and progress on delays, tests and Boeing But Mark Borkowski remains hopeful that SBInet will be a success As executive director of the Homeland Security Department’s Secure Border Initiative, Mark Borkowski is in the unenviable position of overseeing SBInet, the border protection system that is as noteworthy for technical glitches and [...]
CBP Halts Deadly Illegal Immigration Attempt at Torrey Pines Beach
One person is dead, another is in critical condition, and 14 others are in custody following a failed attempt to illegally enter the United States by boat at a San Diego beach this morning. At about 4:30 a.m., law enforcement authorities spotted a 30-foot panga in distress in the surf just off of Torrey Pines [...]
Customs and Border Protection Halts Deadly Illegal Immigration Attempt at Torrey Pines Beach
One person is dead, another is in critical condition, and 14 others are in custody following a failed attempt to illegally enter the United States by boat at a San Diego beach this morning. At about 4:30 a.m., law enforcement authorities spotted a 30-foot panga in distress in the surf just off of Torrey Pines [...]
ManTech: 98M$ to Support DHS SBI Program Office
Will Provide Systems Engineering and Technical Support to Enhance Border Security ManTech International Corporation announced that it was awarded an Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide a full range of program management support services to the nation’s Secure Border Initiative (SBI). The competitively awarded, single-award IDIQ program, which [...]
CBP and Coast Guard Team Up to Interdict 5 Migrants
Five Mexican migrants were apprehended this afternoon by Coast Guard officers and Customs and Border Protection marine interdiction agents as they tried to illegally enter the U.S. by boat. At 9:26 a.m., the Coast Guard received a report from CBP officials of suspicious activity aboard a red speedboat headed northbound into U.S. waters, about a [...]
CBP Air and Marine Agents Interdict Migrants in Florida at the Start of Memorial Day Weekend
Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine agents intercepted three undocumented migrants and two suspected smugglers at the start of the busy Memorial Day weekend. At noon on May 23, CBP marine interdiction agents and Martin County Sheriff’s Office deputies stopped the motor vessel “Keep Walking” as it approached the Sandsprit Park boat ramp and [...]
Cuban Migrants Repatriated After CBP Air and Marine Has a Busy Week of Interdiction in South Florida
The Coast Guard Cutter Key Biscayne repatriated more than 70 Cuban migrants to Bahia de Cabañas, Cuba who were interdicted Saturday in two separate events as a result of CBP Air and Marine efforts. A Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine DASH-8 aircrew located two go-fast vessels traveling in tandem about 40 miles southeast [...]
Haitian Migrants Apprehended After Landing on Florida Beach
Early this morning, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol agents assigned to the Miami Sector apprehended 103 Haitian nationals that made landfall near Hallandale Beach in Hollywood, Fla. One migrant died in the voyage, and two were taken to area hospitals as they displayed symptoms of dehydration and exposure to the elements. Wednesday [...]
32 Cuban Migrants Repatriated by Coast Guard After CBP Aircraft Detects Boat 55 Miles South of Marathon, Fla.
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Sawfish repatriated 32 Cuban migrants to Bahia de Cabanas, Cuba Wednesday after they were spotted by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection surveillance aircraft. The CBP Air and Marine DASH-8 aircraft, based in Homestead, Fla., spotted a go-fast vessel traveling at a high rate of speed 55 miles [...]
CBP Marine Officers Apprehend Two Vessels With Smuggled Migrants In San Diego Bay
U.S. Customs and Border Protection marine enforcement officers operating go-fast boats apprehended two private vessels with undocumented migrants that entered San Diego Bay over the weekend. The private vessels were attempting to illegally enter the United States using a popular annual Southern California boat race as cover, officials announced today. Federal officers apprehended the first [...]