Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Forget drones. The U.S. Border Patrol is testing the abilities of helium-filled balloons that were originally used by the Department of Defense for surveillance, the Associated Press reports. Don’t be confused by the seemingly simple technology of balloons. Aerostats, as they’re called, can identify the make, model and color of a car…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Border Patrol agents at the northern border are taking a new approach to tightening security, the Associated Press reports. Instead of spending most of their time at border stations, agents are spreading out into communities and assisting local police. The idea is to work more closely with other law enforcement agencies to…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Border Patrol agents rarely face repercussions for using deadly force, even when the shootings are questionable, the Arizona Republic reports. At least 42 people, including 13 Americans, have been killed by on-duty Border Patrol agents and CBP officers since 2005. The deaths range from justifiable to highly questionable, the Republic wrote. Although…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com President Obama’s pick for the No. 2 job at the Department of Homeland Security advanced to the next stage after getting approval from a Senate panel, the Los Angeles Times reports. Now Alejandro Mayorkas, head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, needs confirmation from a majority of the Senate. Republicans have objected…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Federal authorities are trying to figure out the identity of a 2-year-old boy who was found in the desert, the El Paso Times reports. A Border Patrol agent spotted the child and a man between Anapra and the Santa Teresa point of entry in New Mexico. The man fled back to Mexico…
Tom Dennis Grand Forks Herald Helping local law enforcement is all well and good. But that’s not why the United States beefed up the Border Patrol along the Canadian border to 10 times its pre-Sept. 11 size, an expansion. Instead, that expansion from Maine to Washington was done for one and only one reason —…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Border Patrol agents came under attack by more than 100 people throwing rocks and bottles, CNN reports. No serious injuries were reported. The unruly group ignored stop orders from a Border Patrol agent and attempted to cross from the San Ysidro Port of Entry in California. Not even fire pellets with pepper…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Border Patrol is experiencing a sharp increase in apprehensions at the New Mexico border, the Albuquerque Journal reports. The Border Patrol took into custody nearly 8,000 people for illegally crossing the border in fiscal 2013 – compared to about 5,700 in fiscal 2012. Although the New Mexico numbers were on the rise, Texas…
