Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A rock launched from the ground struck a Border Patrol helicopter, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing in a vacant lot, the Associated Press reports. Whoever threw the rock could not be found, CBP said in a statement. The two-member crew of the American Eurocopter AS350 were not injured when…
Steve Neavling tickleticklethewire.com Despite a government-commissioned review recommending an end to the practice of shooting rock-throwers, Border Patrol agents may continue anyway, the Associated Press reports. CBP responded that the recommendation was “very restrictive.” The review came from the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit that advises law enforcement agencies, the AP wrote. Border Patrol…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Border Patrol agents, who are considered vital to protecting the safety of Americans, are working throughout the government shutdown. But they – 52,000 of the 59,000 employees of CBP, might not see a paycheck until the government reopens, the Tucson Weekly reports. Working without pay is a “slap in the face,” said…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A cluster of yellow, blue and salmon-colored homes was built for CBP employees in a small former mining community in Ajo, Ariz. at a cost of roughly $600,000 apiece, The Arizona Republic reports. The price tag includes the cost to plan and build each of 21 two- and three-bedroom houses that are…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Janet Napolitano’s job as head of the Department of Homeland Security is not the only high-ranking position available there, NPR reports. According to the NPR, 15 top jobs at DHS are vacant or about to be, and lawmakers won’t fill the jobs. The openings raise questions about whether DHS is too large…
Glenn Garvin The Columbus Dispatch Last month, when the Senate passed an amendment to its immigration-reform bill that included $46 billion to beef up border security, Sen. John McCain declared: “We’ll be the most militarized border since the fall of the Berlin Wall!” He didn’t know the half of it. Since then, documents released…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Border Patrol officials are hoping to soon use “non-lethal weapons designed to immobilize” people on surveillance drones, the Atlantic reports. The discovery comes from documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “This is the first we’ve heard of any federal agency proposing using weapons on drones flown domestically,” the EFF wrote. “The…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Customs and Border workers won’t be forced to take furloughs this year as originally feared, Government Executive reports. CBP employees, who initially faced 14 furlough days in fiscal 2013, dodged the forced days off through appropriations approved by Congress. It was good news for the more than 20,000 CBP workers who feared…
