Management

Border Wall Construction Continues During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Lawmakers and advocates call on the Trump administration to stop construction to protect public health and save taxpayer dollars.  

Management

Senators Make Bipartisan Push to Better Protect Feds From Synthetic Opioids

Measure would ensure federal personnel have protective equipment and overdose medications on hand.

Workforce

The FBI Is Investigating Massive Embezzlement of Border Patrol Union Funds

The head of the powerful union representing border patrol agents nationwide said the FBI is working to identify who stole some $500,000 out of the coffers of the El Paso local. The theft raises more questions about lawlessness in the union’s ranks.

Oversight

Watchdog: EPA Needs to Improve Management of Environmental Program Along the U.S.-Mexico Border 

Documentation of progress was “frequently unreliable” and program information was “neither transparent nor accessible,” said the report.

Oversight

Lawmakers Threaten Subpoena for Disciplinary Info on Border Agents Posting Racist Facebook Messages

Committee accuses Customs and Border Protection of "stonewalling" after reports it bypassed punishment for most employees involved.

Defense

A Group of Agents Rose Through the Ranks to Lead the Border Patrol. They’re Leaving It in Crisis.

How several agents from a small outpost in Arizona, including recently retired chief Carla Provost, climbed to the top of the Border Patrol, then one by one retired, leaving corruption, misconduct and a toxic culture in their wake.

Management

Six Children Died in Border Patrol Care. Democrats in Congress Want to Know Why.

Video obtained by ProPublica contradicted the Border Patrol’s account of 16-year-old Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez’s death. Now, House Democrats are pressuring the agency to explain why six migrant children died under its care in less than a year.

Oversight

Appeals Court Rules Trump Can Use Nearly $4 Billion in Military Funds for Border Wall

The White House called the initial decision to block on the use of military funds for the boder wall "illegitimate" and hailed the appeals court decision as a victory.

Defense

Pentagon Watchdog to Review Military’s Border Support Mission, Spending

The Defense inspector general plans to evaluate training and deployment costs, and whether funding meets legal and policy standards.

Defense

Apprehensions of Undocumented Immigrants on the Southwest Border Continue to Fall

The figure is the lowest since July 2018 and marks the fifth consecutive month that the number has dropped.

Management

Border Agents Can Now Get Classified Intelligence Information. Experts Call That Dangerous.

The Trump administration is creating a center that will give immigration agents access to information from U.S. intelligence agencies. Migrants and others denied entry will be unable to see the evidence against them because it is classified.

Management

Trump's Controversial 'Remain in Mexico' Immigration Policy Expands Along Texas' Southern Border

The Migrant Protection Protocols, a program requiring migrants to wait in Mexico as their asylum requests are pending, is in effect in Eagle Pass, El Paso, Laredo and Brownsville.

Tech

The Endless Aerial Surveillance of the Border

New reports suggest that drone activity at the southern border is spreading to nearby cities, erasing the line between police procedures and immigration enforcement.

Management

Federal Government Awards Three Contracts for 65 New Miles of Border Fencing in South Texas

The cost of the new fencing will range between $385 million and $800 million. Construction is set to begin in early 2020.

Management

Hundreds of CBP Officers Returned to Port Duty after Assisting U.S. Border Patrol

In late March, more than 700 officers from ports of entry in El Paso; Laredo; Tucson, Arizona; and San Diego were reassigned amid the growing number of migrants arriving at the country’s southern border.

Oversight

Another Budget Fight Looms This Month in Congress Centering on Border Wall Funding

As lawmakers in Washington prepare a budget for the next fiscal year, funding for the border wall is taking center stage — again.

Management

Federal Officials Credit Trump's Crackdown after Border Apprehensions Dropped in August

The monthly total is the lowest since January — and less than half of this year's peak in May.

Management

Viewpoint: Trump’s Unpardonable Admission About His Border Wall

The president wants to spend billions of taxpayer dollars for a project that he acknowledges is largely symbolic—even if it breaks the law.

Management

Americans’ Support For Immigration Is At Record Highs – But The Government Is Out Of Sync With Their Views

Americans have never felt warmer toward immigrants, nor have they ever been more supportive of immigration.