Congressional watchdog describes border wall harm, says agencies should work together to ease damage
The construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border under former President Donald Trump toppled untold numbers of saguaro cactuses in Arizona, put endangered ocelots at risk in Texas and disturbed Native American burial grounds, the official congressional watchdog said Thursday.
Backpage founder faces 2nd trial over what prosecutors say was scheme to sell sex through ad sales
A founder of the lucrative classified site Backpage.com will face his second trial on charges of facilitating prostitution and laundering money in what authorities say was a scheme to knowingly sell ads for sex on the site.
Stop hurting the healers
We must honor the empathy of healthcare workers, the years they have spent in training, and the attention to detail they demonstrate. While these humans toil toward healthy outcomes for their patients, they are punched, kicked, grabbed, verbally assaulted, and routinely subjected to other violent behavior.
Apply the sage advice of measure twice, cut once to Wayfair
The good news is it appears all parties want to see this happen because everyone has something to gain: revenue for government; fairness and simplification for taxpayers. That said, massive reform should be done methodically to avoid litigation and avoidable mistakes.
Federal budget deal includes wildfire funds, border guarantees
Tucked inside the bill that reopened the federal government late Wednesday night was language guaranteeing that border-security measures, specifically radar surveillance blimps, would continue to be funded into 2014.
House lawmakers grill Border Patrol, as Senate passes immigration bill
A House subcommittee grilled Customs and Border Patrol agents Thursday over Southwest border security, charging that agents cannot identify which areas of the border are most dangerous.
GAO report questions feds’ plan for Arizona border technology
U.S. Customs and Border Protection needs to do a better job of justifying its plans for $1.5 billion border surveillance project at the Arizona-Mexico border, according to a government report released Friday.
Locals welcome Guard’s extended border presence, as GAO questions it
The National Guard began a second 90-day extension of its work along the border this weekend, a move welcomed by border officials and questioned in a recent Government Accountability Office report.
Criminal immigrants in prison, jails increased
Government auditors say about 55,000 immigrants were in federal prison last year.
New border technology slow to be deployed
Technology to replace a now defunct virtual fence project at the Mexican border likely won't be fully in place for at least another decade, maybe longer, according to the Government Accountability Office.
GAO: Feds decline half of Indian Country cases
Federal prosecutors declined 50 percent of cases from American Indian reservations over a 5-year period, and the figure is higher for sexual abuse cases, a report released Monday found.
Homeland Security nears decision on virtual fence
The Homeland Security Department is close to a decision on what's next for a costly, problem-plagued "virtual fence" ordered by Congress four years ago to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border.