Truckers who smuggle people, illegal drugs, or other contraband products will lose their commercial trucking license in the state of Texas. From the Houston Chronicle: Truckers who smuggle drugs or people into the U.S. are now risking not only prison time but also the loss of their commercial driver’s licenses as Texas uses a longstanding law in [...]

In a case that critics are calling racial profiling, an Arizona Sheriff is arreting people after stoping them and checking their immigration status. From Reuters: Frustrated by a steady flow of illegal Mexican immigrants into Arizona, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has decided to take matters into his own hands. Arpaio dispatches teams of sheriff’s deputies into Hispanic [...]

States are increasingly cracking down on illegal immigrants and taking the initiative away from the Federal Government. From the NY Times: Three months after the local police inspected more than a dozen businesses searching for illegal immigrants using stolen Social Security numbers, this community in the Florida Panhandle has become more law-abiding, emptier and whiter. Many of the [...]

Although more than 9 out of 10 illegal immigrants detained at the border are Mexicans, immigrants from other countries are increasingly being detained at the US-Mexico border.  From the Houston Chronicle: ore than nine out of 10 illegal immigrants detained at the U.S.-Mexico border are Mexican. But for years, this easternmost sector of the border has had more [...]

The New York Times has a report on the increase in corruption cases within the US Border Patrol.  From the NY Times: The pattern has become familiar: Customs officers wave in vehicles filled with illegal immigrants, drugs or other contraband. A Border Patrol agent acts as a scout for smugglers. Trusted officers fall prey to temptation and [...]

The border fence on the US-Mexico border continues to face problems in its development. From the New York Times: As the Department of Homeland Security pushes to complete 670 miles of fencing along the Mexican border by the end of this year, it is confronting the sharpest resistance yet while conceding that physical barriers alone do not [...]

Immigrants found in a human smuggling ring broken up in Los Angeles have told authorities that they were sexually assaulted by the smugglers.  From the LA Times:  An immigrant discovered in a South Los Angeles drop house Wednesday told authorities she was impregnated by one of the smugglers, and witnesses reported that several other women were sexually [...]

The San Diego Union Tribune reports on Mexican Human Smugglers using high-speed boats to smuggle people into the United States. From the San Diego Union Tribune: The newest battleground between Mexican smugglers and federal agents isn’t on the ground. It’s on the water.Frustrated by anti-smuggling measures along the U.S.-Mexico border, smugglers increasingly are running up the Pacific [...]

The Human Smuggling market is estimated to be $10 billion. Source: Julie Watson, AP, “Coyotes brazenly ply their trade,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 24, 2006.

In an interesting twist, US Border Patrol Agents are now setting up checkpoints at the US-Mexico border and are catching illegal migrants ON THEIR WAY OUT. From the Los Angeles Times: U.S. border authorities no longer apprehend illegal immigrants only as they enter the country. Now they’re catching them on the way out. At random times near the [...]