Mexican border – News Stories About Mexican border - Page 5

Apr 9, 2009 5:13 PM CDT

Obama Seeks $83.4B for Wars

(Newser) - President Obama will ask Congress for $83.4 billion in supplemental funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the AP reports. Obama had in the past opposed such requests outside of the federal budget, but the administration says it's necessary one final time to fund the military through the...

Border Patrol Destroys Foliage With Chemicals

Mar 25, 2009 10:10 AM CDT

Border Patrol Destroys Foliage With Chemicals

Killing plants will cut hiding places for immigrants, smugglers

(Newser) - In an effort to keep smugglers and illegal immigrants from hiding in heavy vegetation as they attempt to cross the Mexican border, the US Border Patrol is looking to Agent Orange for inspiration. One plan for cutting down on possible hiding places on riverbanks is to use an herbicide that...

Prepare for Worst
as Mexico Crumbles

OPINION

Mar 24, 2009 3:38 PM CDT

Prepare for Worst as Mexico Crumbles

(Newser) - Mexico’s disastrous drug war, which threatens to send millions of refugees into the southern US, is a problem of our own making, Mark Krikorian writes in the National Review. But while America’s drug lust—and its burgeoning counterpart in Mexico itself—can’t be fixed, tighter border regulations...

Mexican
Kidnappers
Menace Yanks

OPINION

Mar 8, 2009 8:10 AM CDT

Mexican Kidnappers Menace Yanks

(Newser) - Mexican drug gangs are increasingly targeting Americans, kidnapping them in border towns and, even more disturbingly, US cities like Las Vegas and even Atlanta, Mary A. Fischer writes in Men’s Journal. Ironically, higher post-9/11 border security and Mexico's crackdown on drug cartels has hurt drug sales, forcing competing bands...

Drug Cartels' Latest Ploy:
Ultralight Planes

Mar 6, 2009 3:56 PM CST

Drug Cartels' Latest Ploy: Ultralight Planes

Ultralight aircraft are the Mexican cartels' newest tactic

(Newser) - Mexican pot smugglers have come up with a new tool in their never-ending quest to outsmart US border patrols: ultralight aircraft, USA Today reports. An ultralight is a small plane resembling a scooter with a hang glider attached, and authorities have found several crashed or in mid-flight over the border...

Schools Warn Against
Mexico Spring Break

Feb 23, 2009 4:30 PM CST

Schools Warn Against Mexico Spring Break

(Newser) - Arizona’s three state universities are following the State Department and attempting to dissuade students from spending spring break in Mexican border towns, a traditional pastime, because of drug-associated violence there, the AP reports. One federal official called the warning “sage advice,” noting “documented violence, attacks, killings”...

Mexico Calls in Army as
Drug War Escalates

Feb 20, 2009 8:44 AM CST

Mexico Calls in Army as Drug War Escalates

President deploys 45,000 troops into major cities

(Newser) - Mexican President Felipe Calderón yesterday defended his decision to deploy 45,000 troops in major cities in his fight against the drug cartels, reports the Washington Post. In a speech to the army, Calderón said the military would remain in place until it had regained control of the...

'Narco-Protests' Paralyze Mexican Border Crossings

Feb 19, 2009 10:15 AM CST

'Narco-Protests' Paralyze Mexican Border Crossings

Authorities believe anti-military protesters are in the pay of drug cartels

(Newser) - Civilian protesters suspected of being in the pay of drug traffickers have blocked Mexican bridges to the US in recent days, demanding that the military leave their cities, the Dallas Morning News reports. Officials see the demonstrations—dubbed "narco-protests"—as a worrying new development amid a wave of...

Mexican Border
Arrests Hit 30-Year Low

Dec 29, 2008 3:54 PM CST

Mexican Border Arrests Hit 30-Year Low

Recession, enforcement keep Mexicans at home

(Newser) - The number of people trying to sneak into the US appears to be plummeting, thanks to tougher enforcement and the beleaguered US economy, USA Today reports. Just 705,000 people were caught trying to sneak in from Mexico in fiscal 2008, the lowest total since 1976. “We're definitely making...

Work Begins on Controversial San Diego Border Fence

Aug 16, 2008 4:58 AM CDT

Work Begins on Controversial San Diego Border Fence

Critics charge $57M fence isn't worth cost or environmental damage

(Newser) - Construction crews have launched work on a controversial section of the US-Mexico border fence near San Diego, AP reports. The Smuggler's Gulch canyon will be filled with dirt and a fence built at a cost of $16 million a mile. Critics charge the fence is no longer vital and the...

Drug Addiction Shoots Up
in Mexico

Jul 23, 2008 7:28 AM CDT

Drug Addiction Shoots Up in Mexico

Traffickers thwarted at border sell crack, heroin, meth to locals

(Newser) - Drug addiction is skyrocketing in Mexico, which used to be simply a transit point for illegal drugs rather than a major consumer market, reports USA Today. As increased border security foils smugglers along the American border, the drugs end up being sold to Mexicans. Crack cocaine use has risen sharply,...

15 Dead in
Tijuana Shootout

Apr 26, 2008 7:20 PM CDT

15 Dead in Tijuana Shootout

Mexico sends in thousands of troops to quell further fighting

(Newser) - A gunfight between Tijuana drug cartel rivals left 15 dead and eight wounded near the US border today, Reuters reports. The worst violence in Mexico's 3-year drug war, it filled a city road with bodies and took the lives of two top hit men from the Arellano Felix cartel. "...

Mexico Bans All Car Imports— Except '98s

Mar 3, 2008 9:00 AM CST

Mexico Bans All Car Imports— Except '98s

New law allows only 10-year-old jalopies across the border

(Newser) - For used-car shoppers in Mexico, 1998 is about to become a very popular year. Starting today, only 10-year-old cars—nothing newer, nothing older—can be imported in Mexico, a move designed to curtail the flood of “vehiculos chatarra,” or jalopies, clogging the streets. Before the change, imports needed...

Glitches Delay 'Virtual' Border Fence 3 Years

Feb 28, 2008 8:12 AM CST

Glitches Delay 'Virtual' Border Fence 3 Years

Unmanned "fence' failed to perform in 28-mile pilot program

(Newser) - Plans to build a high-tech "virtual fence" along the US-Mexico border have been set back at least 3 years after serious problems emerged in the pilot project, the Washington Post reports. The 28-mile fence south of Tuscon, which included unmanned surveillance towers equipped with radar linked to computers, didn't...

'Virtual Fence' Cleared For Arizona Border

Feb 22, 2008 12:14 PM CST

'Virtual Fence' Cleared For Arizona Border

Troubled system already operational

(Newser) - The government has just given the green light to a 28-mile “virtual fence” along the Arizona/Mexico border, the AP reports. The system, which uses cameras, radar, and other sensor devices to detect border jumpers, is already partially constructed, and working. Last week Border Patrol caught 38 would-be illegal immigrants...

Big Apple Opens Arms to Euros

Feb 7, 2008 12:00 PM CST

Big Apple Opens Arms to Euros

Stores taking foreign currency as weak dollar encourages tourists

(Newser) - The falling dollar has made the US a travel bargain, and some merchants in New York City have flung open their doors—and their tills—to the sudden influx of foreign currencies, Reuters reports. The euro, up 12% against the dollar in the past year, is particularly common. "Money...

Citing US Troubles, Illegal Immigrants 'Self-Deport'

Dec 25, 2007 10:04 PM CST

Citing US Troubles, Illegal Immigrants 'Self-Deport'

Immigrants face tougher law enforcement and worsening economy

(Newser) - More illegal immigrants in the US are "self-deporting" back to their home countries in the face of stricter immigration enforcement and a worsening economy, Reuters reports. "The situation has got so tough that there don't seem to be many options left for us," said a Mexican immigrant....

Immigration
Fervor Could
Burn GOP

Dec 13, 2007 1:19 PM CST

Immigration Fervor Could Burn GOP

Rollback of Bush’s Hispanic-friendly stance is risky

(Newser) - The GOP contenders embracing anti-immigrant fervor may be sorely miscalculating, Ryan Lizza writes in the New Yorker, in a piece looking at the party's dramatic turn from the Bush strategy of cultivating immigrants in 2000 and 2004. The nativist passions Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani have been fanning appeal to...

Texas Cracks Down on Illegals

Nov 25, 2007 7:05 PM CST

Texas Cracks Down on Illegals

In Laredo, no more 'catch and release'—everyone gets jail time

(Newser) - In Laredo, Texas, the border patrol is getting serious about illegal immigration. The longstanding “catch-and-release” policy was scrapped this month, in favor of a zero tolerance program that has clogged jails and strained courts. The Houston Chronicle looked in on a federal courthouse recently, as judges tried and sentenced...

Good Fences Make Good Borders

Nov 16, 2007 1:45 PM CST

Good Fences Make Good Borders

New designs aim to exclude, but not offend, Mexican neighbors

(Newser) - Pity the designers of the new border fence with Mexico: They'd been asked to come up with a design that will keep out the most determined immigrants but doesn't read as unfriendly. The government has mandated the fence be "aesthetically pleasing" to folks in Mexico, who are, after all,...