Apprehensions of illegal immigrants by the Border Patrol have been dropping precipitously over the past couple of years, but Border Patrol seizures of illegal drugs—mostly marijuana—are dramatically higher. Over the past eight
Immigrants have reenergized the flagging "war on crime." Charges against immigrants are clogging federal courts, and new prisons and detention centers are opening to accommodate immigrants. The Obama administration is asking for
Something isn’t working. In late 2005 Michael Chertoff, the new secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), launched the "Secure Border Initiative" as the umbrella program for border control and immigration
Introduction Part One: Making Criminals of Immigrants Part Two: Fighting the Drug War at Homeland Security Part Three: Breaking the Connections, Ending the Wars President Bush’s "war on terror" established the
There is a codependent relationship between the private prison industry and the federal government’s immigration enforcement apparatus. Immigrant detention jumpstarted the two largest prison companies—Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO Group—in
The mounting number of deaths of imprisoned immigrants over the past few years has highlighted the government’s deeply flawed response to the immigration crisis. The medical gulag of immigrant detention has also
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano shows few signs of reining in the immigrant crackdown launched by her predecessor Michael Chertoff. She recently called for "more boots on the ground" along the border
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 drastically altered the traditional political economy of immigration. The millions of undocumented immigrants—those who crossed the border illegally or overstayed their visas—who were living and working
Imprisoned immigrants in the large prison complex outside the small West Texas town of Pecos have rioted twice over the past few months complaining about inadequate medical care. Their complaints, sparked by
The Reeves County Detention Center started burning again on Wednesday night, and the billowing clouds of smoke could be seen for many miles across the northern reaches of the Chihuahua Desert. There’s