Daily features: July 13, 2007

• Daily video

The Department of Homeland Security is withholding border security money from Arizona. Aired on CNN, July 12, 2007.

• Friday blog round-up

• Michael Linton of the FirstThings blog talks about his daughter's experience with undocumented workers at a restaurant where she waitressed.
• The ImmigrationProf blog provides links to contacting your congressmembers if you are interested in having them support or rally against the DREAM Act. For those of you not in the know:
• "It would provide a 6-year path to permanent residence and eventual citizenship for individuals brought to the U.S. years ago as undocumented children if they graduate from high school and continue on to college or military service."

• Cartoon of the day

By Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com.

Border fence mishaps, cont.: Build it through the University of Texas

We're only supposed to post twice a day this week to help out our tech-team as they move everything from this hosting site to to the new website, but we felt we absolutely had to make this one-half of our posts today.

Remember how we posted a few weeks ago that part of the border fence in Arizona had been built into Mexico? And that it would cost up to $3.5 million to fix?

Well, here's something that passed under our radar last month: the Department of Homeland Security planned to build the fence through the University of Texas at Brownville's campus, leaving its International Technology, Education and Commerce campus south of the border.

"What about traffic between classes, [the president of the university] wondered. 'Would the students need to show a passport?'"

Earlier: Daily features: July 11, 2007, 'Virtual' AZ border fence to stay quite virtual for now, In the news today: July 9, 2007, U.S. built border fence into Mexican territory; it'll cost up to $3.5M to fix

Border crossing increasingly dangerous for patrolmen & immigrants

There's a great news-analysis piece in the Los Angeles Times today. The article by Nicholas Riccardi stems from the headline-grabbing story on how Nicholas Corbett, a U.S. Border patrolman, is now charged with murder for shooting Francisco Javier Dominguez-Rivera, who was trying to cross into Arizona from Mexico.

The article gives us a pretty good run-down of how illegal border crossing from Mexico into Arizona has become increasingly dangerous for both the side trying to keep the illegal immigrants out, and those trying to come in. Here's an excerpt:

Assaults on agents are up 10% in southeastern Arizona over last year, and though the number is holding steady nationwide, the Border Patrol says attacks have become more violent. Officers say immigrants are more likely to run and throw rocks or, as happened near Yuma, Ariz., last month, Molotov cocktails.

The Border Patrol has seized nearly twice as much cocaine this year as last. The crossing is riskier for illegal immigrants too. Deaths among crossers are up 21% over last year. Bandits watch border-crossing routes, robbing immigrants and sometimes kidnapping entire groups. (...)

Get to know the 28-mile 'virtual fence'

The AP put together a handy Q&A (note: the link is no longer accessible) on just how the 28-mile "virtual fence" Homeland Security is building along a portion of Arizona's border with Mexico. And if you're behind on your border fence news, you may want to at least read the first bullet point:

Q. What is it?

A. Currently, nine 98-foot towers have been installed along a 28-mile stretch of desert around Sasabe, Ariz., on the border with Mexico. The towers are to be equipped with cameras, radar and computer equipment, with data that can be accessed wirelessly. There will also be unattended ground sensors. The project's official name is SBInet.

And the New York Times wrote a piece on the fence today, replete with great photographs, like the one attached to this post.