Proposed appropriations bill would practically double the size of the Border Patrol

Mar 22, 2024
Congress failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform, so it's using the appropriations bill to bulk up the Department of Homeland Security.
The $1.2 trillion spending package to be voted on by the House on Friday includes funds to hire 22,000 more Border Patrol agents.
Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images

Mexico's crumbling economy leads to border arrests, more COVID-19 fears

Sep 10, 2020
Roughly 40% of the population of Mexico lives in poverty. The struggles were present even before COVID-19 hit.
A sign with indications to cross to the United States near El Chaparral pedestrian crossing port in Tijuana, Mexico, on Sept. 1.
Guillermo Arias/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. migration policies hit the Mexico-Guatemala border

Nov 12, 2019
Tensions between the U.S. and Mexico regarding migration have also hit hard on the borders, not only between both nations, but also between Mexico and Guatemala.
Raftsmen help Guatemalans cross the Suchiate towards Mexico, where they buy goods with higher quality and lower prices.
Rodrigo Cervantes for Marketplace

How Trump's immigration policy is hurting commerce at the border

Jun 21, 2018
A fluid border was key to a Texas town's economy, until it wasn't.
The Mexican border town of Matamoros is on the Rio Grande, across the U.S.-Mexico border near Brownsville, Texas.
John Moore/Getty Images

Trump visits Arizona, where border patrol recruiting is still stalled

Aug 22, 2017
Today the president is in Phoenix, holding a political rally and visiting a town on the border with Mexico. While this administration has pledged to hire 5,000 more border patrol agents, so far that has not improved longstanding recruitment and retention challenges for the agency. Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

ICE union to Trump: Come drain our swamp

Mar 23, 2017
Homeland Security is facing a slew of recruiting challenges, including a high rate of polygraph failure, pay parity and a lack of morale, according to employee representatives.
US President Donald Trump chats with reporters on board Air Force One before departing from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, bound for Palm Beach, Florida on February 3, 2017. 

 
MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Local law enforcement in California work with ICE in different ways

Mar 15, 2017
At the Fresno County Jail, immigration agents have access to the jail’s database.
Sgt. Elisa Magallanes books a newly arrested man at the Fresno County Jail.
Vanessa Rancano/KQED

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College students consider what it would mean to work for Homeland Security

Mar 2, 2017
Traffic is heavy at the agency's table at a Temple University career fair.
Criminal Justice students at Temple University attend a job fair Wednesday, at which Homeland Security recruited for the agency's investigative branch.
Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University Photography

Policing both sides of the border in Nogales

Feb 10, 2017
A look at what it's like for members of law enforcement here and in Mexico.
Mexican police officer Romero Garcia (foreground). 
Kimberly Adams/Marketplace