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Israeli border police are testing an robotic vehicle for some patrols. The AvantGuard is a militarized version of the two seater all-terrain "Tomcar" vehicle. It contains sensors and software that enables it to patrol along planned routes, and is capable of some cross country operation as well. The AvantGuard can mount a remote controlled gun turret with a 7.62mm machine-gun. The vehicle has cameras facing every direction, which use pattern recognition to identify potential threats (like people sneaking around where they are not supposed to be), or obstacles on the road. With AvantGuard, a pair of human operators can control...

Among those who will be cleared of past crimes under the Senate's proposed immigration-reform bill would be the businesses that have employed the estimated 10 million illegal aliens eligible for citizenship and that provided the very "magnet" that drew them here in the first place. Buried in the more than 600 pages of legislation is a section titled "Employer Protections," which states: "Employers of aliens applying for adjustment of status under this section shall not be subject to civil and criminal tax liability relating directly to the employment of such alien." Supporters of the legislation insist that such provisions do...

May 21 - Former President Bill Clinton on Sunday said President Bush is doing a good job on immigration reform, praising his call for better border security and moderation in dealing with illegal immigrants. "I basically think President Bush has done a good job with this," Clinton told a convention of shopping center developers. "I'm different with him on nearly everything, but I think he's done a good job with this." Clinton said employers were not blameless for hiring undocumented workers, who he described as "chasing their dreams the same way you chase your dreams." He also said any reform...

SAN DIEGO -- The vast majority of people caught smuggling immigrants across the border near San Diego are never prosecuted for the offense, demoralizing the agents making the arrests, according to an internal Border Patrol document obtained by The Associated Press. "It is very difficult to keep agents' morale up when the laws they were told to uphold are being watered-down or not prosecuted," the report says. The report offers a stark assessment of the situation at a Border Patrol station responsible for guarding 13 miles of mountainous border east of the city. Federal officials say it reflects a reality...

The Senate voted yesterday to allow illegal aliens to collect Social Security benefits based on past illegal employment -- even if the job was obtained through forged or stolen documents. "There was a felony they were committing, and now they can't be prosecuted. That sounds like amnesty to me," said Sen. John Ensign, the Nevada Republican who offered the amendment yesterday to strip out those provisions of the immigration reform bill. "It just boggles the mind how people could be against this amendment." The Ensign amendment was defeated on a 50-49 vote. "We all know that millions of undocumented immigrants...

While many (by "many" I am referring to those normal, non-political junkie types) think politics is dry and boring, there is actually lots of drama involved – especially recently. I'm not even talking about bimbo eruptions, intern encounters, or escort services. No, I'm referring to the classic drama that is the family fight. In the past year alone, the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, the Dubai ports controversy, out of control spending, and now immigration have disrupted sweet harmony in the conservative Republican family. Perhaps emboldened by the outcome of the Miers nomination, some conservatives that issued...

Los Angeles -- When the immigration rights movement erupted from coast to coast beginning in March, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa embraced it with greater energy and visibility than just about any other political leader. Villaraigosa, the first Latino elected mayor here in modern times, spoke at every major demonstration in the city, in Spanish and in English, backing the calls for a fair path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants. He was lauded by many of the demonstrators as a champion of their cause. But the normally voluble mayor was uncharacteristically restrained in discussing the issue in an interview last...

BUSH SET FOR IMMIGRATION SPEECH WHITE HOUSE President Bush is getting set for a prime-time speech on immigration tomorrow night. Aides note the 8 p-m, Eastern Time, speech will be the president's first from the Oval Office that does not involve Iraq and the war on terrorism. And they say that reflects Bush's "passion" on immigration. He's speaking as the Senate is poised to clear a compromise measure including his idea for a guest worker program. However, a rival House bill is limited to a border crackdown, and meshing the two won't be easy. Stand Up For America !...

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KABUL, Afghanistan -- The two Massachusetts women walk down a fly-infested alley where sewage from mud huts drains onto the dirt walkway. In a tiny backyard, they find two dozen chickens, five children -- and one Afghan war widow. Patti Quigley of Wellesley and Susan Retik of Needham -- whose husbands were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks

A Letter from a Slave to an Illegal Alien May 10, 2006 By Herman Cain Dear Illegal Alien, My ancestors were brought to this country in chains against their will, and sold and forced to work like common farm animals. They had to abide by the laws to stay alive. My ancestors endured abuse and unlawful deaths for 250 years before the civilized hearts of this nation recognized that “all men are created equal,” regardless of race or color. We went from slaves to free men and women, but without the freedom of equal rights, equal access to opportunity and...

WASHINGTON - The federal government’s first task is assuring national defense, and protecting this nation’s borders is the cornerstone requirement for fulfilling that responsibility. This is Washington’s duty, not that of the states or private citizens. Amazingly, not even the horrors of Sept. 11 sparked government actions to close gaping holes in American immigration policy and programs exposed by the tragedy of 2001. The harsh reality of the war on terror is our borders must be secured so they no longer represent an open invitation for terrorists to commit more acts of horror and death in our midst. Securing the...

Congressman Steve King has just returned from a five-day trip to Arizona's border with Mexico. "It was a real eye-opener," King says. "One cannot get a feel for this without going down there and being in it." King has been advocating construction of a fence along the U.S./Mexico border, and King says the drug trade he witnessed just reaffirmed his belief that a fence is what it will take to stop the flood of immigrants crossing the border. "This is my second trip down to the border but this is the one that I learned the most at and the...

GRANJENO — Near the river’s bend that Border Patrol agents refer to as "El Rincon del Diablo" — or the Devil’s Corner — border bandits armed with machetes and handguns robbed and sexually assaulted El Salvadoran immigrants about midnight Wednesday. Just after crossing the Rio Grande, bandits ambushed the group in wooded area. All 25 men and women were forced to disrobe and lay face-down in the dirt near a ravine by the river bank. Then, at least three women were sexually assaulted at gunpoint. There are allegations that most of the women were inappropriately touched. Border Patrol agents found...

By Keyonna Summers THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published May 12, 2006 Luz Maria Sanchez is wide awake at 6 a.m. at the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), having arrived at midnight to be first in a line of about 50 immigrants and illegal aliens waiting for the Beltsville branch to open. "I'm tired. I haven't slept," said Miss Sanchez, a 34-year-old Salvadoran immigrant living in Hyattsville. "But [if I want a driver's license] I have to wait." Overnight lines outside several MVA branches have evolved since the agency last month stopped taking appointments for immigrants to get driver's licenses and began...

Members of the Minuteman Project will stage a rally at the U.S. Capitol today to celebrate the end of a cross-country caravan meant to protest the flow of illegal aliens across the border. "This is a Trojan horse – a covert invasion," Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, said of illegal immigration. The caravan began in Los Angeles May 3, and participants have been holding rallies in several states along the way. The caravan's "official pace car" is a 1970 Mercury Cougar dubbed "The Spirit Of Allegiance." The final rally is scheduled for 11 a.m. today at the park...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Faced with growing pressure from Southern states, the Bush administration wants the military to come up with ideas to help solve security problems along the U.S. border with Mexico. In back-to-back moves this week, the Pentagon began exploring ways to lend support at the Southern border, while the House on Thursday voted to allow the Homeland Security Department in limited cases to use soldiers in that region. At the Pentagon, Paul McHale, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, asked officials to offer options for the use of military resources and troops -- particularly the National...

This Local has nothing to do with any alleged management directives to report the location of the Minutemen volunteers to the Mexican government. Our position on the Mexican government and their military is very clear. They are corrupt, they shoot at us, they smuggle drugs, they encourage illegal aliens to invade this country...

The Department of Homeland Security is working overtime to quell citizen outrage over the Border Patrol/Mexico/Minutemen story. The contradictory spin doctors are not doing a very good job. I'll have more in a moment. But now is a crucial time to step back and look at this disturbing episode in a larger, informed context-- that is, as part of the longstanding battle between DHS management and rank-and-file employees over strict, tough, and unapologetic immigration enforcement. Supervisors in Washington and in major Border Patrol sectors are cowed by ethnic activists, business lobbyists, and meddling Mexican consulates. Field agents are demoralized by...

<p>The game has not changed, we face the same enemy, same challenges. The Beast never dies!</p> <p>President Reagan faced down the Soviets and ended the cold war, but the Beast is still with us. It simply changes form. Whether it appears in the form of Bolshevism, Nazism, fascism, communism, Islamofascism, etc, it is the same enemy: Totalitarianism. The all powerful state.</p>