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Border Patrol Union Leaders: Understaffed Agency Is Increasing Immigrant Crisis in Texas
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Union leaders for the Border Patrol told lawmakers Wednesday that the agency is understaffed and unable to handle the influx of immigrants as a crisis unfolds at the border with unaccompanied children, the Houston Chronicle reports. The agency is “drastically understaffed with morale plummeting to record lows,” Chris Crane, president of the…
FBI’s Bomb Lab Helps Track Down Terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan
Steve Neavling ticklethrewire.com Step inside the FBI’s bomb warehouse outside of Washington, where experts analyze bombs used to injure and kill thousands of American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Businessweek reports that 700 people work at the FBI’s Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center. It’s not easy work. Most of the bombs are assembled with objects…
ACLU Lawyer: Border Patrol’s Repeated Abuse of Children Must Stop
By James Lyall, ACLU attorney Huffington Post Detainees wrested from sleep every 30 minutes, the lights in their frigid cells never turned off. One detainee told by officials, don’t lie or you’ll be raped. Another detainee sexually abused by guards. Detainees forced to stand in stress positions. Others denied adequate food, water, and medical treatment…
Privacy Groups Want Audit of Facial Recognition Technology Before Database Goes Live
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com As the FBI prepares to begin using a controversial facial recognition system later this year, more than 30 privacy groups are urging the Justice Department to conduct a long-pledged audit of the database, the National Journal reports. Groups are worried about the privacy of American citizens and said the lack of oversight…
FBI Investigates Underage Prostitution Ring at El Paso Schools in Texas
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI is investigating whether middle school and high school students throughout El Paso are part of an underage prostitution ring, the El Paso Times reports. The probe focuses on Ysleta Independent School District, which was notified of the probe beginning in December 2012. “Due to student confidentiality laws, the Ysleta Independent…
FBI Agents Were Justified in Fatal Shooting of Suspect in New York
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com FBI agents were justified in fatally opening fire on a shooting suspect in Herkimer, New York, the Herkimer County district attorney has ruled, according to the Associated Press. Agents gunned down Kurt Myers, 64, in March 2013 after he was accused of fatally shooting four people. Myers was barricaded inside an abandoned…
FBI Urges Judge to Dismiss Lawsuit by Insane Clown Posse, Saying They Have No Right to Sue
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI is urging a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by the rap duo Insane Clown Posse, claiming the have no right to sue the bureau over its decision to classify fans of the musicians as members of a “loosely organized hybrid gang,” the Guardian reports. Lawyers for the federal government claim…
Homeland Security Chief Defends Handling of Growing Crisis Involving Central American Children
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is defending the agency’s handling of tens of thousands of unaccompanied immigrants from Central America who were photographed in squalid, overcrowded conditions. The McClatchy Washington Bureau reports that Johnson also rejected Republican demands for the National Guard to respond to the crisis. Johnson unveiled a plan to…