News stories tagged with "homeland-security"

(09/17/10) Across the North Country, border patrol road checkpoints where agents stop cars and ask passengers their citizenship have become a part of daily life. Today we have a story about another step in the creeping influence of homeland security inside the border.

It's now become commonplace for federal agents to board buses and trains across Upstate New York and ask passengers for proof of citizenship. The checks are sweeping up some drugs and illegal immigrants, but also people who are here legally. David Sommerstein reports. more

(09/17/10) One wrinkle in the immigration picture has been particularly difficult for foreign students and professionals working in the U.S.

There are two agencies within Homeland Security that handle visas. The one that issues them is U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It says a foreign national may reapply or change a visa status "in a timely manner" before its expiration date. The visa itself may take weeks or months to process. The U.S. Border Patrol however, only looks at the expiration date.

If a person's visa has expired, that person is subject to detention. Immigration lawyer Hilary Fraser of Ithaca has defended clients caught between these two interpretations of the law. She told David Sommerstein one was a Filipino national living in Watertown.

(10/02/09) Canada will continue to impound cars and impose fines on Mohawks who don't check in with customs officers in Cornwall, Ontario. Five vehicles have been seized in the last week. Canada's border agency resumed the controversial policy last Friday after a grace period. Akwesasne Mohawk leaders say tribal members are being punished for last summer's stand-off that closed the border crossing for six weeks. David Sommerstein reports. more

(06/19/09) The impasse at the border near Massena is almost three weeks old. The international crossing remains closed to almost all traffic. Neither Canada nor the Mohawks are showing any signs of giving an inch in their dispute over the arming of customs officers on Cornwall Island. The customs station is located on sovereign Mohawk territory. Across the St. Lawrence River in the city of Cornwall, people are getting fed up, mostly with their own federal government. David Sommerstein spoke with Bill Kingston, assistant news director at Cornwall radio station AM 1220.

(06/03/09) The international bridge between Massena and Cornwall, Ontario has been closed for more than two days now. And the stand-off between Akwesasne Mohawks and the Canadian government continues. The Mohawks are peacefully protesting Canada's new policy of arming their customs officers. The policy was to have taken effect on Monday. But the officers closed the border crossing on Cornwall Island the night before, saying they didn't feel safe. As David Sommerstein reports, neither side appears ready to budge.

Editor's note: NCPR encourages people of all points of view to post comments on our news stories. However, we require some civility in the discussion, and reserve the right to remove any post for any reason. We have exercised that right on many comments in this thread. If you want to be heard, please don't be abusive.

(02/26/08) A newspaper in Ottawa is reporting this week that illegal cigarette smuggling across the US Canada border is booming. Despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent on Homeland Security, critics say illegal border crossings have returned to levels not seen since the 1990s. In January alone, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police seized over 72,000 cartons of cigarettes. Brian Mann has details.

(02/12/08) Since 9/11, hundreds of National Guard and Reserve soldiers from the North Country have been deployed to war zones overseas. A new group of soldiers just left for a year-long tour in Afghanistan. A controversial new report, delivered to Congress last week, argues that reservists will continue to face deployments well into the future, even after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down. Brian Mann spoke with E. Gordon Stump, a retired Major General with the U.S. Air Force. He's a member of the independent Commission on the National Guard and Reserves and a co-author of the study.

(01/08/08) A new regulation at the international border is set to take effect at the end of the month. Beginning January 31, Americans returning from Canada will have to present proof of citizenship, such as an original birth certificate, in addition to a driver's license. Congressman John McHugh says the new rule hasn't been publicized and could be a disaster for travelers. David Sommerstein reports.

(11/21/07) For generations, American and Canadian ambulance and fire crews have rushed across the border to each other's aid in times of emergency. But local officials on both sides of the border say new Homeland Security rules are creating dangerous delays, slowing response times and threatening partnerships that formed over a century ago. Federal officials promise improvements, but new passport rules could make the situation even more complicated. Independent producer Jacob Resneck has this special report.

(01/18/07) Governor Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, scored a political coup when he persuaded a Republican State Senator to become his top homeland security advisor. On Wednesday, Michael Balboni gave his first public speech. Karen DeWitt was there.