Jerry Seper

Biden, Obama at odds over lobbyist donations

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama has made a pledge not to accept money from lobbyists, but his running mate - Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. - has collected over $200,000 from registered lobbyists in this year alone, according to a search of Senate lobbying records. Published August 23, 2008

ICE abandons self-deportation program for illegals

With only eight takers since the program's creation this month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has decided to scrap its self-deportation program for illegal immigrants who previously had ignored court orders to leave the country. Published August 23, 2008

Border agent shoots rock-throwing man

Mexican nationals attempting to illegally enter the U.S. by scaling a fence near San Ysidro, Calif., Tuesday night threw a barrage of rocks and chunks of concrete at U.S. Border Patrol agents, who responded with gunfire. One of the Mexicans was wounded. Published August 15, 2008

Democratic Party official slain

The chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party was shot and mortally wounded by a lone gunman on Wednesday who burst into the party's Little Rock headquarters. Published August 14, 2008

Ivins’ lab deemed early on as contaminated

Just seven months after the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people, the U.S. Army laboratory in Maryland where the accused killer worked was described in a report as a "rat's nest" contaminated with anthrax bacteria. Published August 8, 2008

Sheriff questions McCain on illegals

An Ohio sheriff who has been an outspoken critic of efforts by Congress to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants wants some answers from Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Published August 8, 2008

Anthrax suspect’s lab: ‘rat’s nest’

The U.S. Army laboratory in Maryland where the accused killer, microbiologist Bruce E. Ivins, worked was described in a government report as a "rat's nest." Published August 7, 2008

Border patrol agent held at gunpoint

A U.S. Border Patrol agent was held at gunpoint Sunday night by members of the Mexican military who had crossed the border into Arizona, but the soldiers returned to Mexico without incident when backup agents responded to assist. Published August 6, 2008

Target of anthrax probe committed suicide

UPDATED: A leading U.S. Army microbiologist, the target of a federal grand jury investigation in the FBI's seven-year probe of the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people and sickened 17 others, has committed suicide. Published August 1, 2008

Hill letter urges Bush ‘review’ of jailed agents’ case

Thirty-one members of Congress on Wednesday asked President Bush for an "immediate review" of the convictions of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who were sentenced in 2006 to lengthy prison terms for shooting a drug-smuggling suspect as he fled. Published July 31, 2008

Court upholds agents’ conviction in shooting

Two U.S. Border Patrol agents sentenced to lengthy prison terms for shooting a drug-smuggling suspect in the buttocks as he fled back to Mexico were "properly convicted of substantive crimes," a federal appeals court panel ruled Monday, saying the evidence presented at their trial "fully supports the jury verdict." Published July 29, 2008

Scrutiny intensified after tactical missteps

FBI Director Louis J. Freeh announced the arrest with much fanfare during a February 2001 press conference at FBI headquarters - the bureau had taken into custody one of its own as a spy for Russia and the Soviet Union. Published July 25, 2008

Border towns urge levees, not fencing

As Hurricane Dolly's torrential rains raise fears of flooding along the Rio Grande in south Texas, the chairman of the Texas Border Coalition on Wednesday called for the Department of Homeland Security to rethink its efforts to build a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. Published July 24, 2008

Justice denies request in agent’s death

White House and Justice Department officials on Wednesday refused to tell 39 members of Congress why U.S. prosecutors never asked Mexico to detain a suspect in the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent or sought his extradition. Published July 17, 2008

Mexico faults U.S. in border suspect’s release

Mexican law-enforcement authorities released a man suspected of running over and killing a U.S. Border Patrol agent because U.S. officials never asked that he be held or sought his extradition while he was in custody, officials said. Published July 15, 2008

Answers demanded in agent’s slaying

Chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus on Thursday asked the president and the attorney general to "provide a full accounting" of what led to the release from jail of a Mexican national suspected of killing a U.S. Border Patrol agent. Published July 11, 2008

Southwest tribe calls for end of border fence construction

The Tohono O'odham Nation, the second largest Indian reservation recognized by the U.S. with territory and members on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, is calling for a halt in the construction of a fence along the Southwest border. Published July 11, 2008

U.S. helps ransom Reyes’ kin

U.S. law enforcement authorities helped facilitate a $32,000 ransom payment in Mexico for a relative of a U.S. congressman who was kidnapped last week by gunmen in Ciudad Juarez, a border city with rampant drug smuggling, gunfights and corruption. Published June 27, 2008

Whistleblower retaliation suspected

A senior Republican senator and two Democratic congressmen want the FBI to investigate suspected retaliation against an agent who told a House subcommittee about staffing problems within the FBI. Published June 26, 2008

Chertoff hits release order in agent death

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he was "shocked and appalled" that a Mexican judge had ordered the release of a 22-year-old Mexican national arrested on charges of running over and killing a U.S. Border Patrol agent attempting to stop fleeing suspected drug smugglers. Published June 26, 2008