In 2006 and 2007, Congress failed at compromise on illegal migration, an issue that confronts many countries.

Americans clearly wanted stronger enforcement of the nation's immigration laws. This had to come before any attempt at reforms to create a program for temporary workers to enter the country legally or to allow undocumented migrants in the US to walk a punitive path to citizenship, which many deem amnesty.

Terrorists will continue to try to evade U.S. border security measures and place operatives inside the mainland to carry out attacks, the 38-page assessment said. It also said that they may pose as refugees or asylum seekers or try to exploit foreign travel channels such as the visa waiver program, which allows citizens of 34 countries to enter the U.S. without visas.

Long waits for immigration and more restrictive European refugee and asylum programs will cause more foreigners to try to enter the U.S. illegally. Increasing numbers of Iraqis are expected to migrate to the U.S. in the next five years; and refugees from Somalia and Sudan could increase because of conflicts in those countries, the assessment said.

Because there is a proposed cap of 12,000 refugees from Africa, officials expect more will try to enter the U.S. illegally as well. Officials predict the same scenario for refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Attempts to smuggle illegal immigrants from China into the Houston area have increased in recent months, with the most recent effort being a scheme to fly them into the region, a top immigration agent said.

Under President George W. Bush’s leadership, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has achieved considerable success in protecting the nation from dangerous people and goods, securing the nation’s critical infrastructure, strengthening emergency preparedness and response and unifying department operations. More than seven years without an attack on U.S. soil is a testament to this department’s 218,000 employees, the intelligence community and the nation’s first responders and law enforcement officers.

Layoffs, dwindling job opportunities, anti-immigrant sentiment and the crackdown on illegal immigrants are forcing hard choices on many Mexican nationals in Colorado. Though not an exodus, some are returning to a nation they haven't seen in years.

"Two tunnels were discovered in Nogales over the weekend by Nogales police officers, making a four-day total of three tunnels found in the border city.

Elsewhere, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers stopped 17 people from entering the United States using fraudulent Canadian citizenship cards at the Douglas port of entry."

"The plunging U.S. economy and subsequent cuts in the construction, service and manufacturing industries are prompting many immigrant workers, particularly those in the United States illegally, to contemplate a life-changing decision: Do they stay and earn far less, or head home to meager opportunities?"

Federal authorities Wednesday arrested six people, including two with Pittsburgh ties, on charges that they operated a network of staffing services with more than 100 illegal workers from Eastern Europe.

The suspects hired workers from Russia, Ukraine, Estonia and Lithuania -- knowing their temporary visas had expired and assigned the workers to businesses in Pittsburgh, Monroeville and Ohio, prosecutors say. The defendants are accused of trying to hide the illegal workers' immigration status by providing housing, as well as transportation to and from work.

The Unicoi County Sheriff’s Department will participate in a federal program that will provide more training in handling issues related to illegal aliens that also could be used in other cases.

Sheriff Kent Harris and Lt. George Berry met Tuesday with two representatives of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency from New Orleans. The sheriff’s department had inquired about taking part in a program in which it would be able to take illegal aliens to a federal holding facility.

A Texas county filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court this week in the latest bid to stop construction of hundreds of miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In asking the court to review a lawsuit previously dismissed by a federal court judge, lawyers for El Paso County contend that U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff overstepped his legal authority when he waived 37 federal laws that could have slowed or blocked construction of fencing along the border.

When asked about what governments should do to address illegal immigration, 83% of respondents supported stronger border controls, 74% supported cracking down on employers, and 68% supported deportation.