"The changes started coming slowly to this small town where the U.S. border with Canada runs across sleepy streets, through houses and families, and smack down the middle of the shared local library.

First was the white, painted lettering on the pavement on three little side streets -- "Canada" on one side, "U.S.A." on the other. Then came the white pylons denoting which side of the border was which. After that, signboards were erected on some streets, ordering drivers to turn back and use an officially designated entry point.

And along with the signposts came an influx of American Border Patrol agents, cruising through the town in their green-and-white sport-utility vehicles with sirens, chasing down cars and mopeds that ignored the posted warnings...."

"U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints, such as one near the Hood Canal Bridge on Friday and another about six months ago near Forks, are about to become more common on the North Olympic Peninsula, said an agent.

A checkpoint was set up Friday morning on state Highway 104 one mile west of the Hood Canal Bridge.

Border Patrol Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Joseph Guiliano said checkpoints on U.S. Highway 101 are planned north of Forks and south of Discovery Bay between now and mid-September.

Guiliano said agents detained six illegal immigrants at a checkpoint eight miles north of Forks about six months ago eight miles north of Forks...."

"Open-border advocates operating under the guise of environmentalism are
prepared to push for legislation that could result in an accelerated
flow of illegal immigration, drug smuggling, and human trafficking from
Mexico into Arizona, according to law enforcement experts familiar with
the terrain.

The two bills, sponsored by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), would
restrict federal and state law enforcement officials from patrolling an
already porous border area that extends from Sonora, Mexico into Santa
Cruz County, Ariz., critics charge...."

"Guard troops, many of them Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, refurbished nearly four miles of the 16-foot-high secondary fence running through and east of San Diego. They constructed 973 metal barriers in more remote areas of the border, which are designed to stop vehicles from crashing through. Guard troops flew U.S. Border Patrol agents to remote areas favored by immigrant smugglers with their Blackhawk and Huey helicopters...."

"When the border fence is constructed along the Rio Grande, Fermin Leal will watch as the barrier slices through the backyards of his neighbors, bypassing his 500-acre farm in San Pedro.

The fence's trajectory, incontiguous and largely unexplained, has left many border residents suspicious of the federal government's plans.

"I'm still not sure how my land is different than theirs," Leal said. "They still haven't given us any answers....""

"he thousands of National Guardsmen sent to reinforce the U.S.-Mexican border two years ago have almost completely withdrawn, despite pleas from border-state governors once skeptical of using soldiers to catch illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.

When the Guard was posted along the southern frontier in 2006 to help the strapped Border Patrol, critics warned that sending soldiers would be an insult to Mexico and that innocents could get shot by troops trained for combat, not law enforcement...."

"Truckers who smuggle drugs or people into the U.S. are now risking not only prison time but also the loss of their commercial driver's licenses as Texas uses a longstanding law in a new border crime crackdown.

"Up until today, when those lawbreakers had their trucks apprehended, they were convicted in federal court, they typically paid a small fine or served a brief sentence, then it was back to business as usual. Well, starting today, that all changes," Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday at the Texas Capitol with U.S. Border Patrol sector chiefs...."

"Officials say the threat of prison and a criminal record is a powerful deterrent, one that is helping drive down illegal immigration along the nearly 2,000-mile frontier between the United States and Mexico. Skeptics say that the government lacks the resources to sustain the strategy on the border and that the effort is diverting resources from more serious crimes such as drug and human smuggling...."

"Governors from both sides of the border are meeting in Mexico City to push for more crime-fighting and border security amid unprecedented violence in Mexico...."

"Fernández said the United States and Mexico must cooperate more to curb the violence. Other solutions mentioned included money for substance abuse programs; curbing weapons trafficking into Mexico; legalizing drugs in the United States; a well-trained and professional police force; and increased awareness of the violence on both sides of 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.

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.