The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "border enforcement" ...
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Identity Evil
"Identity Evil" is an in-depth look at a violent fake document cartel operating in states across the country. The cartel is the largest and most sophisticated fake id ring federal investigators have ever encountered. They were funneling millions of dollars from U.S. cities south of the border into Mexico. The cartel became synonymous with murder and torture as they sought to protect their turf from rival gangs and enforce discipline within their own organization. Using eyewitness accounts, federal wiretaps, and interviews with victim’s families, investigative reporter A.J. Lagoe and photojournalist Ben Arnold take viewers inside the cartel and document the violence that would prove to be their undoing.
Tags: Fake ID; federal wiretaps; violence; fake document cartel
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GPS Surveillance
This story examines how law enforcement agents- FBI, DEA, local police, and border patrol agents- have been using GPS devices for years with little to no oversight.
Tags: GPS surveillance; FBI; DEA; local police; border patrol
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Crime Along The Border
This investigation sought to answer a question: Whether drug cartel violence raging in Mexico had spilled over into the U.S. border region, as had been claimed by some politicians and law enforcement officials.
Tags: drug cartel; mexico; border patrol; politicians; law enforcement
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Road to Nowhere:The men who are caught transporting illegal immigrants rarely pay the price
A Colorado law passed to prohibit human smuggling has proven to be difficult to enforce. Most charges against human smugglers are dismissed or don't end up in court.
Tags: illegal immigration; human smuggling; border; state troopers; smuggler
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Blood of Their Brothers, The Border Trilogy
After three policemen and a civilian were executed and beheaded, the investigation into the mayoral regime began. This investigation uncovered a multitude of problems and scandals. Also, it revealed the three policemen and the civilian were honest and innocent. The series "explicitly spelled out the machinations of violence that's claimed more than 10,000 lives since 2006."
Tags: Rosarito; Mexico; conflict; police; law enforcement; mayor; cops; murder; crime; mafia; government
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The Border Within
An investigation by the Rocky Mountain News found that "many criminal immigrants who are supposed to be deported are not removed from the country because of a lack of manpower and detention space and because of a lack of communication among federal, state and local officials." The newspaper also reported that "many of these criminals had gone on to commit worse crimes in Colorado, including murder and sexual assault." In addition, "half the people deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement each year in Colorado and nationally have no criminal record."
Tags: Immigration; deportation; criminals; repeat offenders
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The Enclave
David Kelly and Gary Cohn of the Los Angeles Times investigate the failure of public agencies to check the activities of a religious sect on the border of Utah and Arizona. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), an offshoot of Mormonism is the sect. Its members have engaged in polygamy, sexual abuse, spousal abuse and child abuse with no government intervention to curb these crimes.
Tags: Religious sect; sexual abuse; child abuse; lax law enforcement; Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; FLDS; Mormon offshoots
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Harvest of Women: The True Story About the Murders of Girls and Women in Juarez, Mexico (1993-2005)
Author Diana Washington Valdez examines the circumstances behind the approximately 470 deaths of girls and women between the years of 1993 and 2005 in the border city of Juarez, Mexico. Her investigation discusses the brutality with which many of the victims were murdered, and the inability of local law enforcement to properly investigate these killings. Various law enforcement authorities undercounted the tally of dead by about 100, tried to blame the crimes on scapegoats, ignored viable suspects and "rejected or minimized information and leads provided by the FBI in El Paso, Texas." Investigations were further hindered by the fact the police and military were involved with the Juarez drug cartel, which "has operations in all the places where similar murders were committed during the past six years." Members of the Mexican government "protected prominent people involved in some of the murders and hid the findings of previous investigations. Therefore, it is unlikely the case will ever be completely solved, and the killers brought to justice.
Tags: Murder; murder of women; brutal murder; mutilated victims; mutilation; rape; drug cartel; government corruption; law enforcement corruption; unsolved murder
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Siren song: Gambling's allure
Utah formally outlaws all forms of gambling. However, it is available in both illegal and legal forms. There is extensive gambling on the border between Idaho and Utah. Also "bingo halls" and "poker clubs", numerous in Utah, are essentially casinos using loopholes in the law. Internet gambling also is popular due to lax law enforcement.
Tags: gambling; Utah; casinos; lottery; illegal gambling; bingo; poker
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Border Violence
The reporters investigated the war unfolding along the U.S.-Mexican border involving drug trafficking organizations and both governments. The authors were interested in going beyond the body counts to why this violence was happening, why it had begun to accelerate and how it had reached cities like Dallas, hundreds of miles north of the border.
Tags: violence; border control; drug cartels; drug war; Mexico - U.S. border; gangs; Nuevo Laredo; law enforcement; Zetas