A new report casts immigration enforcement as the U.S. government's top anti-crime priority, marked by a two-decade shift in funding that has put more staff, equipment and screening capabilities to work protecting the country's borders.

The report by the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute, based in Washington, comes amid recent reforms by the White House easing policies for some illegal immigrants and criticism by Republican lawmakers who want a greater focus on enforcement efforts.

Video by Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Coast Guard personnel were joined by other federal agencies Christmas Eve to remove more than 85 pounds of cocaine from a ship off the Galveston coast.

The crew of the 900-foot oil tanker Godavari Spirit notified Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston that they located a suspicious package hidden aboard their ship and suspected it to contain narcotics.

A Coast Guard crew found an illegal gill net with hundreds of dead sharks Monday, four miles off the Texas coast.

The crew of a Coast Guard Station South Padre Island response boat spotted the gill net approximately 17 miles north of the U.S – Mexican maritime border. The gill net was five miles long and was loaded with 345 dead sharks.

The species of shark seized included 225 black tip, 109 bonnet, and 11 bull sharks.

The below message is from Commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Bob Papp’s All Hands e-mail sent out on Dec. 2, 2012:

To the men and women of the United States Coast Guard:

It is with deep regret and sadness that I report the loss of Chief Boatswain’s Mate Terrell Horne, the Executive Petty Officer of CGC HALIBUT, who died early this morning from injuries sustained while conducting maritime law enforcement operations off the California coast.

After an election in which Hispanic voters overwhelmingly supported President Barack Obama and Democratic candidates, Republican and Democratic lawmakers are presenting new proposals on reforming U.S. immigration laws.

Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, a group of Democratic, Hispanic lawmakers from the Senate and House of Representatives, held a news conference Wednesday to lay out their fundamental principles for comprehensive immigration reform.

Video by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement

President Obama's executive order to temporarily halt deportation of some undocumented immigrants has provided hope to them, but it also has put many families and friends on opposite sides of a divide.

Monica Sibri and Yohan Garcia are friends. Garcia came to the United States when he was 15, Sibri when she was 16. He is eligible to remain in the country for now; she is not.

President Obama this year drew a line. Immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally at age 15 or younger are eligible to stay for at least two years.

Another foreign policy disaster. Another attempt at cover up. It’s just more of the lessons being learned from the September 11 Benghazi assassination of four Americans.

The foreign policy of the Obama administration is as delusional as their views on self-defense.

Generally, liberals are more afraid of possessing the means of self-defense than they are of being attacked by thugs. We not only see this in their foreign policy, but in the way they choose to govern here at home, as well.