National Guard to be pulled from border patrol!

The state said there will be a six month gap of vulnerability at the border when feds pull National Guard troops.

Sate homeland security said the National Guard on the border will leave in July, six months earlier than expected. Officials said border agents won’t take over until December at the earliest, leaving more than 180 miles of border virtually unwatched.

The original plan was to have the National Guard watch the border until 6,000 new agents could be properly trained.

Border patrol officials said that won’t happen until December, but state officials said that’s not stopping the feds from pulling the plug early.

State officials said the feds are not saying what’s behind the early withdrawal of guard troops from across the country.
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Officials monitor thousands of letters without warrants

The US postal service approves more than 10,000 requests from US law enforcement each year to record names, addresses and other information from the outside of packages, according to information released through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The warrantless surveillance mail program -- as it is known -- requires only the approval of the US Postal Inspection Service Director, and not a judge.
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"The idea of the government tracking that amount of mail is quite alarming," Director of the American Civil Liberties Union's national security project Jameel Jaffer told the paper. "When you realize that (the figure) does not include national security matters, the numbers are even more alarming."

Officials would not disclose how much mail was monitored in national security or "terror"-related investigations. Under the PATRIOT ACT, those who received letters notifying them that they were being investigated often were gagged from even reporting their being targeted.
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There's reason to believe more mail may be being opened, as well.

In late 2006, a signing statement issued by President Bush suggested that his office had expanded executive branch power to open mail without a warrant.
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This is ridiculous. What happened to the fourth amendment?