NATIONAL BRIEFING

Border arrests fall, deportations soar

WASHINGTON – Border Patrol arrests plunged to a 45-year low, but detentions by deportation officers away from the U.S.-Mexico border soared during President Donald Trump’s first months in office.

In all, the Border Patrol made 310,531 arrests during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, a decline of 25 percent from a year earlier and the lowest level since 1971.

But U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose officers pick up people for deportation, made 143,470 arrests, an increase of 25 percent. After Trump took office, ICE arrests surged 40 percent from the same period a year

earlier.

Mueller’s inquiry has cost $3.2M so far

WASHINGTON – Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with President Donald Trump’s associates has cost taxpayers at least $3.2 million so far, according to Justice Department records released Tuesday.

Mueller’s far-reaching investigation has so far resulted in charges against four former aides to Trump’s campaign.

Last week, Mueller announced charges against Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, the only aide charged who also served in his presidential administration.

In exchange for pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, Flynn has agreed to cooperate with Mueller’s team.

Pentagon fails to report 600 crimes to FBI

WASHINGTON – Military law enforcement officials failed to submit fingerprint reports to the FBI in one out of four cases over a two-year period in which troops had been convicted of serious crimes, potentially letting them buy weapons illegally, the Pentagon Inspector General found in a report released Tuesday.

The military services are required to submit socalled “fingerprint cards” to the FBI’s Next Generation Database.

From 2015 through 2016, the inspector general found that the services did not submit 601, or 24 percent, of the required 2,502 fingerprint reports.

Failing to do so, the report notes, “can allow someone to purchase a weapon who should not, hinder criminal investigations, and potentially impact law enforcement and national security interests.”

The Air Force has acknowledged that it had failed to notify the FBI of the court martial of Devin Kelley, the former airman who killed 26 people last month during a church service in Sutherland Springs, Texas.