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Andrew Becker covers border and national-security issues for the Center for Investigative Reporting and California Watch. His reporting has appeared in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, The New York Times, Newsweek, The Daily Beast and PBS's Frontline. Before joining CIR in 2008, he was a fellow at the U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, where he reported on human smuggling and corruption along the Southwest U.S.-Mexico border for a joint New York Times and Frontline/World production. Previously he was a reporter for the Contra Costa Times. He has also written and reported for The Dallas Morning News, San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe, Frontline, KQED's California Report, and Los Angeles magazine. He received a master’s degree in journalism from U.C. Berkeley.
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Most Border Busts U.S. Pot Smokers
<p>As federal aid dries up even as border security expands, localities are struggling to foot the bill, report Andrew Becker and G.W. Schulz of the <a href="http://www.cironline.org" target="_blank">Center for Investigative Reporting</a>.<br> </p>
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New Drone Report: Our Border Is Not as Secure as We Thought
Eye in the Sky<p>Thanks to a previously unreported drone flying over the U.S.-Mexico border, we now know that more people are crossing than previously thought—and getting away with it, reports Andrew Becker of the <a href="http://cironline.org/" target="_blank">Center for Investigative Reporting</a>. </p>
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Would-Be Border Agents Confess
Murder and Rape<p>With prospective agents near the end of their screening process confessing to hideous crimes, Andrew Becker of the <a href="http://cironline.org/" target="_blank"><i>Center for Investigative Reporting</i></a> asks about the thousands hired before the agency began administering the test six months ago.</p>
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Border Drug Busts Mostly Americans
Exclusive<p>While the Border Patrol highlights Mexican drug mules, three in four of those arrested by the agency for drug-related offenses are U.S. citizens, reports the <a href="http://cironline.org/" target="_blank">Center for Investigative Reporting</a>.</p>
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Corruption Hounds Border Patrols
Code of Silence<p>A report kept secret for more than a year shows infiltration, corruption, and dysfunction among border agents, reports Andrew Becker of the <a href="http://cironline.org" target="_blank">Center for Investigative Reporting</a>.</p>
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Cops Ready for War
<p>A decade of billions in spending in the name of homeland security has armed local police departments with military-style equipment and a new commando mentality. But has it gone too far? Andrew Becker and G.W. Schulz of the <a href="http://centerforinvestigativereporting.org/" target="_blank">Center for Investigative Reporting</a> report.</p>
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