Border Vulnerable to Islamic State Terrorists:  The director of the Texas Department of Public Safety warned that the porous southern border may leave Americans vulnerable to a jihadist attack, citing persons with a "terrorism presence" having been caught infiltrating the Texas-Mexico border.  Kellan Howell of the Washington Times reports that Steven McCraw, speaking at the annual Texas Border Coalition meeting, said that an unsecure border with Mexico leaves Texas and other border states extremely vulnerable, "as is provides criminals and would-be terrorists from around the world a reliable means" to enter the nation undetected.  He affirmed that suspected Islamic State terrorists had successfully crossed the border into the U.S.

DOJ to Release 2,000 Criminal Aliens:  Border state Sheriffs are concerned with the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) plan to release 6,000 federal inmates from prison, 2,000 of whom are foreign citizens.  Lana Shadwick of Breitbart reports that Jackson County, Texas Sheriff Aj (Andy) Louderback is hesitant to believe the federal government's claims that those 2,000 illegal immigrants "will be deported quickly," and will instead be protected under numerous categories outlined in the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP), which takes a select class of criminal aliens no longer picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and forces sheriffs to release them from county jails and into communities.  Louderback argues that "by creating PEP exceptions, the federal government is refusing to follow federal immigration laws that are on the books."  In the last year, deportations have fallen to the lowest level since 2006, and deportations for criminal aliens have also dropped to the lowest level since President Obama took office.  The 6,000 inmates will be released between October 30^th and November 2^nd.  Another 8,550 are eligible for release between November 1, 2015 and November 1, 2016.

Oregon Shooter's Mother Aware of his Mental Issues:  The mother of the man who stormed his community college classroom in Oregon last Thursday, gunning down his teacher and eight classmates, was aware of both his interest with guns and his mental health issues.  Suman Varandani of the International Business Times reports that Laurel Harper, a nurse and mother of gunman Chris Harper-Mercer, acknowledged in online posts that her son struggled with mental illness, but encouraged his fascination with guns and had several firearms stored in their home.  Harper allegedly confided in colleagues about the challenges raising her son, who she claims had Asperger's syndrome, and spoke of plans to place him in a psychiatric hospital in California before moving to Oregon in 2013.  She elaborated to the colleague that "the big problem is, when doesn't take his medication."