Here are links to four intriguing stories from around the country about hot border topics.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. said she’s planning on submitting a request for a study from the Government Accountability Office on the effectiveness of checkpoints in the Tucson Sector and other parts of the country. That report would be the first in more than two years on the subject.

The story in Thursday’s Arizona Daily Star mentioned a restoration plan for the Colorado River near Yuma but didn’t delve into great detail. If you are interested, I’ve got some more information here.

The U.S. Congress — which failed to pass broad immigration reform this summer — is turning to a piecemeal approach. First, it was the Republicans with their border security measures and now its the Democrats who are getting set to introduce measures that would create a path to legalization for some illegal immigrant youth.

Three links: a new study on remittances, a story on Mexican police trying to buy guns in Phoenix and an article about a judge ruling against a tracking of money shipments.

I read a host of government documents and browsed many environmental and legislative Websites in researching a Sunday story on plans for large swaths of fencing along Arizona’s stretch of the U.S.-Mexican border. I’ve got the links to them here for those interested.

An international security contractor has offered to hire, train and deploy 1,000 private agents to temporarily assist the U.S. Border Patrol at the U.S.-Mexican border.

A reputable study from the Department of Homeland Security has put the illegal immigrant population in the United States at 11.6 million, backing a previous report from the Pew Hispanic Center that estimated it to be between 11.5 and 12 million.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t relaxing on a beach in the tropics or touring NFL training camps during my 16-day blog hiatus. I was busy with a host of breaking news stories.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney toured the border in San Diego Monday and then delivered a get-tough speech with the fence as a backdrop. Expect to see more politicians partake in this always-popular border tour as we get closer to the 2008 election.