Border Security: Finding More Effective Ways to Measure the Efficacy of Border Patrols

The United States Border Patrol has a mission and duty to protect our borders through regulating laws and preventing illegal terrorists, drugs, and weapons from entering the United States. This has been a clear goal ever since laws have been passed to help secure our borders back in 1924. The need for Border Patrol and the demand for tighter security plans have been increasing due to terrorist attacks on American soil, the presence of radical groups, and a high rate of crime in the United States. The big idea here is that as crime continues to develop so will our border securities. I would like to primarily focus on the current role of the Border Patrol versus what it might have been in years past. Many tragedies have occurred in recent times more than what was experienced years ago. The United States has suffered throughout the year 2000 and continues to suffer from severe threats to the nation. It only makes sense to make changes and tighten our borders in order to help prevent the ongoing crimes. If the Border Patrol does this than the individuals living in this nation will live in a better and much safer environment. Along with their current role, the research on the Border Patrol’s changes that either have hindered their work or made them more effective will be looked into as well.

Prior to the events of 9/11, for nearly two decades, America welcomed immigrations to our country with open arms. After 9/11, America’s ideals begin to shift pertaining to immigrants, our nation’s safety, and border patrol. America was left with great fear, post 9/11, and began to implement many changes in our border patrol and immigration laws. “In response to record numbers of illegal border crossings and the security fears triggered by the 9/11 attacks, over the past two decades the United States has steadily increased its efforts to secure its borders against illegal immigration. The number of U.S. Border Patrol agents has risen from fewer than

The U.S Border Patrol’s main job is to prevent terrorists, weapons, and illegal aliens from entering the U.S. without identification. They want to make sure that the nation is safe from crimes and attacks that can happen from the South American or Canadian borderline. Border patrollers want to detect and prevent illegal human trafficking, drugs, or species that will cause harm to the country. They have to work day and night to protect their country from harmful people or items.

Never exceeding more than seventy-five guards, this placed them severely understaffed for the need of manpower, but it was reinforced with the help of “Military troops along the southwest border performed intermittent border patrolling…Texas Rangers were also sporadically assigned to patrol duties by the state” (Border Patrol History, 2015). At that time the United States government was more concerned with intercepting enemy communications than they were about illegal entry into the country. However, struck by the realization of how ineffective their efforts were to secure and patrol the border without enforcement between stations; Frank W. Berkshire, the Supervising Inspector, addressed his concerns of uncoordinated efforts in enforcing

Illegal immigration has been around ever since borders were created to divide the world. The reasons for illegal immigration, stretch from escaping unstable governments, seeking job opportunities, and making money. In the United States, most of the current illegal immigration comes from Mexico and Latin America because of poverty and the lack of jobs (Poroy)(Wilson, Armstrong). The United States provides many cheap labor positions in construction and farming where business owners are looking for immediate workers that will get the job done. Unfortunately, illegal immigrants cost the U.S. government around $11.4 billion to $20.2 billion each year due to the use of America’s goods without paying all their taxes(Amadeo). Fortunately, over the

Borders between nations are, largely, used to control and monitor the movement of people internationally. One of the fundamental problems with the border control of states is their ineffectiveness in preventing and deterring people from crossing borders. The most notorious border, the Mexico-United States border, spans an area of 1,989mi (International Boundary & Water Commission, 2017) and has become increasingly militarised over the years due to the, ever increasing, influx of Mexican immigrants attempting to cross the border. The US border security claimed an 81% success rate in preventing illegal immigrants from crossing the border in 2015. However, alternative estimates suggest that the border security’s success rate was in the 40-55% range

By placing the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), immigration is considered a national security issue by default. Whether or not the issue is treated seriously is up for debate, as the situation constantly is an issue in media and in political campaigns. However, border fences have been increased as well and the amount of agents with CBP (Andreas, 2009).

In our present times national security became a priority. According to Tricia Escobedo, the last year’s terrorist attack in Paris on the night of November 13th left 129 people dead and hundreds wounded. The perpetrators were a mix of French nationals, and Syrian refugees that migrate to Europe due to the current open door policy for asylum seekers (1). We have a problem because our southern border is an open door for foreign terrorist to enter our country, due to the fact that the many people cross illegally. According to Stephen Dinan, nearly 800,000 people arrived in the past two years (1). I am veteran of the United States Army that deployed many times to Afghanistan, I lived in what we call forward operating bases, this forward operating bases had a secure perimeter due to the presence of physical barrier in this case a wall, in order to protect the people inside, and this solution work because it keep any threats away. We had 100 percent control of the people entering the Forward Operating Base, this kind of control reduced drastically any possibility that a foreign terrorist could enter inside the base, and cause severe casualties between the civilian and military personnel.

From personal experience, a friend of mine whose father worked as a border patrol officer, my friend would say a lot about dealing with scary situations. My friend would mention at times that she families would receive a few anonymous letters, saying how much they hated his father. The notation that border patrol man are bad and that they abuse innocent people is completely wrong but some people believe that. If some people have strong dislike toward border patrol officers, they will seek to make their life as horrible as they can. The unfortunate families that go through the loss of a loved one, are left with sorrow and at times anger. Brain Terry the officer, mention before, was killed by Mexican bandits and whose family has lose trust in the government. Brains uncle, Ralph Terry stated, “The entire Terry Family has experienced a level of ‘trust deficit’ in their government… it hurts to be treated like this and adds insult to injury when the President speaks of phony scandal” (Pavlich). In other words, Terry’s family is upset about some of the President’s remarks about phony scandals dealing with border security, when they are dealing with sorrow from the death of their loved one, Brain Terry. Families like Terry’s and others go through a lot emotions while their loved one is out on the border. The deaths of officers and the struggles of families is a other reason why the United States should decrease the manpower and increase the use of technology. The

The operations of DHS are helping now because before 9/11 I personally think we let our guard down concerning if other countries might attack us. But since 9/11 DHS has strengthened our security and has become more watchful of who enters our country such as through Airport Security and Border Patrol. Yes, I do believe there could be more room for improvement, there is always going to be room for improvement concerning our safety because there's no such thing as being fully secure when we have other countries or people out there with harmful attention towards the U. S.

United States Border Patrol has been around since 1904 enforcing and regulating laws under the immigration and Nationality Act. U.S. border patrol is now under the Department of Homeland Security, which was created as a response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. Over the years, their jurisdiction and missions have changed to better protect the safety of nation. Although border patrol is a need for any nation, their extensive acceptations to constitutional laws can often be taken advantage of. The mission of the U.S. border patrol should be to prevent illegal aliens, which are a threat to American society, from reaching their purpose. Frequently, their purpose can be confused or executed in a bias manner.

The United States of America experienced the greatest, and arguably the most significant, restructure of both governmental and legal proportions in its contemporary history. Following the suddenness of the attacks, the United States was desperate to ensure that an onslaught of a similar stature was subdued. Henceforth, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 was established, bringing into existence the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a department specifically concerned with internal issues faced by the USA. Primarily made as a direct response to the 9/11 attacks, the role of the DHS is to protect the United States of America and its given states and territories from danger; specifically, terrorist attacks, man-made accidents, and natural disasters; this is commonly seen in airports in the form of Customs and Border Control which are two functions of the DHS, following its subsequent take over of the IHS (Immigration and Naturalisation Services) in 2003. In the same movement for security, the *USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 was legislated in an attempt to “detect and prosecute terrorism and other crimes”

The U.S.-Mexico border wall is a public security infrastructure project that has caused many consequences for the communities in Rio Grande Valley, Texas (Carter, 2013). Many migrants like Jose would like a better life for their family. Jose would have to think about the different options available to them for hopes of crossing the U.S. border to make a better life for his family. Jose is aware of the dangerous lands one would have to cross with the possibility of receiving serious injuries and possible loss of life, but knowing there are numerous unprotected points of entry along the border Jose could seriously think about taking the chance of crossing into America. However, if Jose knew that he would encounter an

Immigration Policy, Border Security and Migrant Deaths: An Impact Evaluation of Life Saving Efforts under the Border Safety Initiative

Implementing stringent security controls along the borders is likely to reduce the influx of illegal immigration into the United States. With the increased border security, the American government could have helped alleviate the occurrence of the 9/11 bombing. Though this strategy is essential in alleviating the influx of illegal immigrants to certain geographic areas, increased border controls in these locations have made other, less controlled areas of the border more vulnerable. Rising crime rates, discarded debris, increased apprehension rates, and growing public scrutiny in these less secure areas provide clear evidence that border security is at once a social, an economic, and a national security issue.