The Boeing 's Virtual Fence Project

One of the pros for building the fence is that “control of the borders are required for national security”. With the rise of terrorist groups around the world including

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

“In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Land Acquisition Section attorneys secured space in New York for federal agencies whose offices were lost with the World Trade Towers. Today, Section projects include acquiring land along hundreds of miles of the United States-Mexico border to stem illegal drug trafficking and smuggling, allow for better inspection and customs facilities, and forestall

The Department of Homeland Security “dhs” were set to build a total of 370 miles but only completed a 300 mile section by the end of december 2008. The biggest problem that hey rain in too was that they couldn't get all the land that they needed to finish the fence. They reserved the right to build the fence on April 1, 2008. There is still a number of miles that has no wall or fence (vitiello). The wall caused an estimated 4 billion annually to keep the wall maintained. There will also be a cost to pay people to

After 9/11, there was a change in immigration laws in the United states. There was increased funding, like in 2002, President Bush passed the HomeLand security act by creating an umbrella entity, to keep the U.S safe from future terrorist attacks. A pair of economists estimated the creation of the Homeland security cost (ed) the U.S $589 billion from 2001-2011. The next problem was:

Lourdes Medrano is a strong advocate for immigration reform to strengthen the border and the security manning the border. She supports her argument by showing how President George W. Bush’s surge on the US-Mexican border. President Bush doubled the man power along the border, while leading the technological advance on the border. Medrano shows how President Bush brought immigration reform into the spotlight, when roughly 1.6 million immigrants where entering the US illegally. Now the number is historically lower at 356,873 immigrants. The budget for the border patrol has been steadily increasing 1.1 billion in 2001 to 3.5 billion in 2012. Medrano presents how President Bush signed the Secure Fence Act in 2006, which authorized 700 miles of fencing. This his directly contributed to 651 miles of fencing created by 2012. Surge on immigration reform has also doubled the man power from 2001 to 2012, which is exactly what President Bush envisioned. With the border patrol now being a division of Homeland Security and help from the national guard, they have grown much bigger then what they once were. Even the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says that “our borders have, in fact, never been stronger.”

The Homeland Security Agency believed that adequate levels of reinforcement at the border was necessary after the traumatic evens that occurred in New York. The Department of Homeland Security was created in 2002, as a response to the attacks on 9/11. The Department had a negative affect on the country because it caused the national debt to rise due to funding for “enforcement activities”. Although the creation of the Department of Homeland Security did enforce a more secure immigration policy, the terrorists that attacked during 9/11 had visas. This means that they were not illegal immigrants, and therefore the Department was not actually protecting the people entirely well. This system also prevented many people with certain skills that wanted to come over to America because they were not let in the

The Federal Protective Service (FPS) created RAMP in response to terrorist events. The goal of RAMP was to provide FPS with the capability to assess risks at federal facilities based on threat, vulnerability, and consequence, and track countermeasures to mitigate those risks; and improve the agency’s ability to monitor and verify that its contract security guards are trained and certified to be deployed to federal facilities (Goldstein, 2011). RAMP’s current status is chaotic. It is behind schedule and over budget. RAMP is over budget because the original system requirements changed and additional resources had to be added to accommodate the new requirements. RAMP is behind schedule due to development and implementation

At a cost ranging in the billions, this multi year project was not without costly troubles. A byproduct of the SBI is the Secure Fence Act of 2006. The SFA increased the border control funding from a low of $4.6 billion to $10.4 billion. The goal was to employ the use of technology like radar, cameras and sensors, as well as infrastructure via fences, roads and lighting to detect and deter illegal entry. The focus was on the southwest border at areas deemed “more vulnerable” than other entry points. The fence was to be 700 miles long and equipped with the latest and greatest technology tax payers could buy. The fence was a failure. Radar and motion detectors set off alarms sending in the troops but often they are false alarms. Birds fly into the fence and set the alarms off and even high winds will set it off.(3) What’s the solution? A political debate of course! How can the government ineffectually spend more? A proposal by Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Duncan Hunter, called for two fences composed of metal and wire that would run from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Coast. Additionally, he proposed that a two layer 15’ fence be constructed along the entire length of the U.S/Mexico border. (3) The cost was estimated to be from 4 billion to eight billion dollars for the 2,000 mile fence. A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll indicated that Americans favored a proposal to build a 2,000-mile security fence by a 51-to-37 percent margin.

In previous years, many countries and territories around the world have attempted to build walls, and many have had very much success. For example, Most of the walls built after World War 2 and the Cold War still exist today. There were a total of 110 walls built between that time period. Professor Nazli Avdan led a study that had a goal of identifying if a border wall reduced or increased the risk of a transnational terrorist attack. This study found that since the year 1900, transnational terrorist attacks have seen a thirteen percent annual decrease in countries with border walls (Border fences reduce...attacks). This has been a real focal point that President Donald Trump has used to get people to agree with him. Another reason of his includes the disrupting of the funneling of illicit money and drugs into the United States of America (Border fences reduce...attacks). The bonus of the building of the wall is that it will be a visible sign of the government taking action.

Also, the homeland is safeguarded against acts of terrorism, manmade or natural disasters, and focused on actions to protect the citizens, residents, visitors, critical assets, systems, and networks against the Nation’s greatest risks, by enhancing Protection through cooperation and collaboration with all sectors of society to create conditions for a safer, more secure, and more resilient Nation. Furthermore, the Protection capabilities are achieved through specific, but are not limited to, critical infrastructure protection, cybersecurity, border security, immigration security, protection of key leadership and events, maritime security, transportation security, defense of agriculture and food, defense against weapons of mass destruction threats, and health security (National Preparedness…, 2011). Due to the fact that the private sector owns approximately 85 percent of the nation’s critical infrastructure (banking and financial institutions, telecommunications networks, energy production,and transmission facilities) there is greater emphasis now on public and private sectors forming effective partnerships for protection. A series of Information Sharing and Analysis Centers is one new feature of infrastructure protection, which are public-private partnerships designed to provide members of

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”

Starting in 2006, the United States started to develop the wall along parts of the frontier between U.S. and Mexico. There was 670 miles of the wall authorized to be assembled, and there were many objections to it being built. Besides the oppositions, from 2006 to 2009 there was already more than 100 miles of the wall constructed (Gilman 258). Congress passed the “Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act” in 1996. The act gave power to the government to create walls or barriers along the border, and it allowed it to seize land from people if it is imperative in protecting the borderline of the country (Gilman 259). In 2006, the “Secure Fence Act” was passed that instructed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop a fence stretching from 5 different areas of the border. In 2007, there was 70 miles of the wall built in the Arizona and Mexico frontier. Since this occurrence, the government then shifted its surveillance to the border along Texas and Mexico in 2007, and started suggestions to assemble more than 100 miles of the border wall by 2008 (Gilman 260). Towards the end of 2007, the

The 9/11 incident crippled the American economy and its impact is still felt at present times. Following this tragedy, a commission was initiated by President George W. Bush and the congress to investigate the reasons behind the bombing and provide recommendations to help avert such occurrences in the future. Therefore, this paper discusses the impact of making the US border more secure, the rationale behind replacing the "need to know" with the "need to share". Moreover, the paper highlights the DOD's role the role in border and coastal security, its relationship with the Department of Homeland Security and how DOD supports civil authorities.

It was reported in the San Antonio Express News that “Border-Patrolling Drones Would Call Texas Base Home.” Lynn Brezosky reported that “U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin cut the ribbon for the launch of the nation’s fourth base for operating border surveillance drones.” This is important in securing the U.S.-Mexico border, which the U.S. has an approximate 1,933 mile long border with Mexico (Beaver). Brezosky also reported that “the Homeland Security budget called for two drones for Texas.” The new drones in Texas are another step towards securing the U.S. border with Mexico. On the other hand, the so called “border fence” is producing less than favorable results.