As a Senior Chief in the United States Navy, the horrific events that took place on September 11th 2001 have had a profound effect on me both professionally and personally. Since then, our country has been fortunate enough to not have a repeat of the events that took the lives of 2,977 Americans. “Much of our success has been in the form of intelligence gathered by a multitude of federal agencies and information shared between our allies” (Hoffman 268). This success has led many to believe we will never be attacked like we were before but instead, we will have more of a ‘lone wolf’ style attack such as the one seen at the Boston Marathon which killed 3 and injured 264 others. I anticipate our current level of success and luck will eventually run dry until we shore up our borders. If we fail in this effort, we will see an attack similar in design but larger in scale as the one used in Paris, France on November 13th 2015. If this happens, our Nation will be led to another foot war and my family life as I know it will change. To prevent a future attack, our government must take necessary measures to defend the homeland from obvious terrorist threats rather than wait for proof in the form of dead civilians, Border Patrol agents and other law enforcement officers. Our government’s unwillingness to fully enforce our existing immigration laws only compounds the potential threat. While many people view illegal border crossings as acts of love, or as last ditch efforts for a
In our past history, The United States Customs and border officials have been focused on relatively common matters of enforcing laws regarding trade and immigration, watching over agriculture and economic interests from pest and disease, and processing people, vehicles and goods. After the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, the primary concern was the homeland security. The threat of terrorists and terrorist tools coming through our borders all add to an increased set of dangers to The United States. Is it the responsibility of our United States Military to defend our country from these threats? The following myths are often understood as true, when in fact they are not.
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
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
It is clear why the breach of security on the southern border is of concern to both governments as well as to citizens of US and Mexico. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is working to secure the border by ensuring that an effective combination of staffing, technology, and infrastructure is utilized to protect the more than 8,000 miles of land and maritime areas along both the northern and southern borders, however the current system in place needs urgent changes in order to secure the borders and move forward to target all illicit activities that take place on the border. The next step will be redirect the attention and work on the effects that it brings to citizens of the countries involved. It is easy to think only on the effects that it brings to United States but also for Mexico it has a negative impact. It is often assumed that illegal immigrants are all Mexican citizens crossing the border however this statement is not a fact. Mexico is being used as a bridge by illegal immigration immigrating to United States from neighbor countries such as Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Peru. The federal government, the DHS and agencies involved in securing our borders need to create a comprehensive plan to guarantee the DHS gains
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.
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 issue of illegal immigration is one of the hotly debated topics in almost every facet of society, especially among political leaders. This topic has also received huge media attention and reaction in the recent past including an article written by William Finnegan and published by The New Yorker. The article focuses on addressing the issue of borderlines and is based on the move by 17 Congress members, who wrote a letter on 28th April 2010 demanding an instant action from President Obama to enhance border security. While the increase in illegal immigration has declined in the recent past, there is still a great need to enhance border security, particularly in the as violence in the neighborhood of U.S. Mexico has continued to escalate at an alarming rate. Therefore, evaluating the need to improve border security to lessening illegal immigration is vital for enhancing the country's security and understanding its impacts on America's economy and labor force.
For illegal immigrants, it is very dangerous for them to come across. They are risking their lives and their families’ lives in search for work. In the deserts that they cross are robbers, murders, no water and no food. The AZ Republic (2003) estimated that in a year’s time, approximately one million people will get caught trying to sneak illegally into the U.S., and over 1000 will die. According to the USCR (2002), in July, Mexico began a campaign to amplify the immigration enforcement at the southern border. The called their campaign “Plan Sur”, and it was aimed at stopping numerous illegal immigrants from stepping foot into the U.S. After September 11, hundreds more were deployed to watch the border from illegal immigrants. Also, The INS has the border wired with high-tech gizmos and practically 10,000 agents to slash the stream
government realized that illegal immigration was affecting the population, they chose to make immigration laws. The immigration laws cause a lot of issues in the communities near the border. As Maria Jiménez , the director of the Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project (ILEMP) said in the document, Enforcement of Immigration Laws Harms Border Communities, “Illegal immigration laws, she argues, create a "war zone" atmosphere in border communities” (par.1). Most of the time, the border patrols tend to cause this “war zone”. The document “Overview- Illegal Immigrants”, states that “The “Minutemen,” patrol the US/Mexico border on their own, seeking to capture those who illegally cross the border...these groups have been controversial and their efforts have sometimes ended in violence”( par. 7). Unreasonable violence is unwanted, mostly here in the United States. Also in the document, “Immigration Should not be Restricted,” the author Jacob G. Hornberger informs the reader that “the government began with immigration quotas. Over time, we have seen the growth of an enormous government bureaucracy (the Immigration and Naturalization Service and Border Patrol) that harasses, abuses, and terrorizes large segments of the population”(par. 17). All of these examples prove that the majority of the immigration laws will create violence, and affect the surrounding
In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the U.S. government implemented a series of critical — and sometimes controversial — immigration policy measures to respond to future threats of terrorism. As we commemorate the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, it is a timely moment to reflect on the status and the legacy of those policy measures. Since all 19 terrorists who attacked the United States that September morning were foreign nationals who had entered the country through legal travel channels, detecting and preventing terrorist activity became the paramount objective of post-9/11 U.S. immigration policy and programs. In the decade since 9/11, immigration policy has been viewed principally through the lens of national
An analysis on the complex issues of United States border security and explores the issues of why millions of dollars are being spent on new ways to make the border a more secure one. He argues that the Department of Homeland Security has created a violent environment especially after September 11, 2001 and has violated the rights and dignity of undocumented individuals using harsh military strategies. He tells the story of how undocumented individuals are victims of the Border Patrol as well as to President Obama’s deportation strategies and policies that continue to break so many families apart. Miller also argues that 9/11 gave federal authorities the green light to become a strong occupying force at both the U.S. – Mexico border and the
oreigners, refugees, migrants, immigrants, and the government has been causing trouble for the U.S borders. The government should just get this problem over with. Create a complicated security system and select the people who are allowed to pass. It’s just as simple as creating a problem but only to have one person to solve that single problem. Instinctively, the president should think about the problems with the borders and solve all of it soon.
For as long as I can remember our country has been involved in some form of conflict. With these conflicts came groups who sought to hurt the U.S. on its sovereign soil. I was in pre-k when the Boeing 757’s hit the Twin Towers in New York. My mother checked me out of school after it occurred; she had a sense of urgency to get my brother and I home. I didn’t know what was going on and I was frightened because my mom was as well. When we got home she went straight to the television and turned it to the news. I did not really understand what I was seeing other than a couple of buildings that were on fire. As I grew older the more my understanding of what occurred that tragic day did too. I began to feel a sense of sorrow and that was the initial I needed to set my mind on the track to become a Special Agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The task of the FBI is not to only investigate the scene after a major event like what occurred in New York, but their main focus is to stop any form of attack before it begins. April 2013, two brothers planted bombs at the Boston Marathon finish line, killing a few and injuring a couple of hundreds of people. Again, I feel this sense of sorrow, but this time I began questioning, “How safe is our country from attacks?” July 2015, Chattanooga, Tennessee a man began to open fire on the recruiting office… He killed five people four of which were Marines and the other a sailor. This act was my breaking point, my determination to
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.
The world has been changed forever since the tragic attack on September 11, 2001. An observer described the atrocity by saying, "It just went 'bam,' like a bomb went off. It was like holy hell (CNN 1). " The new world will be different from what any American has known before. A new war has arisen, not against a foreign country or a major region of the world, but rather against a select group of people who have the capabilities to destroy the lives of so many. The war against terrorism which the United States is now forced to wage will not be an easily won battle. This war will not be fought solely on scattered battlefields in certain countries. It will instead permeate through every aspect of life as we