Effectiveness of the United States Border Control - Article Example

Effectiveness of the United s Border Control The opportunity to work in the United s is appealing to many. Some choose to illegally enter the Unites States in order to make a living. However, illegal entry is not simply for people who are looking for a job in order to support their family. Drug and weapon smuggling, as well as illegal trafficking of people are other issues that the United States Border Patrol (USBP) has to deal with. The United States Border Patrol is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the U.S. The Border Patrol staff doubled to twenty one thousand in the seven year-period from 2004 to 2012. Although the United States Border Patrol agency has grown in manpower as well as received increased government funding, which helped reduce the illegal crossings proving the effectiveness of the agency, there are still some factors that could be improved. This paper delves in the effectiveness of the United States Border Control while highlighting various successes in recent history. On January 29, 2013 President Obama stated “We strengthened security at the borders so that we could finally stem the tide of illegal immigrants. We put more boots on the ground on the southern border than at any time in our history. And today, illegal crossings are down nearly 80 percent from their peak in 2000." With illegal immigration being a very sensitive issue there is a need for a strong border security. Although some illegal immigrants may immigrate legally and become illegal via visa overstay, staying in United States with an expired visa and simply not coming back. There is a strong need for secure borders since there are illegal border crossings happening daily. Preventing criminals or possible terrorists entering the U.S. is a national security issue and must be taken seriously. After 9/11, the border control strategy was updated to reflect on the post 9/11 threats. The budget on border patrol has increased by more than ten times since 1990. Border patrol received about US$3.5 million in 2012 from a low of just over US$260million in 1990. Most of these funds have gone to boost on the number of agents, technology used and more infrastructure to curb entry such as fences. Smugglers and traffickers have, in turn, resorted in using new routes in areas with difficult terrains such as desserts and mountainous regions. However, the funding has gone to build on the horses program that concentrates on horseback patrols with almost 400 horses on current use as compares to about 220 in 2008. As the policies of the United States Border Control changed over time, terminology changed as well. The term “deportation” which is often misinterpreted by the media is no longer used by the government. "Deportation" was an official and a legal term before 1996. Any time the government removed someone from inside the country who was in the US illegally, that was considered a deportation. As an addition, there was the term "exclusions," which was for denying entrance to someone who was trying to get in. In 1996, both of these processes merged into a single process called "removals." Same way a formal "order of deportation" became an "order of removal" (Lind). However, despite the fact that the terminology changed, in many news reports as well as immigration debates the term “deportations” was used even though it did not have an official legal meaning and could be misinterpreted. Currently, the federal government uses two different terms when it takes into custody an unauthorized immigrant and expels them from the country. There are “removals," which involve a formal court order. And then there are "returns," which do not. The United States Border Control can be evaluated by the combined amount of removals and returns as well as the technological and strategic improvements. According to NDN Analysis: Total Removals, Returns of Unauthorized Immigrants Plummet Under Obama “In 2012, the Obama Administration removed and returned almost a million people less than the height of the Bush Presidency” (Buckhout). There was an increased amount of removals but far less returns, yielding to a smaller figure when compared to the Bush administration. It is critical to note that despite the figures of removals, there is almost double increase in trade between Mexico and the United States i.e. from US$340 to US$550 from 2009 to 2013, respectively. An increased amount of removals is a more secure way of deportation since it puts legal consequences on the removed person. Since a removal involves a formal court order, the charges against the alien can be based on a misdemeanor illegal entry or a felony illegal reentry. Such court orders guarantee that the immigrant will not enter United States legally for at least five years (Lind). Another benefit of a removal is that if an illegal alien returns to the United States their order of removal can be reinstated. This means that one could be deported again without a second trial. An increased amount of removals in the recent years by the U.S. Border Control under the Obama administration shows the effectiveness of the agency. As Jessica Vaughan writes in her report Deportation Numbers Unwrapped for the center of immigration studies that in 2012, the year the Obama administration broke enforcement records, more than one-half of removals attributed to ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) were the result of Border Patrol arrests that would not have been counted as a removal in previous years. “In 2008, under the Bush administration, only one-third of removals were from Border Patrol arrests” (Vaughan). Clearly the U.S. Border Patrol improved over the four year period and became more effective. Technology plays a big role in the U.S. Border Patrol’s commitment to keep U.S. borders secure. Currently the U.S. Border Patrol has ten unarmed surveillance drones, 650 miles of fencing on the U.S. – Mexico border, as well many surveillance cameras (Lind). Although the U.S. – Mexico border is a 2000 mile stretch there is only 650 miles of fencing. This is so, owing to financial costs of building a fence that long. Tough terrain of hills and desert areas would make the costs go up. As Julia Preston writes in her article for the New York Times Some Cheer Border Fence as Others Ponder the Cost that according to Gov. Rick Perry of Texas whose state has 1200 miles of the U.S. – Mexico border stated that building a fence that would cover the rest of the border, with surveillance cameras would take 10 to 15 years and cost about 30 billion dollars (Preston). Despite the high cost of maintaining the current fenced section, the fence has slowed the flow of not only illegal immigrants but also drugs. Drug busts by the border patrol sharply increased owing to the erection of the fence. However, the unfortunate trend is that more than two thirds of those caught with drugs trying to smuggle them into the United States are U.S citizens. Even the seizures that directly involved other nationals, there were traces of indirect involvement of United States citizens which even increases the percentage. Read More