Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency - Research Paper Example

 Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency Introduction The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency was formed in 2003 as a result of the interior and investigative enforcement roles of the former United States Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Customs Service. Today it has above 20,000 employees with offices exceeding forty- eight in the foreign countries and four hundred in the United States. The agency's annual budget is about $6 billion. The budget is primarily for two directorates which are Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigation (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). However, the agency has a third directorate that is the Management and Administration. The Directorate roles are the issuance of professional mission support and management for the agency to meet its goals. The Enforcement and Removal Operations role is enforcing the United States immigration laws in an effective and fair manner. It, therefore, identifies and arrests removable aliens. Furthermore, they can either detain or remove the illegal immigrants in the country where necessary. The directorate’s priority is to apprehend, arrest, and remove convicted criminals that are deemed as a national security threat. They also deal with the border entrants, fugitives, and those seeking asylum in the United States. Homeland Security Investigations directorate's role is to investigate the activities that arise due to illegal movement of good and people out, into, or within the United States. The activities to be investigated can either be international or domestic. Lastly, the Management and Administration Directorate is made of professional staff and managers whose role is to ensure that the agency meets it set goals. Pros The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency is multi-faceted thus addressing several issues at a go. Its work is not limited to law enforcement of immigration issues. In explanation, the customs enforcement takes a significant share of the agency’s budget. The agency, therefore, does not deal only with immigration but also the custom services that include the entry at the ports, enforcement of the intellectual property, investigating of child pornography issues, and international suppression of gangs (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). The agency also plays other roles like eliminating human trafficking, conducting cargo inspection, returning the found stolen- antiquities, and interdicting weapons, drugs, bulk cash, and other smuggled substances. The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency has been more active compared to other related agencies combined. First, its goals overlap allowing them to address issues across the board. The overlapping mission has made the agency active compared to the related agencies hence surpassing their productivity. For example, the agency seizes approximately 4.2 million pounds of illegal drugs in the 2012 (Vaughan, 2013). The drugs were three folds more than that seized by Drug Enforcement Administration in the year 2011. From 2004 to 2012, the agency was able to arrest 27,600 members of gang groups which is much more than what the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been able to do. It is, therefore, true that the agency plays a significant role in addressing the United States problems. More so, the agency has been able to seize significant amounts of currency and illegal weapons from the criminal organizations that is already operating or entering the United States. The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency plays a critical role in ensuring that the United States is safe from the external forces (Hernandez, 2010). That is, it plays a significant role in ensuring that the goods and visitors that enter the country are legitimate. The agency, therefore, reduces the chances of terror attacks in the country. The activities are made possible through acts like using trusted travel programs and routine inspection of the goods and people. A statistical study conducted in 2011 showed that 10% murders, 31% drug -traffickers, 64% kidnappers, 34% money- launderers and 28% drug and food offenders were illegal immigrants (Vaughan, 2013). The agency, therefore, has a great role to play in protecting the United States citizens. The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency has been performing better compared to other agencies. It has been described to be overzealous and hyperactive on its work depending on the statistics of the number of offenders it prosecutes. Even though the studies show that the cases of immigration make a smaller portion of the criminal justice in the federal level, the agency prosecuted offenders made 35 percent the total number of the people that federal courts sentenced that year (Vaughan, 2013). The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency has managed to increase the number of deportation cases (Tangeman, 2003). Statistics shows that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of deportations between 2005 and 2009 (Vaughan, 2013). However, after 2009, the numbers have significantly flattened. Cons The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency uses a huge amount of the taxpayers' dollars in their budgets. Even though it has ensured that the different services are brought together for ease in accountability, its budgets are enormous. For example, in 2012, the Homeland Security Department received approximately $20 million (Vaughan, 2013). The funds were meant for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Boarder Protection, and other activities related to data analysis and collection. The amount used to fund the activities is approximately one- third of the expenditures set for the law enforcement of the federal governments excluding the Coastguard, intelligence, and military service (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Despite the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency using a huge sum of tax payer’s money, they have not been able to cub immigration. The immigration and security issues have skyrocketed over the past decades and are still increasing. Even though the previous decades' scenario of the rapid increase could be blamed on underfunding, the today's agency has no reason for their failures (Hernandez, 2010). With the increase in international criminal organizations and terrorists, the agency is, therefore, making the United States vulnerable. Statistics shows that the increase in illegal immigrants has been steady since the 1980s. Even though it has reduced since 2007, in 2012, the number of immigrants increased by 9 percent (Vaughan, 2013). Conclusion Since the formation of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency in the year 2003, there have been changes in the United States about immigrations and customs enforcement activities. However, the agency has never been perfect on its activities despite consuming a lot sum of the taxpayer's funds. Some of the benefits of the agency is that it has been able to address several issues at a go through the creation of synergy and due to its activeness. It has also ensured that the United States is protected from the external forces. Comparing it to other agencies, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency has displayed better performance over years. Furthermore, it has been able to increase the number of illegal immigrants that are deported. However, the agency has also developed some external cost through the huge taxpayers’ funds that it uses. And despite taking in the huge funds, it has failed in cubing immigration. References Hernandez, K. L. (2010). Migra!: A history of the U.S. border patrol. Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press. Tangeman, T. (2003). The Detention and Removal Program Under the New Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In Defense of the Alien, 26, 103–107. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (n.d). Overview. Retrieved from https://www.ice.gov/about Vaughan, J. (2013). America’s Immigration System: Opportunities for legal immigration and enforcement of laws against illegal immigration. Retrieved from http://cis.org/Testimony/Vaughan-House-Testimony-020513 Read More