US/Mexico Border

US/Mexico Border

The problem of insecurity along the US/Mexican border is due to the issue of drug trafficking and illegal movement of immigrants across the border. There has been a decline in the rate of drug trafficking along the US Mexican border due to the improved levels of security. This has created more job opportunities for the people of the United States, which marks one of the benefits of securing the border. Department of Homeland Security is presented with the task of ensuring that the border is secure. However, this task has become a contentious issue with many migrants from Central America seeking asylum in the United States. The impact of securing the border depends on the techniques used, which include building the wall that limits the movement of unscanned people from Mexico into the United States. Computers have also been incorporated to secure the border, which assists in scanning the immigrants. There are economic challenges that the USA is experiencing, which are created by the Mexican people. The problems get experienced despite the positive moves by the united states government to provide more job opportunities to its citizens. There is, therefore, a need for the government to identify this gap and make the relevant adjustments.

Keywords: security, drug trafficking, immigrants, apprehension

US/Mexico Border

There has been a lot of controversy facing the security conditions at the US/Mexican border, especially after President Donald Trump came into power. The issues began after the government installed both physical and virtual measures to secure its citizens form drug smugglers and cartels. The government was more concerned with using computer technology to improve the security level at the border through the use of geographical ground-level radar. The was also the issue of building a wall that would serve as a barrier and guarantee security considering the threat posed by immigrants on the citizens of the USA. The Department of Homeland Security has a program that assists in identifying and verifying travellers entering and leaving the country. Those entering the country through the US/Mexico border go through the process to ensure they do not pose any threat to the people of the United States. Fingerprints and photographs of the travelers are also taken to ensure they can get easily traced. There has been a strained relationship between the USA government and the Mexican government due to the issue of how security should get handled at the border. The Mexican government made it clear that it had no intention of contributing to building the wall proposed by the USA government. The idea of building the wall is not a definite solution to securing the border as people build tunnels. The security conditions along the US/Mexico border has changed with time. This is evident when compared to how the security was a few years ago. The improvement can get attributed to the positive measures put into place by the United States government that focus on continuously improving the security at the border.  Several questions have been raised on the issue of building the wall with people not sure whether the wall would put to an end the issue of border security along the Mexican border. There is also the issue of what positive impacts have the efforts of improving the security situation at the border have on the citizens of the United States and the economy of the country as well.

Literature Review

President Donald Trump has threatened to close the US/Mexico border as a way of stopping illegal immigrants from entering the country. The move has been criticized as it risks damaging the USA economy to a great extent. This is because many people use the border to seek entertainment, shopping, hotels and restaurants and medical services in the country. The move will also lead to cross-border sanctions and disrupt supply chains. Disruption of supply chains in the USA means that there will be a decline in the number of jobs created, leading to less money among the people of the United States. The country is also likely to experience a shortage of products such as vegetables and fruits, leading to an increase in the price of these essential commodities. Most of the fruits and vegetables consumed in the United States come from southern neighbours. 36.5% of Mexico’s nominal GDP comes from exporting fruits and vegetables through which it earns around $450 billion annually. 2.2% of the USA’s nominal GDP comes from this trade. The destruction of the cross-border business is likely to affect Mexico to a greater length that it would affect the USA. The United States people are likely to suffer from a shortage of essential commodities that come from Mexico. This will, in turn, lead to inflation, which is an indicator of the weak economy, particularly on employment.

The issue of the threat posed by immigrants on the people of the United States has led to a heated debate among the people. Over the past four eras, the USA border administration has increased, leading to reduced crime rates of up to 55% by the year 2015. There has also been a reduction in the number of undocumented immigrants in the USA. For instance, approximately 305000 migrants using the US/Mexico border were caught in 2017. Research indicates that in the year 2007, 12.3 million migrants were apprehended, while in 2017, 10.7 million migrants were held. These numbers show that the USA government has been successful in securing its borders.

Over the last two decades, the function of the criminal justice system has intensified in monitoring the operations along the USA/Mexico border. The introduction of two immigration laws in 1996 is an indication of how committed the criminal justice system is in securing the border. The requirements include the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) and the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. The two laws formed the basis of the many strict immigration policies used in the USA currently. The migration strategy used by the US is aimed at accomplishing a comprehensive set of goals. The first objective is to offer reservations for persons escaping from tyranny abroad. The second goal is to encourage economic growth by allowing organizations to employ foreign laborers, especially from Mexico. The third goal is to enhance the geopolitical welfares of the United States. However, the main purpose of the criminal justice system is to ensure that the public is safe by strengthening national security by getting rid of immigrants who are a threat.

Research indicates that illegal immigration from the Mexican border began to escalate in the mid-1960s after the abolition of the Bracero Program that served as a short-term work permit for Mexican citizens and focused more on agricultural jobs. The number of unlawful border crosses increased in the 1990s after there was an influx of young Mexican getting into the labor market and the failure of Mexico’s economic growth to incorporate them. The suggestion of president trump to build a wall along the entire Mexico border has been applauded and considered as the best way to curb illegal migrants entering the United States. The department of homeland security has intensified its border patrols, but it is yet to achieve the goal of completely restricting migrants into the USA. Demographics can be used to illustrate the issue of illegal border crossing eliminating the idea that the decrease in illegal border crossing can only be achieved theoretically. The poor economic performance experienced in Mexico prompted young Mexicans to migrate to the USA in search of jobs to improve their living standards.

There has been a problem of Mexican immigrants taking advantage of the legal temporary work permit awarded under the H-2A program for agricultural employees. Between the year 2000 and 2016, the total number of H2-A visas tripled from 30000 to 90000. There has been a lot of investment by the Department of Homeland Security to create a virtual fence through observation technology along the US-Mexico border. As of now, about 650 miles of the wall has been established along with the border, and border patrol statistics are just below 20000, most of this being in Arizona and California.

It is likely that all the migrants at the border without legal documentation will be penalized. They are all subject to the four statutory forms of deportation, which include: judicial removal hellbent on an immigration ruling, voluntary return, reinstatement of removal, or following a notice to appear (NTA). In addition to this, the authorities at the US-Mexico border seek criminal prosecution for various immigration offenses. The immigration officers have the power to deport illegal migrants through the Alien Transfer Exit Program (ATEP) in the U.S. Through ATEP. The US government was able to detain more than 65000 illicit migrants in 2014. The primary objective of ATEP is to displace immigrants so that they have to travel long distances back to the point they used to enter the United States, which is the southwest border.

Research indicates that the number of illegal immigrants. Entering the USA has reduced over the past few years. However, most of the public disagree with this review in a poll done in 2015. It was evident that most of the people think that illegal immigration along the southeastern border has increased. They believe that the law enforcement agencies have not put into good use the funds collected from taxpayers to restrict immigrants from accessing the country. They argue that the immigrants come to take away their jobs as they can be paid way below the minimum wage threshold.

Three methods have been considered to give an approximation of the border security measures needed along the US-Mexico southern border. Known Flow-Based Estimates is the first method used, and it measures actual illegal entries into the United States as observed by border patrol agents. It relies on the evidence obtained from cameras and other devices, and through the use of tracking devices used by border patrol agents. It also gives an approximate value of turn backs, which refers to those immigrants who enter the US illegally but later choose to return to Mexico before they are caught. After obtaining the numbers, the law enforcement agents determine the interdiction effectiveness rate (IER), which is a ratio of arrests plus turn backs and got away.

The second approach used is called the Survey-based Estimate. This technique is based on obtaining data to identify all illegal immigrants caught across the border region. Logically, the Survey Based Approach is the least appropriate for use, and it relies on a technique known as the repeat trial model (RTM) of the illegal entry process to catch the illegal immigrants trying to cross the border into the USA. To determine the number of unlawful entries to the country at the ports on the US-Mexico border, the DHS developed an analytical technique that begins with a significant difference between migrants who seek to escape the border patrol agents and those seeking asylum.

There are five extensive approaches that the Department of Homeland Security uses to reinforce border security along the southern region. The first method is to separate the arrest of asylum seekers who used the US-Mexico border to cross and are yet to go back to their respective countries within a given period. The second way is to determine the possibility of an at-border prevention for Mexicans taken back to their homeland via migrant survey data. The third method is to estimate the number of unlawful entries of native Mexicans using previous data on the possibility of at-border deterrence and the criminal ratio for the immigrants. The fourth approach involves determining the number of successful unlawful entries of traditional Mexican individuals by estimating the probability of detention and arrests made. The latter approach entails the evaluation of how many illegitimate entries of non-Mexican nationals occur by assessing the likelihood of detention of Mexican citizens.

Methodology and Research Strategy

This study aims at gaining information on the immigration experience at the US-Mexico border and the practice of border enforcement. There are a few challenges encountered during the survey; one of them being it is hard to conduct a study with unauthorized immigrants given their immigration situation in the United States. Violence experienced along the border is also a risk that should be considered. Due to such challenges, all the face to face surveys were conducted at a chosen migrant shelter at Nogales, Sonora. The sanctuary was privately owned but had an official government contract with the local government. The accommodation is said to receive about 60 to 70 people each night. Once the Mexican nationals are deported, they are taken to shelter escorted by Mexican federal agents. For participants to be eligible for the study, one must be 18 years and above. The respondents were required to also be fluent in English or Spanish in order to respond to the survey well. The study took approximately twelve weeks to complete the collection of data. In the research, the crossing was considered as each attempt to try and gain entry into the United States without having the necessary documents. To avoid duplicate cases, the participants were screened to ensure they had not previously participated in the survey. About 600 participants were involved in the study of all the participants, and only two were found to be non-eligible for having already participated in the study. Another three were ineligible as they did not speak English or Spanish.

The research aimed at ensuring the participants remembered their experiences in their recent attempt to cross the border. In the study, the participants were not compensated for their involvement through things such as clothes and food were provided for the shelter. On average, each respondent lasted for approximately one hour. Some of the research questions asked were how easy or hard it is to cross the border, will the wall along the border serve the intended purpose of preventing illegal immigrants from entering the USA. The other question asked was how possible it was to escape the border patrol agents after crossing into the United States.  The researchers recorded the participants’ responses using a paper instrument. The data was then transferred to the snap survey software for further analysis.

Sampling for participants to participate in the survey was done randomly. Every third potential participant from the various areas in the shelter was selected. The areas include the common areas, hallway, sleeping quarters, and around the water cooler. The selected participants were then screened to assess whether they were fit to participate in the research. In total, 600 people were selected, with 423 being eligible to participate in the survey. Most of those not available either had never tried crossing the border before or had last tried crossing the border over eight months ago before being interviewed. It was also made clear that those participating in the survey should do it voluntarily, and they could withdraw from the study if they wished to. The survey also used data obtained from the US border patrol agents to come up with the post-stratification probability weights applied in the study sample. The data provided information on age, sex and the region from which the respondents came from. This information allowed the researchers to identify the Mexican state from which most of the respondents came from. From the study, most of the respondents were male aged around 30 years and came from southern Mexico. 20% of the respondents were from the traditional and central regions of Mexico.

Analysis and Findings

The research provides information on the security conditions along the US-Mexico border. It gives an insight into the border enforcement present along the border. It also includes information on the experience of crossing the border. The study focuses more on the immigrants that have been apprehended before as they can give more detailed information on how secure they think the border is. Through the data obtained, it is possible for the law enforcers and policymakers to come up with better ways of securing the border. The research also highlighted the kind of treatment that the immigrants receive from immigration officers. From the survey, it was clear that most of the respondents had an average of 4.7 crossing attempts with apprehension rates of up to 4.3. This indicates that the security levels along the border have increased with more apprehensions being made per the number of crossing attempts made by the immigrants. It is, however, clear that people succeed in crossing the border as there are more successful crossing attempts compared to the number of apprehensions made. From the research, only 18% of the respondents were first-time border crossers. It takes approximately 2.4 days for the immigrants to walk across the Sonoran Desert before being apprehended by USA border patrol agents or going on with their journey.

The research also asked the respondents how dangerous they think it was to attempt crossing the border. From the responses, it is clear that the journey is more dangerous than they initially anticipated. Despite the risk and danger involved, 34% of the participants indicated that they would attempt crossing the border again. The respondents also indicated that they prefer crossing the border in groups as it increases their chances of having a successful journey compared to crossing as an individual. This is because the group work together in identifying the best places to cross the border where there are no patrol agents. Given the high number of apprehensions recorded in the past years, it is likely that most of the respondents have had contact with US authorities from the year 2010 than in previous years. This is supported by data obtained from the US government accountability office on border apprehension. The report indicates that between the years 2013 and 2018, 59 percent of all known illegal migrants were apprehended. 32 percent got away while 9 percent turned back to Mexico. There is a concern that the data obtained from the participants may be bias, considering that most of them have been apprehended by the border patrol agents. The heightened level of border patrol at the border makes it harder for the migrants to cross to the US without risk of apprehension than in previous years. There is also the risk of death for immigrants seeking to cross the border.

Conclusion and Recommendations