History Essay

10t14t2019 Print Display - border security and law enforcement - Reference Articles

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BORDER SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT The apprehension of undocumented residents in the interior is an important aspect of border security because it is thought to deter further attempts at unauthorized entrance. Historically, the United States has primarily relied on interdiction at the U.S.-Mexico border instead of in the interior. The lmmigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 is ineffective because it instituted worker document checks but did not require employers to verify if they were valid. Section 274A of the lmmigration and Nationality Act of 1952 authorized employer sanctions for hiring unauthorized workers. lt prohibits knowing hiring of undocumented immigrants and provides for civil fines of $250-$10,000 per worker and a criminal sanction of up to six months imprisonment. To comply, employers submit l-9 forms showing that a Social Security card, driver's license, voter registration card, passport, or other identification indicates an individual is a citizen or a U.5, resident alien. ln the mid-1980s, the failure to make an employer responsible for document verification resulted in the development of a cottage fraudulent-document industry followed by organized criminal document rings. Traditionally, interior enforcement has been understaffed and unable to track the level of fraudulent document use. After 9/1 1, diversion of resources to counterterrorism reduced enforcement through employer audits. According to a 2005 Migration Policy lnstitute report, they declined from 1,300 in 1990 to less than 500 in fiscal year 2003. As a result, many unauthorized workers submit work-related documents that are false (such as a made-up Social Security number unconnected to an individual) or fraudulent (a Social Security number connected to an individual, i.e., illegal use of an authenticated identity).

U.S. lmmigrations and Customs Enforcement(lCE)workplace raidswere stepped up duringthe second half of the Bush administration. Yet only 863 out of 4,077 "administrative arrests" in fiscal year 2007 involved owners, managers, or human resource supervisors, according to the agency's data. Those who suffer the penalty for this white-collar crime are the unauthorized workers. ln 2008, out of 7.4 million employers, 42 companies were raided and 16 had administrative employees who were arrested and convicted. At the end of the decade, ICE shifted its priorities and sought to target employers rather than conduct numerous workplace raids. Nevertheless, ICE audits are still connected to mass firings of unauthorized workers.

lmmigration enforcement has especially targeted undocumented immigrants who commit crimes. The 287(g) program authorized by the 1996 lllegal lmmigration Reform and lmmigrant Responsibility Act (llRlRA) provldes for cooperation in immigration enforcement bewveen the fed and state and local law enforcement. Participating municipalities enter the program by signing a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). At the prompting of the Obama administration, the DHS has expanded the 287(g) immigration enforcement program and has issued a revised MOA. Participating2ST(g) police are supervised by lmmigration and Customs Enforcement.

Criticism of 287(g) has come from both immigrant advocates concerned about racial profiling and those who support tougher enforcement, who claim that prioritizing criminals would lead to neglect of noncriminal unauthorized immigrants.

Evidence exists indicating that 287(9) had not met its targets but resulted in arrest of nonviolent unauthorized migrants. ln El Paso, Texas, the Sheriff's Office's Operation Linebacker, connected to2B7(g), resulted in the arrest of 1,076 unauthorized entrants and four noncitizens on drug-related charges, Kathleen Staudt, a political scientist, considers that did not reflect the emphasis placed on stopping drug- and violence-related crime. Due to concerns expressed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and immigration advocates, ICE has changed its 287(9) agreements to stress that its priority is to remove dangerous criminals. 287(g)is designed to increase apprehension of noncitizens that commit violent crimes, human smuggling, gang/organized crime activity, sexual-related offenses, narcotics smuggling, and money laundering.

Reliance on ICE and the U.S. Border Patrol occurs because immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. When local and state police are allowed to use immigration status as a factor in questioning and arrest, they are considered a "multiple force amplifier." One argument forthis involvement is thatfour of the 9/1 t hijackers were subjectto routine traffic stops and could have been detained forvisa violations. An argument aSainst giving local and state police thls power is it could foster alienation of immigrant communities. which often contain many unauthorized residents. lmmigrants may hesitate to report crime and victimization or otherwise cooperate with the police if theyfear family or community members will be deported.

Community policing strategies rely on steady contact between police and neighborhood residents, which is difficult if there is a fear of the police. Many immigrants originate from nations where the police are corrupt and not trusted. They bring this attitude to the United States and are aware of negative public attitudes toward immigrants. Another problem associated with nonfederal police involvement is the possibility of screening based on racial and ethnic profiling rather than suspicious.

The federal government has taken many steps to offer immigration enforcement authorityto state and local police but municipalities have not uniformly responded. Regardless, information on noncitizens with immigration violations and, after 9/1 1, noncitizens under suspicion of terrorist activity, has been incorporated into a National Crime lnformation Center (NCIC) database. The database includes noncitizens with both criminal and civil violations.

Arizona bypassed the 287(g) federal and state law enforcement linkage program when Gov. Jan Brewer signed Senate Bill 1070 into law on March 23, 2010. As written, the bill makes unauthorized entrance and presence of a migrant in the United States a state misdemeanor crime. It stipulates that state and local police should check an individual's immigration status if there is reasonable suspicion that a person is an

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10t14t2019 Print Display - border security and law enforcement - Reference Articles

undocumented immigrant. lf an individual cannot prove legal residency, law enforcement officers can make a warrantless arrest if there is probable cause that an individual is an undocumented immigrant. Upon arrest, individuals cannot be released unless they establish legal immigration status. The first offense carries a $500 fine and up to a six-month jail term. ln order to avoid arrest, permanent resident aliens and visitors holdingvisas must carry identification. The documentation necessaryto prove legal status includes Arizona driver's licenses, Arizona nonoperating identification licenses, or anyform of valid federal, state, or local identification that can certify immigration status. Arizona's law was the first to require state and local police to check immigration status,

The law sparked national protest, and its critics claimed thatthe law not only allows for racial profiling but also violates the U.S. Constitution since immigration is underfederaljurisdiction. President Barack Obama also criticized passage of the law, statingthat itwould "undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe." Arizona governorJan Brewer defended the law as "another tool for our state to use as we work to solve a crisis we did not create and the federal government has refused to fix." On June 25, 2012, the Supreme Court struck down provisions of the law that made certain immigration offenses state crimes, but unanimously upheld the state's mandate that law enforcement personnel checkthe immigration status of people they've detained if there is a "reasonable suspicion" that they are in the country illegally.

Judith Ann Warner Further Reading

Brownell, Peter. "The Declining Enforcement of Employer Sanctions." Washington, DC: Migration Policy lnstitute, 2005. http://miSrationinformation.org; Simcox, David. lnalienable ldentification: Key to Halting lllegal Employment. Washington, DC: Center for lmmigration Studies, 2000. http://cis.org; Smith, Alison. "CRS Report for Congress: Unauthorized Employment of Aliens: Basics of Employer Sanctions."Washington,DC: Congressional ResearchService,2005.http://fpc,state.gov;Warner,JudithA. U5. BorderSecurity: AReference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA; ABC-C1|O,2010.

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Chicago Citation Warner, Judith A. "Border Security and Law Enforcement." ln American Government, ABC-CLlO, 2019. Accessed October 14,2019. http://a merica ngovernment2.abc-clio.com/Sea rch/Dis play / 1 807 239.

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