Week 2 Responses

Good Evening class,

The United States Government is striving to have a “secure” border under the present administration. What would be the consequences/impact to the United States if the border was suddenly made less open and more “secure”? This is a strategic security question and not a political one.

- The current administration for the next week and it's allies were and still are committed to building a wall which would better secure the border. Strategically this stifle the economy. This will be due largely to the administrations campaign promise of making Mexico pay for the wall. First, this would hurt the economy due to us Americans paying for the wall up up front and secondly paying higher import prices for Mexican goods. Additionally, this would jeopardize the the 1.1 million American jobs that depend on those trades.     What is the role of the Department of Defense in border and coastal security?

What is the role of the Department of Defense in border and coastal security?

- To support the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol in detecting and preventing the illegal entry of aliens across the nearly 7,000 miles of Mexican and Canadian international borders and 2,000 miles of coastal borders surrounding Florida and Puerto Rico. The DOD does not have primary responsibilities to secure the borders due to the Posse Comitatus Act (PCA), which prohibits use of the Armed Forces to perform the tasks of civilian law enforcement unless explicitly authorized. 

What is the DOD's relationship with the Department of Homeland Security as it pertains to border security?

- Since the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security is charged with preventing the entry of terrorists, securing the borders, and carrying out immigration enforcement functions, the Armed Forces is there in a supporting capacity.  

How does DOD support civil authorities?

- Supporting civil authorities through deny terrorists from crossing the border, providing supporting roles in counterdrug and counterterrorism. Overall, this partnership has been instrumental in the fight against international crime along the U.S. borders

Marvin

Source:

https://hbr.org/2017/02/a-wall-wont-secure-the-u-s-mexico-border-but-economic-policy-could