Week 3 Responses

Hello class and professor,

DHS has spent over $381 billion dollars on immigration enforcement since its creation in 2003 (American Immigration Council, 2020). Completely sealing off our borders to prevent a hand full of people who are bound to terrorize the United States is not practically and also would have severe negative effects on the nations economy. There is still a need for a strong border and investment into boarder enforcement. The negative effects of a large scale attack that could be imposed but just a hand full of people could be great and is worth stopping. Also, that hand full of individuals who are bound to terrorize the U.S. would increase if it was known that the focus and importance of border protection was neglected. 

Hardened Border Paradox is the idea that creating a more secure border, creates more criminal activity to try and deal with and defeat the hardened border. Making a border stronger in turn creates a high demand of individuals who need help from criminal enterprises to cross and enter the United States. 

The promotion of free trade is the idea behind the open border paradox. The use of border tolls and check points can become over whelmed with the constant flow and traffic coming and going when utilizing other countries i.e. Canada and Mexico (Flynn, 2004). This flow of traffic must be effectively and timely vetted, otherwise it could result in the closing of the border. 

Since completely closing the border would have adverse impacts on our economy, it is up to the two bordering nations. The two bordering nations need to be able to maintain good relations and effect policies to prevent both paradoxes. If both countries are not in a agreement on the issues it will be much more difficult to deal with. 

-Wade

References:

The Cost of Immigration Enforcement and Border Security. (2020, July 09). Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/the-cost-of-immigration-enforcement-and-border-security

Flynn, S. (2004). Rethinking the Role of the U.S. Mexican Border in the Post-9/11 World. Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://www.cfr.org/report/rethinking-role-us-mexican-border-post-911-world