Border Security in Homeland Security 1
Border Security in Homeland Security
John Shoemaker
HLSC 530, Liberty University
Author Note
John Shoemaker
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to
John Shoemaker
Email: jashoemaker1@liberty.edu
Border Security in Homeland Security 2
Abstract
Since the founding of the United States border security has been a great issue and topic of
discussion. Since 1775 to present we as a country have seen immigration, illegal importation,
and terrorism through our short history. Emergency management has become a more talked
about topic of discussion in the protection of the nation’s borders. These phases of emergency
management have seen many changes over time and continue to be molded by society.
Understanding the nature of how these practices and border security mold together is detrimental
to the protection of the government.
Keywords: Emergency Management, Immigration, Border Patrol, Afghanistan
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Border Security in Homeland Security
In today’s society the protection and security of the borders of the United States has
become an increasingly sensitive and popular topic amongst the political community. Leaders at
all levels of government have looked deeply into how the United States is formulating plans and
policy to assist in the protection of the border, but non have come to an overall consensus of how
to best protect the country. The United States Border Patrol processes over one million travelers
across all borders and ports of entry in the United States daily (Border security overview, 2021).
This has the potential to cause great harm to the United States due to the volume of travelers and
cargo that come across the borders and ports daily. The United States must look at this area of
concern as a potential target for all organizations that look to do economic and physical harm to
the country.
History of Border Security
Since the early 1900’s the United States Border Patrol has been at the forefront of the
protection of the United States. As early as 1904, the Immigration Service assisted the United
States in the enforcement of immigration into the United States and looked to stop illegal
immigration through the enforcement of laws with targeted enforcement on illegal immigration
of Chinese nationals and interception of enemy communication (Border patrol history, 2021).
With the passing of the Eighteenth Amendment in the United States, the U.S. government passed
the Labor Appropriation Act of 1924 which formally created the U.S. Border Patrol (Border
patrol history, 2021). This allowed for the increased funding and hiring of agents to assist in the
illegal importation, immigration and other illegal activity across the Canadian and Mexico
borders.
In the later years, during the time period of 1980 through 1990’s the U.S. saw a startling
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increase in illegal immigration into the United States. This caused the government to hire
additional manpower and increased use of technology for Operation Hold the Line (Border patrol
history, 2021). This operations was focused in El Paso and targeted the increase in immigration
from Mexico, which provided an immediate success in halting the illegal immigration into the
country. Following the success of the El Paso operation, Operation Gatekeeper was implemented
and focused on the reduction of illegal entry into the U.S. along the San Diego border. This
resulted in an approximate 75 percent reduction in immigration and allowed the Border Patrol to
have a more detailed focus on smuggling and search and rescue efforts along the border (Border
patrol history, 2021).
After the attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States formed the Department of
Homeland Security, and created the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. This organization was
created to have an increased focus on the overall aspects of border protection with a detailed
focus on immigration, smuggling, human trafficking, and the importation of goods across the
northern and southern borders. This mission for the organization has become increasingly
difficult with the advances of technology and adaptive techniques that criminal and terrorist
organizations have and are creating to counteract the Border Patrol. The U.S Customs and
Border Patrol uses adaptive technology to assist in all lines of effort for the protection of the
country.
Issues in Border Security
In the world today all nations are increasing their abilities across all of the borders. This
is not any different in the United States. Current issues in their protection of the U.S. border are
illegal immigration, drug trafficking, human trafficking, importation of illegal goods and
weapons trafficking. These areas are of a great concern to the United States and have an
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important and direct impact on the economy. With the illegal immigration through the southern
border, it costs the United States approximately 115 billion dollars annually and can create a
financial burden for the U.S. government due to housing, medical and the overall financial
burden placed on the government (Blankley , 2019). With the advances in technology, these
issues could become a greater concern in the future. Looking into the future the nation must
instill all aspects of emergency management to be able to assist in the prevention, mitigation,
preparedness, response and recovery for any issues we face.
Prevention
Prevention is defined as using a permanent measure to reduce and mitigate further risk to
any issue or disaster faced (The Disaster Management Cycle: 5 key stages UCF online, 2021).
Currently we have measures in place to assist in the prevention of the above-mentioned issues.
These are in the form of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency . This agency is
charged with the overall protection of the border, ports of entry, and all importation into the
United States. By using a model to plan for potential illegal activity across the border can assist
in the prevention efforts (Willis, 2010). Creating a model will assist in additional measures to
enact for the Customs and Border Protection Agency.
Looking at additional effectiveness measures, we can conclude that building a wall or
barrier across the border can greatly prevent many levels of illegal activity. Building a physical
structure is a necessary element of the protection of any infrastructure. We should not look at the
country in any other form than a large building that needs to be protected. During the Trump
administration the initial construction of a new border wall was started. In his tenure in office
there were approximately 669 miles of border wall set in place and assisted in the replacement of
damaged wall sections (Rodgers & Bailey, 2020). This has assisted in the reduction of
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immigration by approximately 87 percent between 2019 and 2020 (Border Wall, 2021). This is a
direct result of how the border wall in correlation with the Border Patrol agents can greatly
reduce illegal immigration into the U.S.
Mitigation
The overall protection of the United States is the responsibility of the U.S. Government in
coordination with the Department of Homeland Security and other state and local assets. This is
the greatest mitigation effort that could be accomplished through the country. Mitigation includes
any and all resources and plans to assist in the reduction of risk in any environment or problem
(Schroeder, 2014). A mitigation effort that can be used is the completion of a detailed
background check for all migrants before entering the United States. This can greatly diminish
potential criminals or those with ties to international organizations from entering the United
States. This should be one of the greatest assets to the U.S Border Patrol and immigration
enforcement. Taking a deeper look into the overall border protection, having a detailed plan an
strategy can greatly assist in deterring these activities. A plan is one of the first steps in the
mitigation phase of operations. This will outline in detail who is involved in the plan, the
resources used, and what is expected in any and all situations.
Preparedness
Preparation is one aspect of emergency management that many fail to do in connection
with mitigation. Preparing for any event that can occur can diminish secondary and tertiary
courses of action that were not previously planned for. In the preparation for border security,
planning for manning and new hires is a great factor. The protection of the border rests on the
shoulders of those on the ground. If there are not enough officers and agents to enforce the laws
and policies, then the criminal activities will become a greater threat to national security and
Border Security in Homeland Security 7
cause an overall economic break in society. Officials look to be able to prepare for event that
have previously occurred and those that have not occurred as well. The issues that they can see
are that of the unknown events to come in the future. Professionals and those involved in
planning should rely on those on the ground to assist in the implementation and planning of
forces and policy to be in place This can greatly assist in reducing unintended consequences from
poor planning. These individual agents look to assist in protecting the border and in addition to
protection, they can assist in implementing policies.
Current policies implemented include inside and outside agencies. One area of concern is
communication between local, state and federal agencies. With the implementation of the USA
PATRIOT Act, communication has become a more fluid operation. All interagency
communications that affect concurrent operations is push down to the lowest level allowed to by
policy. In many circumstances the problem is not the communication aspect, but the intelligence
gathering, and interpretation of that information gathered. To assist in this government agencies,
enlist the assistance of outside agencies within the Department of Homeland Security. This
allows not just one agency to control the information but shares responsibility and the ability to
gain further insight from others (Odni Home, 2021).
Response
The overall response to any event, emergency, and or procedural event is the culmination
of the prevention, mitigation and preparedness portions of emergency management. The failure
to properly prepare for this phase can cause catastrophic results that can echo across decades.
This can be seen in many areas and failures across time. One current area that these previous
phases are coming together in is the immigration of foreign nationals from Afghanistan (post
war). This is a critical area of focus in the response phase of emergency management. With the
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evacuees and refugees coming into the country there are many issues that we could face. This is
in the vetting process. The Department of Defense is instilling a vetting process before the leave
from the middle east theatre at this time. Prior to coming into the U.S. these individuals are
vetted through a screening and background check process. Then after this is completed, they are
brough to the U.S. for resettlement and to obtain their special visa from the government
(Hackman, 2021).
This example is one of many that could occur in the response to an immigration concern.
Looking deeper into policy, response to other illegal activities is far more detailed and potentially
complicate. Conducting reconnaissance and arial surveillance from the Border Patrol can assist
in determining illegal immigration, and drug/weapons trafficking from Mexico to the U.S. and
from the U.S. to Mexico. Border Patrol must understand that not only is trafficking occurring
into the U.S. but also from the U.S. Detailed analysis and enforcement assists in determining
how agents respond to every call.
Recovery
The response and recovery phase can occur at the same time as each other. Immigration
enforcement sees the recovery phase and response phase occurring simultaneously. In this phase
in terms of immigration, the border patrol agents are charged with housing those individuals that
are looking to immigrate into the U.S., this is to include those that are awaiting deportation, or
other legal matters for either trial or adjudication. The issues that occur in this phase are the
overall health and safety of these individuals and the cost to the U.S. government. Using Non-
governmental Organizations can be beneficial to the border patrol and can cut back on costs due
to their nonprofit status. These organizations look to assist others in need and are all based on
voluntary status. The issues occur when the government and non profit organizations do not
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communicate or coordinate with each other. This causes a gap in the recovery phase of the
operation.
Biblical View
Romans 13:1 says “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no
authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established
by God” (Holy bible: English standard version 2001). The Bible tells us that we must understand
that the authority that we have as a nation is given to us by God himself. Treating others as a part
of this world and as we want to be treated creates a dynamic that shows we care for one another.
This issues that we have is that policy and procedures do not allow for how immigration into a
country is conducted. We as a nation judge others from other countries that are looking to make
themselves better, but we must have our national security at heart. Making decisions on a biblical
perspective creates a ethical dilemma. How can we enforce the laws governed by God, when
some of our laws are a direct contradiction to our laws. We as a nation must understand that to
enforce our policies we must enforce God’s policies as well. In doing this we can create policies
that are the best for humanity and not just for the country.
Conclusion
Over the course of the history of this nation we have seen many policies and procedures
that affect our border security. Since the 1400’s there have been wars fought over territory within
our borders, and between other nations to expand and/or keep our borders where they are today.
The security of the nation rests on the shoulders of the U.S. government and those that protect in
at the forefront of the nation’s borders on the ground. By following what God has set in place for
us as a nation, and understanding how to best protect the country, we can control the border and
protect the citizens in the country from any foreign threat.
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annually; Californians, Texans, Floridians pay the most. The Center Square. Retrieved
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