{ "id": "R42138", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R42138", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 451847, "date": "2016-04-19", "retrieved": "2016-11-28T22:20:27.885637", "title": "Border Security: Immigration Enforcement Between Ports of Entry", "summary": "Border enforcement is a core element of the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s effort to control unauthorized migration, with the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) within the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as the lead agency along most of the border. Border enforcement has been an ongoing subject of congressional interest since the 1970s, when unauthorized immigration to the United States first registered as a serious national problem; and border security has received additional attention in the years since the terrorist attacks of 2001. \nSince the 1990s, migration control at the border has been guided by a strategy of \u201cprevention through deterrence\u201d\u2014the idea that the concentration of personnel, infrastructure, and surveillance technology along heavily trafficked regions of the border will discourage unauthorized migrants from attempting to enter the United States. Since 2005, CBP has attempted to discourage repeat unauthorized migrant entries and disrupt migrant smuggling networks by imposing tougher penalties against certain unauthorized migrants, a set of policies eventually described as \u201cenforcement with consequences.\u201d Most people apprehended at the Southwest border are now subject to \u201chigh consequence\u201d enforcement outcomes.\nAcross a variety of indicators, the United States has substantially expanded border enforcement resources over the last three decades. Particularly since 2001, such increases include border security appropriations, personnel, fencing and infrastructure, and surveillance technology. In addition to increased resources, the USBP has implemented several strategies over the past several decades in an attempt to thwart unauthorized migration. In 2014, the Obama Administration announced executive actions to \u201cfix\u201d the immigration system. These actions address several issues, including a revised security plan at the southern border.\nThe Border Patrol collects data on several different border enforcement outcomes; this report describes trends in border apprehensions, recidivism, and estimated \u201cgot aways\u201d and \u201cturn backs.\u201d Yet none of these existing data are designed to measure unauthorized border flows or the degree to which the border is secured. Thus, the report also describes methods for estimating border security at the strategic and operational levels. \nDrawing on multiple data sources, the report reviews the state of border security. Robust investments at the border were not associated with reduced unauthorized inflows during the 1980s and 1990s, but a range of evidence suggests a substantial drop in unauthorized inflows from 2007 to 2011, followed by a rise from 2012 to 2014 and a decrease in 2015. Enforcement, along with the 2007 economic downturn in the United States, likely contributed to the drop in unauthorized migration, though the precise share of the decline attributable to enforcement is unknown.\nEnhanced border enforcement also may have contributed to a number of secondary costs and benefits. To the extent that border enforcement successfully deters unauthorized entries, such enforcement may reduce border-area violence and migrant deaths, protect fragile border ecosystems, and improve the quality of life in border communities. But to the extent that migrants are not deterred, the concentration of enforcement resources on the border may increase border area violence and migrant deaths, encourage unauthorized migrants to find new ways to enter and to remain in the United States for longer periods of time, damage border ecosystems, harm border-area businesses and the quality of life in border communities, and strain U.S. relations with Mexico and Canada.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42138", "sha1": "19413920ffa0886db799942958220dbedc070ab0", "filename": "files/20160419_R42138_19413920ffa0886db799942958220dbedc070ab0.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42138", "sha1": "5d9af339acc2a9ee18553a8f72acd989648be04d", "filename": "files/20160419_R42138_5d9af339acc2a9ee18553a8f72acd989648be04d.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4883, "name": "Border Security" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4886, "name": "Unauthorized Migrants & Immigration Enforcement & Removal" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 436787, "date": "2014-12-31", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T19:45:08.818644", "title": "Border Security: Immigration Enforcement Between Ports of Entry", "summary": "Border enforcement is a core element of the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s effort to control unauthorized migration, with the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) within the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as the lead agency along most of the border. Border enforcement has been an ongoing subject of congressional interest since the 1970s, when illegal immigration to the United States first registered as a serious national problem; and border security has received additional attention in the years since the terrorist attacks of 2001. \nSince the 1990s, migration control at the border has been guided by a strategy of \u201cprevention through deterrence\u201d\u2014the idea that the concentration of personnel, infrastructure, and surveillance technology along heavily trafficked regions of the border will discourage unauthorized aliens from attempting to enter the United States. Since 2005, CBP has attempted to discourage repeat illegal migrant entries and disrupt migrant smuggling networks by imposing tougher penalties against certain unauthorized aliens, a set of policies eventually described as \u201cenforcement with consequences.\u201d Most people apprehended at the Southwest border are now subject to \u201chigh consequence\u201d enforcement outcomes.\nAcross a variety of indicators, the United States has substantially expanded border enforcement resources over the last three decades. Particularly since 2001, such increases include border security appropriations, personnel, fencing and infrastructure, and surveillance technology. In addition to increased resources, the USBP has implemented several strategies over the past several decades in an attempt to thwart illegal migration. Recently, the Obama Administration announced executive actions to \u201cfix\u201d the immigration system. These actions address numerous issues, including a revised security plan at the southern border.\nThe Border Patrol collects data on several different border enforcement outcomes; and this report describes trends in border apprehensions, recidivism, and estimated got aways and turn backs. Yet none of these existing data are designed to measure illegal border flows or the degree to which the border is secured. Thus, the report also describes methods for estimating illegal border flows based on enforcement data and migrant surveys. \nDrawing on multiple data sources, the report suggests conclusions about the state of border security. Robust investments at the border were not associated with reduced illegal inflows during the 1980s and 1990s, but a range of evidence suggests a substantial drop in illegal inflows in 2007-2011, followed by a slight rise in 2012 and a more dramatic rise in 2013. Enforcement, along with the economic downturn in the United States, likely contributed to the drop in unauthorized migration, though the precise share of the decline attributable to enforcement is unknown.\nEnhanced border enforcement also may have contributed to a number of secondary costs and benefits. To the extent that border enforcement successfully deters illegal entries, such enforcement may reduce border-area violence and migrant deaths, protect fragile border ecosystems, and improve the quality of life in border communities. But to the extent that aliens are not deterred, the concentration of enforcement resources on the border may increase border area violence and migrant deaths, encourage unauthorized migrants to find new ways to enter illegally and to remain in the United States for longer periods of time, damage border ecosystems, harm border-area businesses and the quality of life in border communities, and strain U.S. relations with Mexico and Canada.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42138", "sha1": "e0e6449bf091ab9b10468b1e907f70343250b49e", "filename": "files/20141231_R42138_e0e6449bf091ab9b10468b1e907f70343250b49e.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42138", "sha1": "02b5afeef4a5e5d1db9be09e4d7d1de430ad8a53", "filename": "files/20141231_R42138_02b5afeef4a5e5d1db9be09e4d7d1de430ad8a53.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 471, "name": "Border Security and Management" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 676, "name": "Immigration Policy" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc813143/", "id": "R42138_2014Dec18", "date": "2014-12-18", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Border Security: Immigration Enforcement Between Ports of Entry", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20141218_R42138_6e5ef4ccc9ed39d7a7ea0e7d9970fc80dd434108.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20141218_R42138_6e5ef4ccc9ed39d7a7ea0e7d9970fc80dd434108.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc462683/", "id": "R42138_2014Jan16", "date": "2014-01-16", "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41", "title": "Border Security: Immigration Enforcement Between Ports of Entry", "summary": "This report reviews efforts to combat unauthorized migration across the Southwest border in the nearly three decades since the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) initiated the modern era in migration control. In reviewing such efforts, the report takes stock of the current state of border security and considers lessons that may be learned about enhanced enforcement at U.S. borders.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140116_R42138_cbda7abfe0953b90657dcd6f3ec30d5278766362.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140116_R42138_cbda7abfe0953b90657dcd6f3ec30d5278766362.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Border patrols", "name": "Border patrols" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Immigration", "name": "Immigration" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Immigration policy", "name": "Immigration policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Illegal aliens", "name": "Illegal aliens" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc462138/", "id": "R42138_2013May03", "date": "2013-05-03", "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41", "title": "Border Security: Immigration Enforcement Between Ports of Entry", "summary": "This report reviews efforts to combat unauthorized migration across the Southwest border in the nearly three decades since the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) initiated the modern era in migration control, takes stock of the current state of border security, and considers lessons that may be learned about enhanced enforcement at U.S. borders. The report begins by reviewing the history of border control and the development of a national border control strategy beginning in the 1990s. The following sections summarize appropriations and resources dedicated to border enforcement, indicators of enforcement outcomes, metrics for estimating unauthorized migration flows, and possible secondary and unintended consequences of border enforcement. The report concludes by reviewing the overall costs and benefits of the current approach to migration control and raising additional questions that may help guide the discussion of these issues in the future.,5/", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20130503_R42138_c727b9137035e3a404795c314a2990b9b40e26ee.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20130503_R42138_c727b9137035e3a404795c314a2990b9b40e26ee.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Border patrols", "name": "Border patrols" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Immigration", "name": "Immigration" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Immigration policy", "name": "Immigration policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Illegal aliens", "name": "Illegal aliens" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc84015/", "id": "R42138_2012Jan06", "date": "2012-01-06", "retrieved": "2012-04-27T15:49:45", "title": "Border Security: Immigration Enforcement Between Ports of Entry", "summary": "This report concludes by raising additional questions about future investments at the border, how to weigh such investments against other enforcement strategies, and the relationship between border enforcement and the broader debate about U.S. immigration policy.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20120106_R42138_c04d33b3818f51bc204e82c2def580ad30902181.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20120106_R42138_c04d33b3818f51bc204e82c2def580ad30902181.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Border patrols", "name": "Border patrols" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Immigration", "name": "Immigration" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Immigration policy", "name": "Immigration policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Illegal aliens", "name": "Illegal aliens" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Appropriations", "Crime Policy", "Immigration Policy", "Intelligence and National Security", "National Defense" ] }