Border Security

"An Arizona sheriff says he has been flooded with calls and emails of support from local and federal agents who back his claims that the U.S. Border Patrol has effectively ordered them to stop apprehending illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexican border."

Ryan McMaken argues that anti-immigration activists push government regulation of immigration to protect cheap foreign labor and the "American" worker from corporate America. But many of the regulations end up harming all three categories. For instance, laws requiring landlords to verify the immigration status of prospective lessee cost the landowner time and money. Invariably, some of these...

"A year after suing Arizona over its tough immigration law, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. told Congress on Tuesday that his department is prepared to sue Utah for going the other way and creating its own guest-worker program - though he is giving the state some time to change its law.

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Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert earlier this year signed a package of immigration bills,...

This article explains that illegal immigrants pay taxes, yet are barred from most welfare services. As a result, they provide net gains to government tax revenue. Contrary to Congressman Tom Tancredo's dire warnings, this article argues illegal aliens are far from a "colossal drain on the nation's hospitals, schools and welfare programs." Ms. Dalmia concedes some illegal immigrants are drains...

How should the U.S. treat illegal immigrants' children? When it comes to higher education, Georgia and California have extremely different perspectives. Georgia recently barred all illegal immigrants from the state's five most popular universities. A new state bill proposes banning illegal immigrants from all public universities. In contrast, Californian courts have recently ruled that all...

Immigration debates often settle around the economics of immigration -- is it a net gain or drain? Mr. Hanson wants to question the morality of illegal immigration. He points out that illegal immigrants willfully break the law. He asks whether illegal immigration harms the American poor, whether it is unfair to legal immigrants, and whether remittances are moral.

The controversial Arizona immigration law recently met a roadblock in court. U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton blocked key provisions that were designed to combat illegal immigration at the state level. This article explains that both sides believe this case will end up in the Supreme Court. The main argument is whether immigration is purely a federal issue or whether states and other...

Walter Williams, while not addressing illegal immigrant smuggling specifically, discusses the causes and consequences of smuggling -- a significant activity associated with illegal immigration. Focusing on commodities, Dr. Williams explain smuggling occurs when government bans a desired good (or service). Smugglers meet this demand outside of the law. The negative results of smuggling include...

One of the frequent arguments used by immigration critics is that immigrants "take our welfare." Art Carden does some quick math and concludes that immigrants, after taxes, consume roughly one to two percent of government expenditures. He argues these costs are "small relative to the benefits from larger markets."

What is the libertarian position on immigration? Mr. Bylund lays out two competing arguments. The Open Borders Argument stipulates that movement is a natural right, therefore government cannot infringe on any person's right. The second argument, the Pro-Property Argument, claims that immigration is simply moving into a new community -- everything is conducted individual to individual under a...

Is immigration beneficial to the United States? Byron York, pointing to new research, argues it is not -- at least economically. Because immigrants tend to be poorer, they receive government benefits without contributing as much in taxes. Therefore, they use up more resources than they consume. While York acknowledges that they may offset this by offering significant value in the private...

This graph demonstrates that persistent immigrants will find a way into the US. It also shows that apprehension is not enough of a deterrent to prevent future attempts at crossing the border.

This graph shows that despite significant increase in border protection, apprehensions have not noticeably increased. This may be due to migrants' increased use of smugglers or migrants crossing the border through dangerous, inhospitable terrain.

This chart demonstrates the percentage of the total share of illegal immigration each region sends to the US. It demonstrates that the largest share of illegal immigration comes from Mexico and other countries in Latin America.

"In 2009, a total of 1,130,818 persons became LPRs [Legal Permanent Residents] of the United States (see ... Figure 1). The majority of new LPRs (59 percent) already lived in the United States when they were granted lawful permanent residence. Nearly two-thirds were granted permanent resident status based on a family relationship with a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident of the United...

"Available data suggest slower growth in the stock of immigrants. The 2007 data from the American Community Survey (ACS) of the US Census Bureau show a net increase of just over 500,000 immigrants between 2006 and 2007 (from 37.5 million to 38.1 million).

In contrast, between 2000 and 2006, ACS and other data sources suggest the net annual increase in the foreign-born population was...

This graph shows that Mexican illegal immigrants are choosing to stay in the U.S. They may do so for a multitude of reasons, including the high costs associated with entering the U.S.

This graph depicts the financial cost of deporting all illegal immigrants.

Border enforcement has increased in the last few years. This has forced illegal immigrants to take more dangerous routes, generally through inhospitable land. Even as fewer migrants are entering the country, more are dying at the borders. Also, due to increased enforcement, smuggling activity has increased. This has led to greater criminal activity in border states. Stuart Anderson believes...

This article examines why illegal immigration occurs, evaluates the success of border enforcement, and proposes policy changes to quell the illegal immigration problem. It finds that illegal immigration occurs because of two factors: The absence of a "bilateral labor and migration agreement" and wage differentials. This paper argues border enforcement has been successful. Due to increased...

"Immigration flows to the United States have noticeably slowed in the last year, raising fundamental questions for policymakers and analysts about the effect the current economic crisis is having on inflows and return migration. These questions appear particularly daunting because there has been no comparable crisis in recent memory.

To examine the recession's potential impact on these...

This interactive timeline examines the last 60 years of immigration policy. It examines eight specific periods, discussing guest workers, illegal immigration, public benefits to migrant workers, border security, and homeland security.

The largest immigrant population in the United States is from Mexico. Lately, Mexicans have significantly decreased their emigration to the United States. However, there is no evidence Mexican immigrants living in the U.S. have departed. According to this paper, important questions must be answered to effectively inform immigration policy: Why has immigration slowed down? Is it due to the...

According to Dr. Hinojosa-Ojeda, amnesty and a guest worker program could increase U.S. GDP by 1.5 trillion dollars over ten years. In his paper, he examines the costs of an enforcement-only strategy -- namely the loss of life, smuggler fees, billions of dollars in wasted government spending, the promotion of permanent settlers, and the depressing of low-end wages.

He then examines...

This study was commissioned to discover Hispanics' economic impact on North Carolina's economy. This group includes native-born Hispanics, and Hispanics who immigrated legally and illegally. Indeed, a large sample of the population emigrated illegally. The study found that while Hispanics are a net drain on North Carolina's government expenditures--$61 million annually--they also provide over...

Many supporters of free trade often support free immigration. Hans-Herman Hoppe argues there is a significant difference between these positions, despite similar economic benefits. Countries should adopt free trade but restrict immigration. He argues that free trade requires a contract. Party A buys a good from Party B. This ensures the transaction is voluntary and respects property rights....

This paper discusses the demographics of the illegal immigration population. It examines illegal immigrants' countries of origin, labor input relative to legal immigrants, and trends in the illegal immigration population. It also discusses the methodology and difficulties related to counting illegal immigrants.

"Panelists spoke about immigration and customs practices, and balancing border security with privacy and civil liberty concerns. Among the topics they addressed were search procedures, identification requirements, and legal ambiguities in the area of searches conducted at border points for electronic data and information. Tim Sparapani moderated. 'The Changing Course: Privacy, Civil Liberties...

Lou Dobbs debates the merits of immigration. He believes low-skilled immigrants cost the U.S. too much money. Therefore, allowing mass immigration is unwise.

"Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo discusses and signs his timely book In Mortal Danger: The Battle for America's Border and Security.

Tancredo has been one of the only consistent voices in our government warning Americans of the dangers of failing to secure our borders and fix the nation's immigration system. In Mortal Danger outlines his prescription for beginning to repair the damage...

Immigration quotas revolving around Asian immigrants in the early 20th century brought this case to the Supreme Court. The high court determined that the Indian gentleman bringing the case was "not a 'white person'" and therefore could not be naturalized in the U.S.

"The 1885 Contract Labor Law forbade American individuals or organizations from engaging in labor contracts with individuals prior to their immigration to the United States, and forbade ship captains from transporting immigrants under labor contracts."

"This Act held that whenever any American diplomatic or consular officer knew or had a reason to believe that any alien sought to enter the United States for the purpose of engaging in activities which will endanger society they could refuse any visa or temporary work visa, thereby denying admission to the US."

The ACLU writes to the Committee on Homeland Security regarding the "Role of State and Local Enforcement in Immigration Law." It contends that state and local enforcement is ineffectual, unconstitutional, lacks oversight and promotes racial profiling.

This report examines alternative methods to secure the southwest border against "drug smuggling and illegal immigration." It finds that drug smuggling and illegal immigration "pose a serious threat." Pointing at a 1993 study, this report presents a new method to secure the border. Historically, border enforcement focused on apprehending illegal aliens once in the country. This study suggests a...

This highly controversial bill passed the House, but stalled in the Senate. It proposed much stricter legislation against illegal individuals, including some aspects which criminalized citizens for aiding or hiring illegal aliens.

The Bracero agreement provided "For the Temporary Migration of Mexican Agricultural Workers to the United States as Revised on April 26, 1943, by an Exchange of Notes Between the American Embassy at Mexico City and the Mexican Ministry for Foreign Affairs." This agreement allowed Mexican workers to emigrate, temporally, to the United States for agricultural work. There were numerous...

"C-TPAT is a voluntary government-business initiative to build cooperative relationships that strengthen and improve overall international supply chain and U.S. border security. C-TPAT recognizes that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can provide the highest level of cargo security only through close cooperation with the ultimate owners of the international supply chain such as...

"The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) makes it 'unlawful for a person or other entity . . . to hire, or to recruit or refer for a fee, for employment in the United States an alien knowing the alien is an unauthorized alien.' ... Employers that violate that prohibition may be subjected to federal civil and criminal sanctions. IRCA also restricts the ability of States to combat...

Like Zadvydas v. Davis et al., this case revolved around several law-breaking immigrants who were facing deportation because of their convictions. Their deportation was not able to be accomplished, however, and they subsequently insisted that their...

The CBO estimates the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 would cost $32-38 billion over a ten year period. It notes the highest single expenditure is due to new tax credits included in this plan.

This piece of legislation is cited as "AN ACT To adjust the status of Cuban refugees to that of lawful permanent residents of the United States, and for other purposes."

"Semi-structured interviews were conducted during July 2006 to pretest questions that had been developed from the data obtained during the SME Workshop. U.S. Custom and Border Protection provided a list of 27 potential contacts that were know[n] to be active participants in the C-TPAT program. The list was also designed to include a variety of business sizes and representation from all of the...

"Public Law 78 was an amendment to the Agricultural Act of 1949 in an effort to include agricultural workers within the act. This was significant because the Act was extended to workers from Mexico. The act was an effort to increase the amount of labor help during World War II, but included strict limitations for both the farmer and the farm worker. One of the limitations in regards to both...

In his first state of the union address, Calvin Coolidge briefly addressed the issue of immigration. Suggesting that "America must be kept American," Coolidge urged "a policy of restricted immigration."

This bill is enforcement-only. It requires the mandatory use of the E-verify system, increases personnel around the border, and authorizes aerial surveillance.

"Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) from taking action on public lands which impede the border security activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) (Secretary). States that the Secretary shall have immediate access to any public land managed by the federal government in order to conduct activities that assist in securing the border (...

“In this survey of Jewish immigration to the United States for the past thirty years, my purpose has been to present the main features of a movement of population that is one of the most striking of modern times. The causes of Jewish emigration from Eastern Europe, the course of Jewish immigration to the United States and the most important social qualities of the Jewish immigrants are studied...

"In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Border Patrol has experienced a tremendous change in its mission. With the formation of a new parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Border Patrol has as its priority mission preventing terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the United States. The Border Patrol will continue to advance its...

This website provides context to CBP's border enforcement effort. It contains both information on border agents deployed and immigrants processed and apprehended.

"The events of 9/11 and other ongoing terrorist threats have taken interest in national security and border security to a heightened level of concern. An exploration of the trends and transformation of border security in the aftermath of 9/11, Border Security in the Al-Qaeda Era presents one of the first comprehensive analyses of not only the impact and consequence of 9/11 on border security...