Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements

Abstract

This executive briefing is to discuss President Trump’s recent issued Executive Order (EO) 13767 Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements. The briefing will contain analysis that is focused on the EO’s main purpose of the policy, its benefits and consequences, and the effects on national budget.

Introduction

On January 25, 2017, President Trump signed EO 13767 to install all mean necessary to secure the southern border, and to prevent illegal immigration and to deport illegal immigrants (Executive Order No. 13767, 2017). Additionally, EO 13767 demands the building a border wall, additional border patrol agents, increasing the number of detention facilities, and employing state and local law enforcement as additional immigration officials.

Southern Border Security

According to EO 13767, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the obligation to allocate unused funds to build a wall along the southern border. The DHS is also responsible for creating funding plan for the wall and provide statistics of security of the border within 180 days of the issuance of the EO (Executive Order No. 13767, 2017). Many concerns were raised citing the wall would be overly expensive, unsuccessful fighting illegal immigration, and hinder relations between the US and Mexico, however President Trump continued to implement the Executive Order.

Increasing Detention at the Border

According to the EO, DHS is obligated to use all available resources to immediately construct detention facilities at the southern border (Executive Order No. 13767, 2017). It instructs asylum officers to perform preliminary interviews and immigration judges to begin removal proceedings. It also directs DHS to limit access to asylum seekers, increase the use of accelerated removal in the country, and apply humanitarian parole on a case-by-case basis (Executive Order No. 13767, 2017). The EO prioritizes the detention of non-citizens pending their removal proceedings, and gives guidance to DHS officials on detention authorities to shorten catch and release protocol. The Executive Office for Immigration Review led a study that showed detention for illegal immigrants obstructs access to due process. Detained immigrants, held in detention centers throughout the country, were the least likely of all immigrants to be represented. It is shown that detained immigrants were unlikely to be represented by an attorney (Eagly & Shafer, 2016).

Border Patrol and Local Law Enforcement

According to the EO, an additional 5,000 border patrol agents would be hired by DHS as soon as possible and enforcing federal immigration laws are to be maximized (Executive Order No. 13767, 2017). Under Section 287 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), state and local law enforcement officials take the roles and responsibilities of immigrant agents. Local officers can question and arrest suspected illegal immigrants, check background information on those individuals, and detain them until they are in ICE custody. A major issue with Section 287 is it increases the possibility of purposeful profiling. This section makes it out to lawfully profile individuals who look of Hispanic decent and bring them in for questioning to determine if they are an illegal immigrant or not. Even though this is mostly an innocent action on the officer’s part according to the law, it can easily be argued and seen as racial profiling which will cause more harm than good.

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