United States Border Security Post 9/11

United States Border Security Post 9/11

Introduction

U.S. border security in the post 9/11 era requires careful attention to all potential threats with particular focus on mitigating circumstances that lead to reductions in citizen safety and security. These efforts must be balanced with protection of U.S. citizens' rights to freedom of movement and commerce. Additionally, security activities must protect borders while minimizing interference with international trade. Primary concerns at the land borders include tracking movements of people into and out of the U.S. (including potential terrorists) at the traditional borders, curtailing illegal immigration and stopping drug trafficking. Sea borders are the primary route of illegal smuggling and now have more coordinated efforts between federal agencies, law enforcement, and private interests. Skies are protected by the DHS and its private entity the TSA but often include invasive search procedures for passengers.

Discussion

With the post 9/11 realization of America's vulnerability to external threats, border security became a subject of greater inquiry and action. United States border security can be categorized by the three mediums of transportation across borders - land, sea, and sky. Significant changes have occurred in the domestic security protocols utilized in all three mediums to reduce terrorist threats on U.S. soil, drug trafficking, and illegal immigration. While it seems obvious in the post 9/11 perspective that domestic security measures must be tightened, other considerations continue to compete with security. U.S. citizens expect the state to protect but not interfere with their freedom of travel, their ability to do business, and their liberty to choose their activities. The problem with many restrictive measures is that they might interfere with North American trade, business transaction, and private interests. Expanded security measures have therefore necessarily focused on balancing the need to control who enters and exits the country with the protection of U.S. citizen freedom of movement.

Land

Land border security for the U.S. is comprised of the two long stretches of land separating the U.S. from Canada along the north and the U.S. from Mexico along the south. Primary concerns along the southern border include both drug trafficking and immigration while the northern border is a concern because of the potential for terrorists to cross into the U.S. from Canada. Despite these differences, the two borders share one trait that makes land security particularly challenging. Both are thousands of miles long. Specifically, the U.S.-Mexico border is 1,933 miles and the U.S.-Canada border is 3,987 miles with 1,538 miles between Alaska and Canada and 2,449 separating the continental U.S. from Canada (Beaver, 2006). The massive size of these borders makes security along their perimeters daunting to say the least.

U.S.-Mexico Borders

The U.S.-Mexico border is particularly problematic because of Mexico's extensive drug trafficking and the significant percentage of illegal immigrants that originate from or through Mexico. Drug traffickers and illegal immigrant smugglers, called 'coyotes,' do not always use traditional roadways but often strike out across the deserts that separate Mexico from the states of Texas and Arizona. When the ...