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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
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Results for illegal immigration
98 results foundAuthor: Kammer, Jerry Title: The 2006 Swift Raids: Assessing the Impact of Immigration Enforcement Actions at Six Facilities Summary: The report examines the raids and their aftermath of the 2006 Swift & Co. meat processing plant raids. Impacts on illegal immigrants, the work force, and the employee screening of Swift are examined. Details: Washington, DC: Center for Immigration Studies, 2009 Source: Backgrounder Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 115525 Keywords: Illegal ImmigrationLaw Enforcement |
Author: Europol Title: OCTA 2009: EU Organised Crime Threat Assessment Summary: The 2009 OCTA assesses the threat of organized crime in the EU through the analysis of the organized groups, of the criminal markets, and of their interaction within and without territorial entities denominated as criminal hubs. Through this approach it finds that the most significant criminal sectors are drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings, illegal immigration, fraud, counterfeiting and money laundering. Details: The Hague: European Police Office, 2009. 64p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: International URL: Shelf Number: 119244 Keywords: CounterfeitingHuman TraffickingIllegal ImmigrationMoney LaunderingOrganized Crime |
Author: U.K. Border Agency Title: Protecting Our Border, Protecting the Public: The UK Border Agency's Five Year Strategy for Enforcing Our Immigration Rules and Addressing Immigration and Cross Border Crime Summary: This document both clarifies the extent of the UK Border Agency law enforcement activities and sets out a vision as to how, over the next five years, they will develop their capability to protect the public from the harm caused by illegal immigration and smuggling. It also sets out how the agency will support the work of its criminal justice partners in tackling non-immigration crime committed by foreign nationals in the UK. Details: London: UK Border Agency, 2010. 37p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: Shelf Number: 118616 Keywords: Border CrimeBorder SecurityIllegal AliensIllegal ImmigrationImmigrants |
Author: Willis, Henry H. Title: Measuring the Effectiveness of Border Security Between Ports-of-Entry Summary: "This report offers research and recommendations on ways to measure the overall efforts of the national border-security enterprise between ports of entry. To be meaningful, the set of measures for effectiveness of border security should be sound, reliable, useful, and general. Three Department of Homeland Security (DHS) missions appear to currently be of special interest to DHS leadership because they are especially problematic: illegal drug control, counterterrorism, and illegal migration. The report recommends measuring performance of three fundamental functions that border-security efforts contribute to achieving national policy objectives: interdiction, deterrence, and exploiting networked intelligence. If the steps described here are taken, DHS and its components will be in a better position to discuss past performance and to provide reasoned justifications for future allocation of resources. Further, they will be able to relate their efforts to those of other agencies in pursuit of national objectives." Details: Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2010. Source: Internet Resource; Technical Report Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 119332 Keywords: Border SecurityCounterterrorismDrug ControlIllegal DrugsIllegal Immigration |
Author: Provine, Doris Marie Title: The Criminalisation of an Immigrant Population (ARI) Summary: Arizona has taken up the cause of immigration enforcement with a law requiring police to arrest persons suspected of being undocumented, and by criminalising activities associated with immigration. This has brought new life to the long-simmering debate about how to respond to the nation’s estimated 11 million unauthorised residents. The law is often described as an outgrowth of frustration with the federal government’s ‘broken’ immigration system. This broad characterisation is somewhat misleading. Arizona does not want the federal government to establish ‘a path towards citizenship’ or to regularise resident immigrants as it did in 1986. Rather, SB 1070 is designed to shift the national debate in a more restrictive direction. Arizona’s policy of ‘attrition through enforcement’ provides a rallying point for opponents of comprehensive immigration reform within parameters that appear legal and possibly appropriate in light of federal inaction. It was designed as a test case. Locally, SB 1070 signals the state’s unrelenting hostility towards its unauthorised residents and its indifference to those who must carry papers to prove their right to remain. To local police agencies, the state sends a warning: either prioritise immigration enforcement or risk a citizen-initiated lawsuit. Details: Madrid: Real Instituto Eleano, 2010. 9p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 119429 Keywords: Illegal AliensIllegal ImmigrationImmigrants (Arizona) |
Author: Zhang, Sheldon Title: Get There Anyway You Can - Human Smuggling to the U.S. and the Policy Implications Summary: Human smuggling, although often sensationalized in the news media, is mostly a rather mundane business arrangement in which one assists or facilitates, often for a fee, the unauthorized entry of a foreign national into another country. In recent years, illegal immigration and the associated human smuggling activities have gone through discernible changes, some of which are brought about by the intensified debate on securing the nation’s borders and probably more are caused by the economic conditions and fundamental shifts in U.S. labor market. Details: Santiago, Chile: Global Consortium on Security Transformation, 2010. 19p. Source: Internet Resource; Policy Brief Series, No. 8. Accessed August 10, 2010 at http://www.securitytransformation.org/gc_publications.php Year: 2010 Country: International URL: http://www.securitytransformation.org/gc_publications.php Shelf Number: 119583 Keywords: Border SecurityHuman SmugglingIllegal AliensIllegal Immigration |
Author: Lopez, Mark Hugo Title: A Rising Share: Hispanics and Federal Crime Summary: "Sharp growth in illegal immigration and increased enforcement of immigration laws have dramatically altered the ethnic composition of offenders sentenced in federal courts. In 2007, Latinos accounted for 40% of all sentenced federal offenders -- more than triple their share (13%) of the total U.S. adult population. The share of all sentenced offenders who were Latino in 2007 was up from 24% in 1991, according to an analysis of data from the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. Between 1991 and 2007, enforcement of federal immigration laws became a growing priority in response to undocumented immigration. By 2007, immigration offenses represented nearly one-quarter (24%) of all federal convictions, up from just 7% in 1991. Among those sentenced for immigration offenses in 2007, 80% were Hispanic. This heightened focus on immigration enforcement has also changed the citizenship profile of federal offenders. In 2007, Latinos without U.S. citizenship represented 29% of all federal offenders. Among all Latino offenders, some 72% were not U.S. citizens, up from 61% in 1991. By contrast, a much smaller share of white offenders (8%) and black offenders (6%) who were sentenced in federal courts in 2007 were not U.S. citizens. The total number of offenders sentenced in federal courts more than doubled from 1991 to 2007. During this period, the number of sentenced offenders who were Hispanic nearly quadrupled and accounted for more than half (54%) of the growth in the total number of sentenced offenders. One reason all of these figures have risen so sharply is that immigration offenses, unlike most other criminal offenses, are exclusively under the jurisdiction of federal rather than state or local courts. In 1991, three times as many Hispanics were sentenced in federal courts for drug crimes (60%) as for immigration crimes (20%). By 2007, that pattern had reversed; among Hispanic offenders sentenced in federal courts, 48% were sentenced for an immigration offense and 37% for a drug offense. Among sentenced immigration offenders, most were convicted of unlawfully entering or remaining in the U.S. Fully 75% of Latino offenders sentenced for immigration crimes in 2007 were convicted of entering the U.S. unlawfully or residing in the country without authorization, while 19% were sentenced for smuggling, transporting or harboring an unlawful alien. Convictions broke down largely along citizenship lines. Among sentenced non-citizen Latino immigration offenders, more than eight-in-ten (81%) were convicted of entering unlawfully or residing in the U.S. without authorization. In contrast, more than nine-in-ten (91%) U.S. citizen Latino immigration offenders were convicted of smuggling, transporting or harboring an unlawful alien. Hispanics who were convicted of any federal offense were more likely than non-Hispanics to be sentenced to prison. But among all federal offenders sentenced to prison, Hispanics received shorter prison terms on average than did either blacks or whites. These racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing appear to be linked to USSC guidelines that attach clear boundaries for the types of sentences that can be meted out for different types of crimes. This report examines the ethnic, racial and citizenship status of sentenced offenders in federal courts." Details: Washington, DC: Pew Research Center, Pew Hispanic Center, 2009. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 22, 2010 at: http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/104.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/104.pdf Shelf Number: 113911 Keywords: Illegal Aliens - ImmigrantsIllegal ImmigrationImmigration EnforcementSentencing Statistics |
Author: Lopez, Mark Hugo Title: Illegal Immigration Backlash Worries, Divides Latinos Summary: The 2010 National Survey of Latinos (NSL) focuses on the views and opinions of Latinos about immigrants, illegal immigration and immigration policy. The survey was conducted from August 17 through September 19, 2010, among a randomly selected, nationally representative sample of 1,375 Latino adults, 542 of whom are native born and 833 of whom are foreign born. Details: Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center, 2010. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 3, 2010 at: http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/128.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/128.pdf Shelf Number: 120170 Keywords: HispanicsIllegal AliensIllegal ImmigrationImmigrants |
Author: Police Executive Research Forum Title: Critical Issues in Policing Series: Police Chiefs and Sheriffs Speak Out On Local Immigration Enforcement Summary: This report provides detailed information about the growing concern of police chiefs across the nation about the illegal immigration issue. Specifically, the key question is the extent to which local police and sheriffs’ agencies should be involved in enforcing federal immigration laws. This report provides the results of a survey that PERF conducted on this issue, as well as the views of local police executives who participated in a PERF Summit. The Summit produced consensus among the chiefs on several points, including the view that it is appropriate to check suspects’ immigration status at the time of arrest and booking for serious offenses. Chiefs expressed several concerns about increased local enforcement, particularly that they lack sufficient personnel to take on the task, and that enforcement can undermine the trust between police and immigrant community members. Details: Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum, 2008. 117p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 6, 2010 at: Year: 2008 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 120392 Keywords: Illegal ImmigrationImmigrantsImmigration Laws |
Author: Nomikos, John M. Title: Illegal Immigration and Organized Crime in Greece Summary: During the 1990’s the immigration problem in Greece started to have explosive dimensions due to political and economic developments in South-East Europe, but also due to the continuous conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa. An important factor which played an important role in shaping these developments was the collapse of Alia’s regime in Albania (1991) and the subsequent flow of illegal immigrants from Albania into Greece and also from other Balkan countries (Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, FYROM) due to the political unrest that took place in the Balkans during that period. In Greece, immigration policy is facing the same inflexibility which does not solve the problem but rather functions in a fragmentary way and does not constitute a substantial effort in solving the problem. Dealing with illegal immigration as a national security threat is a strategic option and it is absolutely necessary the formation of an immigration policy which will prevent the flow of illegal immigrants and give directions in regard to the integration of the legal immigrants in Greek society in coordination with the European Immigration Policy which will be formed by the European Commission. Greece has to form and implement a long term immigration policy which will include efficient mechanisms of internal and external control (cooperation of Ministries of Employment, Interior, National Defense, Foreign Affairs, Public Health and Mercantile Marine) in cooperation with our European Union partners and non- European Union states like Turkey, where the bigger number of illegal immigrants are flowing to Greece. This article has three sections. The first section is referring to the institutional framework in Greece and the observations in regard to the implementation or not of this framework in order to handle in a more efficient way the immigration problem. The second section is describing the causes of the flow of illegal immigrants in Greece and the repercussions on national security. Finally, the third section is referring to the latest developments in European Union immigration policies and the role of Immigration Liaison Officers (ILO) in facing illegal immigration. Liaison Officers (ILO) are serving in the immigration offices of the European Union Member States and they try to coordinate and implement national immigration policies into a common European Immigration Policy. Details: Athens, Greece: Research Institute for European and American Studies, 2010. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Paper No. 144: Accessed December 17, 2010 at: http://www.rieas.gr/images/rieas144.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Greece URL: http://www.rieas.gr/images/rieas144.pdf Shelf Number: 120541 Keywords: Illegal AliensIllegal ImmigrationImmigrants (Greece)Organized Crime |
Author: Martin, David A. Title: Immigration Enforcement: Beyond the Border and the Workplace Summary: New immigration legislation must include changes to achieve effective and resolute enforcement of the immigration laws. Merely beefing up border policing (currently the most popular enforcement strategy) is insufficient. Over the last decade, the influx of unauthorized migrants has reached record levels even though border enforcement has greatly expanded, primarily because migrants know that getting past the border opens wide opportunities in the US job market, owing to the near absence of enforcement there. The most important reform is therefore well-crafted workplace screening. Because border and workplace enforcement have been addressed elsewhere, this policy brief offers suggestions for other key enforcement improvements that Congress and the executive branch should implement. Primarily, reform should: 1. Assure that removal orders are enforced by: • expanding the use of fugitive operations teams; • wider application of civil and criminal penalties to absconders, including legislative changes to facilitate civil levies; • more strategic use of detention, including in connection with supervised release programs modeled on a Vera Institute pilot project; • shortening hearing times while preserving due process, including testing the efficiency effects of government-provided counsel through a limited pilot project. 2. Build better protections against fraud into the systems leading to a grant of benefits, rather than relying on after-the-fact prosecutions or revocations 3. Mainstream immigration enforcement, including through carefully structured engagement of state and local officers, while assuring that the central roles are played by federal officers expert in immigration law. Details: Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2006. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief, No. 19: Accessed February 1, 2011 at: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/ITFIAF/TF19_Martin.pdf Year: 2006 Country: United States URL: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/ITFIAF/TF19_Martin.pdf Shelf Number: 120651 Keywords: Border PatrolBorder SecurityIllegal ImmigrationImmigrants |
Author: Colorado. Governor's Working Group on Law Enforcement and Illegal Immigration Title: Report of the Governor's Working Group on Law Enforcement and Illegal Immigration: A Report to the Governor and Colorado General Assembly Summary: A panel of 31 specially recruited leaders from law enforcement, legal aid, human services, prosecution, criminal justice, and government agencies throughout Colorado met in six four-hour long sessions to examine current conditions in immigration and traffic law enforcement at the request of Governor Bill Ritter, Jr., following two tragic traffic crashes this year involving drivers who were living in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws. In the most recent incident the driver in a crash that resulted in the deaths of three people had been living in the country since childhood, providing a number of different aliases and residency claims to local law enforcement officers in a number of jurisdictions during his numerous contacts with law enforcement. In the course of the resulting investigation, officials learned he never had been licensed to drive. By all accounts, his true immigration status remained undiscovered until the fatal crash, due to his misrepresentations, to his ability to cast himself as a U.S. citizen and to federal immigration data systems that are not linked to criminal histories maintained by states and the FBI. At present, it is impossible for local police officers, sheriffs’ deputies and most State Patrol troopers to be able to verify immigration status of persons they normally encounter. Such a verification presently requires a separate request for a manual search of a federal database. In two states, a pilot project of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency called Secure Communities may help local law enforcement agencies overcome the existing limitations of data systems. Members of the panel want Colorado to explore the possibility of becoming a Secure Communities participating test site. The only other option available to local law enforcement agencies to obtain federal immigration status information is their participation in a program known as 287(g) authority. Participating in the 287(g) program, however, costs local agencies significant resources to train officers. It also severely reduces the ability of local police officers to work effectively in communities to solve crime and serve victims. When 287(g) authority is applied to county jail operations, some savings can be realized to counties, even though there are other resource issues associated with limited 287(g) authority. The decision whether to participate in the 287(g) program must remain with individual law enforcement agencies in Colorado. Immigration enforcement remains within the realm of federal law enforcement agencies. Local law enforcement agencies do not have the authority and cannot be expected to develop the complex technical expertise needed to enforce federal immigration law. Peace officers need better ways of verifying the identity of persons they encounter who do not have identification or who criminally misrepresent their identities. This report presents a number of recommendations and potential improvements that might help avoid the ability of a driver to take advantage of data system limitations. Some of these recommendations will require state and federal legislative changes, and others can be enacted administratively. Most of the legislative changes suggested by the panel involve improving definitions and refining existing statutes rather than creating new sections of state law. Details: Lakewood, CO: Colorado Department of Public Safety, 2008. 67p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 22, 2011 at: http://cdpsweb.state.co.us/immigration/documents/FINAL%20Report%202%20for%20Eservice.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United States URL: http://cdpsweb.state.co.us/immigration/documents/FINAL%20Report%202%20for%20Eservice.pdf Shelf Number: 120860 Keywords: Illegal Aliens (Colorado)Illegal ImmigrationTraffic Law Enforcement |
Author: Hoefer, Michael Title: Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: January 2010 Summary: This report provides estimates of the number of unauthorized immigrants residing in the United States as of January 2009 by period of entry, region and country of origin, state of residence, age, and gender. In summary, DHS estimates that the unauthorized immigrant population living in the United States decreased to 10.8 million in January 2009 from 11.6 million in January 2008. Between 2000 and 2009, the unauthorized population grew by 27 percent. Of all unauthorized immigrants living in the United States in 2009, 63 percent entered before 2000, and 62 percent were from Mexico. Details: Washington, DC: Office of Immigration Statistics, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2011. 7p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 28, 2011 at: http://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2010,0210-unauthorized.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2010,0210-unauthorized.pdf Shelf Number: 120883 Keywords: Illegal AliensIllegal ImmigrationImmigrants |
Author: Haddal, Chad C. Title: Border Security: The Role of the U.S. Border Patrol Summary: The United States Border Patrol (USBP) has a long and storied history as our nation’s first line of defense against unauthorized migration. Today, the USBP’s primary mission is to detect and prevent the entry of terrorists, weapons of mass destruction, and illegal aliens into the country, and to interdict drug smugglers and other criminals along the border. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 dissolved the Immigration and Naturalization Service and placed the USBP within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Within DHS, the USBP forms a part of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection under the Directorate of Border and Transportation Security. During the last decade, the USBP has seen its budget and manpower more than triple. This expansion was the direct result of congressional concerns about illegal immigration and the agency’s adoption of “Prevention Through Deterrence” as its chief operational strategy in 1994. The strategy called for placing USBP resources and manpower directly at the areas of greatest illegal immigration in order to detect, deter, and apprehend aliens attempting to cross the border between official points of entry. Post 9/11, the USBP refocused its strategy on preventing the entry of terrorists and weapons of mass destruction, as laid out in its recently released National Strategy. In addition to a workforce of over 20,000 agents, the USBP deploys vehicles, aircraft, watercraft, and many different technologies to defend the border. In the course of discharging its duties, the USBP patrols 8,000 miles of American international borders with Mexico and Canada and the coastal waters around Florida and Puerto Rico. However, there are significant geographic, political, and immigration-related differences between the northern border with Canada and the Southwest border with Mexico. Accordingly, the USBP deploys a different mix of personnel and resources along the two borders. Due to the fact that approximately 98.7% of unauthorized migrant apprehensions by the USBP occur along the Southwest border, the USBP deploys over 85% of its agents there to deter illegal immigration. The northern border is more than two times longer than the Southwest border, and features far lower numbers of aliens attempting to enter illegally, but may be more vulnerable to terrorist infiltration. As a consequence of this, the USBP has focused its northern border efforts on deploying technology and cooperating closely with Canadian authorities through the creation of International Border Enforcement Teams. Some issues for Congress to consider could include the slow rate of integration between the USBP’s biometric database of illegal aliens and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) biometric database of criminals and terrorists; the number of unauthorized aliens who die attempting to enter the country each year; the increasing attacks on Border Patrol agents, and the threat posed by terrorists along the sparsely defended northern border as well as the more porous Southwest border. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2010. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: RL32562: Accessed March 16, 2011 at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RL32562.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RL32562.pdf Shelf Number: 121027 Keywords: Border PatrolBorder SecurityContrabandDrug TraffickingIllegal AliensIllegal ImmigrationSmuggling |
Author: Nunez-Neto, Blas Title: Border Security: Apprehensions of “Other Than Mexican” Aliens Summary: The United States Border Patrol (USBP) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is charged with securing our nation’s borders between official ports of entry (POE). As the USBP discharges its mission it encounters unauthorized aliens from around the world attempting to illegally enter the United States. In fiscal year (FY) 2004, USBP agents apprehended 1.16 million people attempting to enter the country illegally between official POE; 93% of these aliens were Mexican nationals. Because the vast majority of people apprehended each year by the USBP are Mexican nationals, the agency categorizes aliens as Mexicans or Other Than Mexicans (OTM). Over the past three years, OTM apprehensions have more than tripled nationwide and have been concentrated along the South Texas border. The reasons for this dramatic increase, and its geographical concentration in Texas, are not altogether clear. The number of people entering the country illegally between POE, and the concomitant proliferation of human and drug smuggling networks, can present risks to national security due to the ever-present threat of terrorism. Terrorists and terrorist organizations could leverage these illicit networks to smuggle a person or weapon of mass destruction into the United States, while the large number of aliens attempting to enter the country illegally could potentially provide cover for the terrorists. Additionally, the proceeds from these smuggling networks could potentially be used to finance terrorism. The issue of OTM apprehensions has received publicity recently for many of these reasons, which were highlighted during congressional testimony by DHS then-Deputy Secretary Admiral James Loy when he stated that Al-Qaeda is considering infiltrating the Southwest border due to a belief that “illegal entry is more advantageous than legal entry for operational security reasons.” OTMs apprehended along the Southwest border by the USBP between official POE cannot be returned to Mexico because Mexico will not accept them. Instead, they must be returned to their countries of origin, or third countries that will accept them, by the Office of Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). However, DRO does not have enough detention beds to accommodate every OTM that is apprehended. As a result of this, the majority of OTMs apprehended by the USBP are released into the interior of the United States with notices to appear before an immigration judge. Most of these released OTMs fail to show up for their hearings and are not ultimately removed. In order to address the increasing number of OTMs being apprehended and circumvent the regular removal process, the USBP is currently expanding its Expedited Removal (ER) program. Issues for Congress include the potential for terrorist infiltration, the lack of detention bed-space that causes OTMs to be released into the interior of the country, and how best to deploy DHS resources to address the growing number of OTMs entering into the country illegally. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2005. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: RL33097: Accessed March 16, 2011 at: http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/library/P1.pdf Year: 2005 Country: United States URL: http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/library/P1.pdf Shelf Number: 121028 Keywords: Border PatrolBorder SecurityIllegal AliensIllegal ImmigrationSmuggling |
Author: Hoffmaster, Debra A. Title: Police and Immigration: How Chiefs Are Leading their Communities through the Challenges Summary: Local police and sheriffs’ departments increasingly are being drawn into a national debate about how to enforce federal immigration laws. In many jurisdictions, local police are being pressured to take significantly larger roles in what has traditionally been a federal government responsibility. This is not a simple matter for local police. Active involvement in immigration enforcement can complicate local law enforcement agencies’ efforts to fulfill their primary missions of investigating and preventing crime. While no two communities are affected by immigration in the same way, the current system creates a number of challenges for local police, such as understanding an extremely complicated set of federal laws and policies, and working to develop trust and cooperation with undocumented immigrants who are victims of or witnesses to crime. For several years now, PERF has been focusing attention on the question of illegal immigration and its impact on local police departments. Immigration laws are federal statutes, so this is fundamentally a matter for the federal government to decide. But Congress has not been able to pass any comprehensive immigration reform legislation. Arizona’s passage in April 2010 of SB 1070, a new law designed to expand the role of local police in immigration enforcement, and the Obama Administration’s decision to challenge the Constitutionality of this state law in federal court, have focused national attention on the question of federal, state, and local enforcement of immigration laws. In the meantime, many local communities and police agencies are struggling to devise local policies and strategies that reflect their own values and are consistent with the federal government’s efforts, which seem to ebb and flow with changing Administrations. This publication explores the role of six leading police departments in their communities’ immigration debates, and how they navigated the challenges and pressures surrounding the immigration issue. Our six case-study jurisdictions were not chosen at random; these six cities have experienced some of the most contentious local battles on this issue in recent memory. The case studies were conducted between December 2008 and September 2009. The goal of this report is to provide a base of information about what police are currently doing regarding immigration enforcement. Following are brief summaries of the six case studies. Each chapter concludes with a set of lessons learned and guiding principles for dealing with immigration issues. In addition, a concluding chapter includes a set of Recommendations for Congress and the Obama Administration, and Recommendations for Local Police Agencies. These recommendations are based on the lessons learned in the six case studies as well as through a National Summit on Immigration Enforcement held in July 2009 in Phoenix. Details: Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum, 2010. 96p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 18, 2011 at: http://www.policeforum.org/library/immigration/PERFImmigrationReportMarch2011.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.policeforum.org/library/immigration/PERFImmigrationReportMarch2011.pdf Shelf Number: 121077 Keywords: Illegal AliensIllegal ImmigrationImmigrantsImmigration EnforcementImmigration LawsPolicing |
Author: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Title: Report on Immigration in the United States: Detention and Due Process Summary: The United States hosts the largest number of international immigrants in the world. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in 2005 the United States had a total of 38.4 million international migrants. Many of those migrants came to the United States through formal and legal channels. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates that as of January 2008 there were 12.6 million legal permanent residents (LPRs) in the United States; another 1,107,126 were added in 2008. Every year, many legal permanent residents are granted U.S. citizenship. In 2008, 1,046,539 persons became naturalized citizens. The United States is also one of the leading countries for granting asylum and resettling refugees. In 2008, the United States granted asylum to 22,930 persons and resettled 60,108 refugees. In keeping with Article 58 of its Rules of Procedure, the Inter‐American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter‐American Commission,” “the Commission,” or “the IACHR”) is presenting this report as a diagnostic analysis of the human rights situation with respect to immigrant detention and due process in the United States and to make recommendations so that immigration practices in that country conform to international human rights standards. Details: Washington, DC: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 2010. 162p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 21, 2011 at: http://cidh.org/pdf%20files/ReportOnImmigrationInTheUnited%20States-DetentionAndDueProcess.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://cidh.org/pdf%20files/ReportOnImmigrationInTheUnited%20States-DetentionAndDueProcess.pdf Shelf Number: 121092 Keywords: Human RightsIllegal ImmigrationImmigrant DetentionImmigrants (U.S.) |
Author: U.S. Customs and Border Protection Title: United States - Canada Joint Border Threat and Risk Assessment Summary: This assessment seeks to provide U.S. and Canadian policymakers, resource planners, and other law enforcement officials with a strategic overview of significant threats along the 5,525-mile/8,891-km international boundary between the United States and Canada. These threats are categorized as follows: • national security; • criminal enterprises; • migration; • agriculture; and • health. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Ottawa: Canada Border Services Agency; Ottawa: Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2010. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 7, 2011 at: http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/us-canada-jbtra.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/us-canada-jbtra.pdf Shelf Number: 121266 Keywords: Illegal ImmigrationOrganized CrimeTerrorism (U.S. and Canada) |
Author: Padavan, Frank Title: The Golden Door: Illegal Immigration, Terrorism and the Underground Economy: With a Focus on the Counterfeit Goods Trade and Analysis of the 2000 Census Summary: In 1994, Senator Frank Padavan, then Chairman of the Senate Committee on Cities, released "Our Teeming Shore," a report reflecting extensive research and public hearings on "federal immigration policy and its impact on the City and State of New York." That report concluded that New York State and its localities were spending over $5.6 billion annually as a result of federal immigration policy: $2.1 billion in social service costs; $270 million for criminal justice and corrections; and $3.3 billion in elementary and secondary education expenditures, all unreimbursed by the federal government. As a result of Senator Padavan's landmark research -- New York State was among the first in the nation to document the impact of federal immigration policy at the state and local level -- the Senate Majority Task Force on Immigration was created. A second report, a year later, confirmed the findings of the first. In "The Golden Door: Illegal Immigration, Terrorism and The Underground Economy," Senator Padavan updates the topics discussed in the earlier reports, with a focus on the counterfeit goods trade, its link to terrorism, and its cost to taxpayers. Details: Albany, NY: New York State Senate Majority Task Force on Immigration, 2005. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 28, 2011 at: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/scandoclinks/ocm64195701.htm Year: 2005 Country: United States URL: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/scandoclinks/ocm64195701.htm Shelf Number: 121573 Keywords: Counterfeit GoodsIllegal AliensIllegal ImmigrationImmigrantsImmigration PolicyTerrorism |
Author: de Haas, Hein Title: The Myth of Invasion: Irregular Migration from West Africa to the Maghreb and the European Union Summary: Media and dominant policy discourses convey an apocalyptic image of an increasingly massive exodus of desperate Africans fleeing poverty and war at home trying to enter the elusive European ‘El Dorado’ crammed in long-worn ships barely staying afloat. The migrants themselves are commonly depicted as victims recruited by “merciless” and “unscrupulous” traffickers and smugglers. Hence, the perceived policy solutions – which invariably boil down to curbing migration – focus on “fighting” or “combating” illegal migration through intensifying border controls and cracking down on trafficking and smuggling related crime. Although there has been an incontestable increase in regular and irregular West African migration to Europe over the past decade, available empirical evidence dispels most of these assumptions. First, trans-Saharan migration of West Africans to North Africa is not as new, massive and Europe - focused as is commonly suggested. While having much deeper historical roots in the trans-Saharan trade, migration of (former) nomads, traders and refugees to Mauritania, Algeria and Libya since the 1970s set the stage for contemporary trans-Saharan migration. Against the background of economic decline and warfare in West and Central Africa, Libya’s new ‘pan-African’ immigration policies are essential in understanding the major increase in trans-Saharan labour migration over the 1990s. Since 2000, a major anti-immigrant backlash in Libya probably contributed to a diversification of trans-Saharan migration routes and the increasing presence of migrants in other Maghreb countries. Confronted with a persistent demand for irregular migrant labour in Europe, more and more sub-Saharan, mostly West Africans started to cross the Mediterranean. However, the public perception that irregular migration from Africa is massive and growing at an alarming rate is deceptive. Illegal crossings of the Mediterranean by North Africans have been a persistent phenomenon since Italy and Spain introduced visa requirements in the early 1990s. The major change has been that, in particular since 2000, sub-Saharan Africans have started to join and have now overtaken North Africans as the largest category of irregular boat migrants. Recent West African migrants are increasingly settling in Spain and Italy, where they enter flourishing underground economies. Even when apprehended, many migrants are eventually released. Many have acquired residency through recurrent regularisations. It is a misconception that all or most migrants crossing the Sahara are “in transit” to Europe. In particular, Libya is an important destination country in its own right. There are probably more sub-Saharan Africans living in North Africa than in Europe. An estimated 65,000 to 120,000 sub-Saharan Africans enter the Maghreb yearly overland, of which only 20 to 38 percent are estimated to enter Europe. The total number of successful irregular crossings by sub-Saharan Africans should be counted in the order of several tens of thousands, according to our estimates 25,000 to 35,000 per year. The majority of migrants enter Europe legally and subsequently overstay their visas. The total annual increase since 2000 of the registered West African population in the EU has been around 100,000. This is still relatively modest compared to a total EU immigration of 2.6 million in 2004. There are an estimated 800,000 registered West African migrants in the main receiving countries compared to 2,600,000 North Africans. Common push-pull models viewing poverty as the main cause of African mass migration are inconsistent with evidence that the migrants are not among the poorest and that West African countries still have comparatively low inter-continental emigration rates. Analyses focusing on ‘African misery’ pushing migrants out of the continent tend to obscure migrants’ agency and the vital demand side of this migration. Rather than a desperate response to destitution, migration is generally a conscious choice by relatively well-off individuals and households to enhance their livelihoods. Likewise, the common portrayal of irregular African migrants as victims of traffickers and smugglers is inconsistent with evidence that the vast majority of migrants move on their own initiative. Trafficking is relatively rare, and smugglers are usually not part of international organised crime, but locally based passeurs operating alone or in small networks. Migrants typically travel in stages. Migrants often work in migration hubs to save enough money for their onward journey. Several end up settling along the way in Saharan boomtowns or major North African cities. Since the 1990s, European states intensified border controls and have attempted to ‘externalise’ these policies by pressuring North African countries to clamp down on irregular migration and to sign readmission agreements in exchange for aid, financial support and work permits. While failing to curb immigration, these policies have had a series of unintended side effects in the form of increasing violations of migrants’ and refugees’ rights in North Africa and a diversification of trans-Saharan migration routes and attempted sea crossing points, which now cover large stretches of the African coastline from the Guinea to Libya. In practice, it seems almost impossible to seal off the long Saharan borders and coastlines, even if governments are genuinely willing to do so. What remains largely unspoken behind official discourses is that both European and African states have little genuine interest in stopping migration, because their economies have become dependent on migrant labour and remittances, respectively. Several structural factors explain why it is likely that sub-Saharan migration to the EU and Libya will continue. First, trans-Saharan migration is less unwanted than it seems. The demand for cheap immigrant labour in Europe and Libya is likely to persist. Second, the firm establishment of migration routes and migrant networks, as well as improvements in communication and trans-Saharan transportation infrastructure are likely to facilitate future migration. Apart from Libya, other North African countries may also evolve into transit and destination countries. Migrants failing or not venturing to enter Europe often prefer to settle in North Africa as a ‘second best option’ than to return to their substantially poorer or unsafe origin countries. These trends might be reinforced by demographic change and the parallel segmentation of North African labour markets, which may increase the demand for immigrant labour. For all these reasons, it is likely that migration from West Africa to North Africa and Europe will continue. There is a growing discrepancy between restrictive migration policies and the demand for cheap migrant labour in Libya and Europe. This explains why, rather than a decline in migration, increasing border controls have led to the swift diversion of migration routes, increasing “illegality” and reliance on smuggling as well as an increase in the risks, costs, and suffering of the migrants involved. As long as no more legal channels for immigration are created to match the real demand for labour, and as long as large informal economies will exist, it is likely that a substantial proportion of this migration will remain irregular. Details: Oxford, UK: International Migration Institute, University of Oxford, 2007. 83p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 13, 2011 at: http://www.imi.ox.ac.uk/pdfs/Irregular%20migration%20from%20West%20Africa%20-%20Hein%20de%20Haas.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Europe URL: http://www.imi.ox.ac.uk/pdfs/Irregular%20migration%20from%20West%20Africa%20-%20Hein%20de%20Haas.pdf Shelf Number: 122046 Keywords: Border SecurityIllegal ImmigrantsIllegal Immigration |
Author: Center for the Study of Democracy Title: Practices and Forms of Cooperation between Customs and Border Guards in the European Union Summary: The economic crisis and the increased threats from terrorism, organised crime and illegal migration have brought to light the issue of efficient and effective management of the external borders of the European Union. For Bulgaria it has become even more important with regard to its upcoming accession to the Schengen area. Details: Sofia: Center for the Study of Democracy, 2011. 11p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief No. 30: Accessed August 26, 2011 at: http://www.csd.bg/artShow.php?id=15647 Year: 2011 Country: Bulgaria URL: http://www.csd.bg/artShow.php?id=15647 Shelf Number: 122562 Keywords: Border PatrolBorder Security (Bulgaria)Customs EnforcementIllegal Immigration |
Author: Roberts, Bryan Title: An Analysis of Migrant Smuggling Costs along the Southwest Border Summary: Border enforcement is intended to prevent and deter the illegal movement of goods and people across a country’s border. The intensification of border enforcement activities creates impediments to illegal entry that increase the costs incurred by migrants when crossing the border. Increased costs may include additional time investment, physical hardship, and higher fees charged by smugglers who assist migrants across the border. The impact of enforcement on illegal immigration depends on how enforcement affects migration costs and how migration costs affect the decision to migrate. Our goal in this paper is to estimate the impact that enforcement has on the price smugglers charge to bring illegal immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics, Policy Directorate, 2010. 22p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper: Accessed November 1, 2011 at: http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ois-smuggling-wp.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ois-smuggling-wp.pdf Shelf Number: 123203 Keywords: Alien SmugglingBorder PatrolBorder SecurityCosts of Criminal JusticeHuman SmugglingIllegal ImmigrationMigrant Smuggling |
Author: American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona Title: In Their Own Words: Enduring Abuse in Arizona Immigration Detention Centers Summary: Through the Immigrant Detention Advocacy Project, the ACLU of Arizona has worked for two years to document civil and human rights abuses in immigration detention centers in Arizona. Based on 115 face-to-face interviews with detainees held in Eloy and Florence, Arizona, the 36-page report, "In Their Own Words: Enduring Abuse in Arizona Immigration Detention Centers," is the most comprehensive report documenting the experiences of immigrants detained by the federal government in the state. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detains 3,000 men, women and children in Arizona on any given day. The detained immigrant population in Arizona makes up 10% of immigrants detained nationwide with Arizona having the third largest number of people in ICE custody. It is estimated that approximately 440,000 people will be detained by immigration authorities nationwide this year. Details: Phoenix, ACLU of Arizona, 2011. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 19, 2011 at: http://www.acluaz.org/sites/default/files/documents/detention%20report%202011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.acluaz.org/sites/default/files/documents/detention%20report%202011.pdf Shelf Number: 123409 Keywords: Illegal ImmigrantsIllegal ImmigrationImmigrant Detention (Arizona) |
Author: Barry, Tom Title: Fallacies of High-Tech Fixes for Border Security Summary: In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The new department promised border security over traditional border-control operations. Rushing to secure the borders, the abundantly funded DHS nearly tripled the number of Border Patrol agents, fortified ports-of-entry, built a highly controversial border wall and quickly opted for several high-tech initiatives to patrol the border with virtual eyes. DHS rushed ahead with its two remote surveillance initiatives—the SBInet program (commonly known as the “virtual fence”) and the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) program—without having a detailed or focused border security strategy in place. Not only did this expedited border security lack a strategy, but it also lacked a foundation of successful experience in high-tech border control. Instead, it has been based more on dreams, hopes and fantasy—and on the widely shared, but faulty, assumption that technology provided by private contractors could meet the challenge of securing the country’s nearly 6,000 miles of land borders with remote surveillance systems. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the DHS agency in charge of border security, states it is committed to “a comprehensive and systemic upgrading of the technology used in controlling the border.” But the new agency lacks the oversight and management capacity, in-house technological expertise, and the necessary commitment to direct and operate its proposed high-tech solutions. CBP professes its commitment to protecting the homeland against the entry of “dangerous people and goods.” Yet it lacks a strategy that prioritizes actual threats. Its high-tech initiatives, like the entire Secure Border Initiative (SBI) endeavor, which encompasses the two main high-tech border security programs, are shockingly unfocused and nonstrategic. Even when the immensely expensive technological surveillance occasionally does work, CBP’s high-tech web catches only illegal border crossers looking for work or carrying backpacks of marijuana. These arrests and drug seizures are certainly not the reason the Department of Homeland Security was created and cannot justify the continuing depletion of the U.S. treasury in the unfocused post-September 11 quest for border security. Trying to stand by its promise to gain “operational control” over the land borders, DHS hurriedly turned to high-tech fixes for border security. But DHS’s hasty commitment to remote surveillance technology—such as virtual fences and drones—has been symptomatic of the new department’s apparent confidence that there would be unlimited funding for border security and that its operations would not be subject either to cost-benefit analysis or to evaluations of the impact on homeland security. Rather than being guided by threat assessments, they have been experiments in technological wish fulfillment. This International Policy Report examines the failed SBInet and UAV programs. Sidebars in the report examine the support of high-tech fixes for border security by liberal sectors and the role of congressional supporters of UAVs. A final section includes conclusions and recommendations. Details: Washington, DC: Center for International Policy, 2010. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: International Policy Report: Accessed November 29, 2011 at: http://www.ciponline.org/images/uploads/1004_TBP.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.ciponline.org/images/uploads/1004_TBP.pdf Shelf Number: 123487 Keywords: Border Security (U.S.)Homeland SecurityIllegal AliensIllegal ImmigrantsIllegal Immigration |
Author: National Community Advisory Commission Title: Restoring Community: A National Community Advisory Report on ICE's Failed "Secure Communities" Program Summary: The National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLOR) and a National Community Advisory Commission published this report maps out details of how S-Comm (Secure Communities Program) has failed as an immigration policy, doing much more irreversible damage than actually fixing the problem at hand. It includes testimony from law enforcement officials, scholars and academics, and organizers and advocates. Criticizing the ineffective program, the report summarizes S-Comm and highlights the stories of several individuals from across the country who have been victims of S-Comm, facing deportation as a result of simply calling 911 for an emergency, being pulled over while driving or any other arbitrary reason. It multiplies laws and enforcement policies that, in effect, make the pursuit of the American Dream a criminal proposition for current generations of immigrants. That such a program should be the showcase policy of an Administration that presents itself asa champion of immigration reform is a betrayal. Multiplying the force of misguided policy and unjust laws is not reform—it is a step backwards. Details: National Day Laborer Organizing Network, 2011. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 6, 2011 at: http://altopolimigra.com/documents/FINAL-Shadow-Report-regular-print.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://altopolimigra.com/documents/FINAL-Shadow-Report-regular-print.pdf Shelf Number: 123497 Keywords: Customs EnforcementIllegal ImmigrationPolice-Community Relations |
Author: Meng, Grace Title: No Way to Live: Alabama’s Immigrant Law Summary: The sponsors of Alabama's new immigrant law, widely known as HB 56, intended to make life difficult for unauthorized immigrants in Alabama. As the bill’s co-sponsor State Rep. Mickey Hammon stated during debate, “[HB 56] attacks every aspect of an illegal alien’s life…This bill is designed to make it difficult for them to live here so they will deport themselves.” Although the law only went into effect on September 28, 2011, it has largely succeeded. No Way to Live is based interviews with 50 unauthorized immigrants as well as several dozen affected citizens, activists, and local government officials in Alabama. It documents the ways in which the Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act has radically transformed the lives of unauthorized immigrants in that state. Most of the people we interviewed have lived in the state for more than 10 years, and have deep ties to the state through US citizen family, work, and community. In the first two months the law was in effect, local officials have used it to deny unauthorized immigrants access to everyday necessities such as water and housing in violation of their basic rights. The law also denies all unauthorized immigrants fundamental rights protections that should apply to everyone, not just citizens, making them more susceptible to discriminatory harassment and abuse by local authorities and ordinary people. They live in a climate of fear and uncertainty, which has had a particularly severe impact on children, many of whom are US citizens. Under international law, governments are empowered to regulate immigration. However, no government at any level may enact a law that denies fundamental rights to people based on their status. The experience of Alabama’s unauthorized immigrants and their families underscores the urgent need for comprehensive federal immigration reform that is respectful of human rights, and for Alabama’s immediate repeal of the Beason- Hammon Act. Details: New York: Human Rights Watch, 2011. 57p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 13, 2012 at: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us1211ForUpload_1.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us1211ForUpload_1.pdf Shelf Number: 123605 Keywords: Human RightsIllegal AliensIllegal ImmigrationImmigrants (Alabama) |
Author: Bernsen, James A. Title: The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Texas Summary: Texas, which accounts for about half of the U.S. border with Mexico, has been particularly hard hit by the costs of illegal immigration. The state has seen an extraordinary growth in immigration over the last few decades. In 1970, there were only 310,000 foreign-born citizens in the state. By 1990, that number had increased 391 percent, to 1.5 million. The immigration rate since then has exploded. According to a 2004 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the number of foreign born residents of Texas in that year was 3.45 million – 1,100 percent of the 1970 number. In 1970, the foreign-born population of Texas was three percent. In 1990, it was eight percent. In 2004, foreign-born residents represented 15.7 percent of all Texans. Although Texas has seen widespread migration from within the United States as well, this wave of external immigration comes with much more profound social – and fiscal – consequences. The majority of this increase comes from legal immigrants, but a large – and proportionately growing – percentage comes from illegal immigrants. Texas, according to the Census Bureau, is now home to 15 percent of all illegal immigrants in the United States. Since 1993, the population has doubled by conservative estimates. Some studies have estimated that the population has even tripled. Details: Austin, TX: Lone Star Foundation, 2006. 23p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 10, 2012 at: http://www.lonestarreport.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=5Vg_zxX8oz8%3D&tabid=162&mid=687 Year: 2006 Country: United States URL: http://www.lonestarreport.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=5Vg_zxX8oz8%3D&tabid=162&mid=687 Shelf Number: 124036 Keywords: Costs of Criminal JusticeIllegal AliensIllegal ImmigrantsIllegal Immigration |
Author: Rytina, Nancy Title: Apprehensions by the U.S. Border Patrol: 2005 - 2008 Summary: Statistics on apprehensions represent one of the few indicators available regarding illegal entry or presence in the United States. This Office of Immigration Statistics Fact Sheet provides information on recent trends in U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions and the gender, age, country of origin, and geographic location of persons apprehended during 2005 through 2008. Databeginning in 2005 were obtained from the Enforcement Case Tracking System (ENFORCE) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). For prior years, data were obtained from the Performance Analysis System (PAS) of DHS. Details: Washington, DC: Office of Immigration Statistics, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2009. 2p. Source: Fact Sheet: Internet Resource: Accessed May 8, 2012 at http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ois_apprehensions_fs_2005-2008.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ois_apprehensions_fs_2005-2008.pdf Shelf Number: 125208 Keywords: ArrestsBorder PatrolCrime TrendsDemographic TrendsIllegal AliensIllegal ImmigrationImmigrants |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific Title: Migrant Smuggling in Asia: A Thematic Review of Literature Summary: The Migrant Smuggling in Asia: A Thematic Review of Literature and the accompanying annotated bibliography offer a consolidation of findings contained in research literature that analyses migrant smuggling in Asia either directly or indirectly. !e review of the available. The body of empirical knowledge aimed to create an information base and identify the gaps in what is known about the smuggling of migrants around and out of the region. By consolidating the information currently accessible on migrant smuggling, the Thematic Review of Literature looks to stimulate and guide further research that will contribute to informing evidence-based policies to prevent and combat the smuggling of migrants while upholding and protecting the rights of those who are smuggled. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) conducted the research in support of the Bali Process, which is a regional, multilateral process to improve cooperation against migrant smuggling, trafficking in persons and related forms of transnational crime. The systematic search for research literature in English, French and German covered an eight-year period (1 January 2004 to 31 March 2011) and 14 countries (Afghanistan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam). Primary research, such as the collection of statistics from national authorities, was not part of the project. The project began with a search of 44 databases, one meta-library catalogue, three institution-specific library catalogues and 39 websites of institutions that work on migrant smuggling. This resulted in 845 documents that were then closely reviewed against a set of further elaborated criteria. Ultimately, 154 documents were critically reviewed and formed the basis of this report. Abstracts of those documents are provided in Migrant Smuggling in Asia: An Annotated Bibliography. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific, 2012. 239p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 10, 2012 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/2012/Migrant_Smuggling_in_Asia_A_Thematic_Review_of_Literature.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/2012/Migrant_Smuggling_in_Asia_A_Thematic_Review_of_Literature.pdf Shelf Number: 126287 Keywords: Human Trafficking (Asia)Illegal ImmigrationMigrants |
Author: Cho, Seo-Young Title: Human Trafficking, A Shadow of Migration - Evidence from Germany Summary: This paper empirically analyzes the relationship between migration and human trafficking inflows into Germany during the period between 2001 and 2010. My results suggest that migrant networks, measured by migrant stocks from a specific source country, have a causal linkage with the illicit, exploitative form of migration – human trafficking – from that respective country. However, the network effect varies across different income levels of source countries. The significant, positive effect of migrant networks on human trafficking decreases as the income level increases, and furthermore the effect is insignificant for high income countries. Details: Berlin: Economics of Security, 2012. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Discussion Paper: Accessed November 28, 2012 at: http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/nonigo/2012/472474.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Germany URL: http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/nonigo/2012/472474.pdf Shelf Number: 127018 Keywords: Human Trafficking (Germay)Illegal ImmigrationMigration |
Author: Nowrasteh, Alex Title: The Economic Case against Arizona’s Immigration Laws Summary: Arizona’s immigration laws have hurt its economy. The 2007 Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA) attempts to force unauthorized immigrants out of the workplace with employee regulations and employer sanctions. The 2010 Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (SB 1070) complements LAWA by granting local police new legal tools to enforce Arizona’s immigration laws outside of the workplace. LAWA’s mandate of E-Verify, a federal electronic employee verification system, and the “business death penalty,” which revokes business licenses for businesses that repeatedly hire unauthorized workers, raise the costs of hiring all employees and create regulatory uncertainty for employers. As a result, employers scale back legal hiring, move out of Arizona, or turn to the informal economy to eliminate a paper trail. SB 1070’s enforcement policies outside of the workplace drove many unauthorized immigrants from the state, lowered the state’s population, hobbled the labor market, accelerated residential property price declines, and exacerbated the Great Recession in Arizona. LAWA, E-Verify, and the business death penalty are constitutional and are unlikely to be overturned; however the Supreme Court recently found that some sections of SB 1070 were preempted by federal power. States now considering Arizona-style immigration laws should realize that the laws also cause significant economic harm. States bear much of the cost of unauthorized immigration, but in Arizona’s rush to find a state solution, it damaged its own economy. Details: Washington, DC: Cato Institute, 2012. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Analysis No. 709: Accessed December 1, 2012 at: http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/PA709.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/PA709.pdf Shelf Number: 127093 Keywords: Economic AnalysisIllegal AliensIllegal ImmigrantsIllegal ImmigrationImmigrantsImmigration Laws (Arizona, U.S.) |
Author: Koslowski, Rey Title: The Evolution of Border Controls as a Mechanism to Prevent Illegal Immigration Summary: This paper, the first in a joint project of the Migration Policy Institute and European University Institute examining US and European immigration systems, analyzes how the challenges in achieving effective US border control have increased dramatically within recent decades and particularly since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The author examines the programmatic and funding responses US policymakers have put in place — including the Secure Border Initiative, the Visa Waiver Program, US-VISIT, and registered-traveler programs — and traces their evolution and effectiveness. Details: Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2011. 33p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 30, 2013 at: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/bordercontrols-koslowski.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/bordercontrols-koslowski.pdf Shelf Number: 127436 Keywords: Border PatrolBorder Security (U.S.)Illegal ImmigrantsIllegal Immigration |
Author: Isacson, Adam Title: Border Security and Migration: A Report from South Texas Summary: Since 2011, WOLA staff have carried out research in six different zones of the U.S.-Mexican border, meeting with U.S. law enforcement officials, human rights and humanitarian groups, and journalists, as well as with Mexican officials and representatives of civil society and migrant shelters in Mexico. As part of this ongoing work, the authors spent the week of November 26-30, 2012 in south Texas, looking at security and migration trends along this section of the U.S.-Mexico border. Specifically, we visited Laredo, McAllen, and Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico. We found that unlike other sections of the border, the south Texas sections have seen an increase, not a decrease, in apprehensions, particularly of non-Mexican migrants; migrant deaths have dramatically increased; and there are fewer accusations of Border Patrol abuse of migrants. We also found that the Zetas criminal organization's control over the area may be slipping and drug trafficking appears to have increased, yet these U.S. border towns are safer than they have been in decades. Lastly, in spite of the ongoing violence on the Mexican side of the border and the failure of the Mexican government to reform local and state police forces, U.S. authorities are increasing repatriating Mexicans through this region, often making migrants easy prey for the criminal groups that operate in these border cities. Details: Washignton, DC: Washington Office on Latin America, 2013. 6p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 31, 2013 at: http://www.wola.org/sites/default/files/downloadable/Mexico/2013/Border%20Security%20and%20Migration%20South%20Texas.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.wola.org/sites/default/files/downloadable/Mexico/2013/Border%20Security%20and%20Migration%20South%20Texas.pdf Shelf Number: 127462 Keywords: Border PatrolBorder Security (Mexico)Drug TraffickingIllegal ImmigrationMigrants |
Author: Barry, Tom Title: Policy on the Edge: Failures of Border Security and New Directions for Border Control Summary: Ten years after America’s rush to secure our borders, we must review, evaluate and change course. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 set off a multibillion-dollar border security bandwagon and distinctly altered the way the Border Patrol operates. Yet, despite massive expenditures and the new commitment to “border security,” our border policy remains unfocused and buffeted by political forces. In the absence of a sharp strategic focus, the management of the U.S.-Mexico border continues to be the victim of the problems and pressures created by our failed immigration and drug policies. Over the past decade, the old politics of immigration enforcement and drug control—not counterterrorism or homeland security—are still the main drivers of border policy. “Policy on the Edge” is an International Policy Report published by the Center for International Policy. The report examines the failures, waste and misdirection of the border security operations of the Department of Homeland Security. “Policy on the Edge” concludes that there has been more continuity than change in U.S. border policy. The final section of the report describes a policy path that charts the way forward to regulatory solutions - for immmigration, drugs, gun sales, border management - that are more pragmatic, effective and cost-efficient than current policies. Specific recommendations to improve border policy are included. Details: Washington, DC: Center for International Policy, 2011. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 21, 2013 at: http://www.ciponline.org/images/uploads/publications/Barry_IPR_Policy_Edge_Border_Control_0611.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.ciponline.org/images/uploads/publications/Barry_IPR_Policy_Edge_Border_Control_0611.pdf Shelf Number: 127655 Keywords: Border Control (U.S.)Border SecurityDrug TraffickingGun TraffickingIllegal ImmigrationImmigrants |
Author: Carker, Cat Title: The People Smugglers' Business Model Summary: This paper examines first some of the more recent international research, and second, relevant Australian case law and the more limited body of Australian research on people smuggling, to determine whether this business model can be identified. It does not seek to evaluate the appropriateness or efficacy of specific anti-people smuggling policies that have been or are currently being pursued by Australian Governments. Key points: •Since the late 1990s, people smuggling has been a key focus of political debate on irregular migration to Australia. Most recently, attention has turned to how to ‘break the people smugglers’ business model’ . While there is continuing debate about how best to achieve this objective, the business model being referred to remains largely unarticulated, at least publicly . •Examination of recent open source research and Australian case law reveals there is no single ‘people smugglers’ business model’ that explains how people smugglers operate, either internationally or to Australia . However, certain themes are evident, including the predominance of fluid networks over more hierarchical organisations and the flexibility, adaptability and resilience of those involved. It appears that a variety of business models are employed (either explicitly or implicitly) and that they are constantly evolving. •Some basic characteristics of maritime people smuggling from Indonesia to Australia can be discerned from open source information that can be used to outline some of the basic components of a common business model that seems to operate. However, there appear to be many variations on different components of the model. Further, the Indonesia to Australia leg is only part of a much longer journey, and Indonesia is not the only departure point for boats to Australia organised by people smugglers. Finally, while political and popular attention has focused largely on irregular maritime arrivals, people smuggling to Australia also occurs by air. •The use of the singular terms ‘the people smugglers’ business model’ or ‘the people smuggling business model’ gives the impression of a homogeneous market for which a single measure or ‘one size fits all’ solution might exist. The reality of a variety of business models operating at different stages of the supply chain between source countries and destination countries, including Australia, points to the need for a more tailored and considered approach. The points at which to intervene in order to ‘break’ a certain business model, and the most appropriate modes of intervention, will depend on the particular characteristics of that model. Details: Canberra: Parliament of Australia, Parliamentary Library, 2013. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Paper No. 2, 2012-13: Accessed March 7, 2013 at: http://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/docs/ParliamentaryLibrary_SmugglersBusinessModel_Feb2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Australia URL: http://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/docs/ParliamentaryLibrary_SmugglersBusinessModel_Feb2013.pdf Shelf Number: 127862 Keywords: Border SecurityHuman Smuggling (Australia)Human TraffickingIllegal ImmigrationMaritime CrimeMigrantsRefugees |
Author: Phillips, Janet Title: Immigration Detention in Australia Summary: The policy of mandatory detention in Australia (that is the legal requirement to detain all non-citizens without a valid visa) was introduced by the Keating (Labor) Government in 1992 in response to a wave of Indochinese boat arrivals. Under this policy it is a requirement that ‘unlawful non-citizens’ (a national from another country without a valid visa) in Australia's migration zone are detained unless they have been afforded temporary lawful status through the grant of a bridging visa while they make arrangements to depart or apply for an alternative visa. Most are usually granted temporary lawful status in this manner, but if an unlawful non-citizen is considered to be a flight or security risk, or refuses to leave Australia voluntarily, they may be refused a bridging visa and detained in preparation for their removal. Currently, all asylum seekers who arrive without authority by boat are detained and usually transferred to Christmas Island initially while their reasons for being in Australia are identified. The main focus of Australia’s mandatory detention policy is to ensure that: • people who arrive without lawful authority do not enter the Australian community until they have satisfactorily completed health, character and security checks and been granted a visa, and • those who do not have authority to be in Australia are available for removal from the country. While Australia’s detention population is comprised of unauthorised boat arrivals (also referred to as irregular maritime arrivals), some visa overstayers and certain other unlawful non-citizens, it is the (often lengthy) mandatory detention of asylum seekers who have arrived unauthorised by boat that attracts the bulk of the attention in the public debate. Australia is not alone in detaining unauthorised arrivals in certain circumstances and many other countries around the world have onshore immigration detention or ‘reception’ centres. However, Australia is still the only country where immigration detention is mandatory for all unlawful non-citizens (including asylum seekers). This background note provides a brief overview of the historical and political context surrounding mandatory detention in Australia. It includes government policy responses and a statistical appendix with data drawn from available sources, including committee reports, ministerial press releases and figures supplied by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). Details: Canberra: Parliamentary Library, 2013. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Background Note: Accessed March 28, 2013 at: http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/1311498/upload_binary/1311498.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22library/prspub/1311498%22 Year: 2013 Country: Australia URL: http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/1311498/upload_binary/1311498.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22library/prspub/1311498%22 Shelf Number: 128152 Keywords: Asylum SeekersIllegal ImmigrationImmigrant DetentionImmigrants (Australia) |
Author: Olson, Eric L. Title: The State of Security in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region Summary: Concerns about global terrorism, potential threats posed by those entering the United States illegally, and fears that skyrocketing violence in Mexico might spillover into the United States have led to dramatic policy shifts and significant efforts to secure the border. Without a doubt, the U.S. and Mexican federal governments have made large investments in staffing, infrastructure and technology and have reorganized and refocused efforts to respond to specific threats and events. Yet gains in areas such as apprehensions of undocumented migrants and reductions in violence in key cities such as Ciudad Juarez seem tenuous at best and beg for more comprehensive, creative and collaborative solutions between these two countries, one a superpower and the other a key emerging power. Details: Washington, DC: . Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Mexico Institute, 2012. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper Series on the State of the U.S.-Mexico Border: Accessed April 4, 2013 at: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/State_of_Border_Security_Olson_Lee.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/State_of_Border_Security_Olson_Lee.pdf Shelf Number: 128206 Keywords: Border PatrolBorder Security (U.S., Mexico)Homeland SecurityIllegal Immigration |
Author: Campbell, Sarah Title: Fractured Childhoods: The separation of families by immigration detention Summary: Under s55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, the UK Border Agency has a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. However, this report presents evidence of cases in which the Border Agency repeatedly failed to safeguard children when making decisions to detain their parents, with appalling consequences for the children concerned. Research was carried out into the cases of 111 parents who were separated from 200 children by immigration detention between 2009 and 2012. 85 of these children were in fostering arrangements or local authority care during their parents’ detention. Parents were detained without time limit, for an average of 270 days. In 92 out of 111 cases, parents were eventually released, their detention having served no purpose. In 15 cases, parents were deported or removed from the UK without their children. It is difficult to imagine any other situation where children in the UK could be separated from their parents indefinitely and have such scant attention paid to their welfare. From 1st April 2013, Legal Aid ceased to be available to the vast majority of people making immigration claims. The complexity of immigration law means that it is extremely unlikely that parents will be able to successfully represent themselves. Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID) therefore anticipates that we will be dealing with very many more cases where parents are separated from their children by detention and removal from the UK. Details: London: Bail for Immigration Detainees, 2013. 126p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 25, 2013 at: http://www.cypnow.co.uk/digital_assets/WEB_VERSION_FULL_REPORT.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.cypnow.co.uk/digital_assets/WEB_VERSION_FULL_REPORT.pdf Shelf Number: 128490 Keywords: Child WelfareIllegal ImmigrationImmigrant ChildrenImmigrant Detention (U.K.) |
Author: Filindra, Alexandra Title: The Myth of "Self-Deportation": How Behavioral Economics Reveals the Fallacies behind “Attrition through Enforcement” Summary: The concept of “self-deportation” rests on a deceptively simple premise. According to its supporters, if the federal government invests more in enforcing immigration laws, and if states and localities take on additional immigration control responsibilities, the costs and risks of staying in the United States will increase substantially for undocumented immigrants. Faced with a high risk of being caught and imprisoned, “rational” undocumented residents will “give up and deport themselves” returning to their home countries rather than remain in the U.S. However, preliminary evidence from studies conducted in states where such enforcement laws have been enacted shows that immigration restrictionists have gotten it wrong. Immigrant population in these states has remained in place and the predicted exodus never materialized. Economic factors, rather than enforcement, have played a far more important role in reducing the rate of undocumented entry into the United States. This report uses important research findings from cognitive psychology and behavioral economics to explain why restrictionists have gotten it wrong and people do not behave in the “rational” way that restrictionists expect them to. Details: Wsahington, DC: Immigration Policy Center, American Immigration Council, 2012. 11p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 1, 2013 at: http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/docs/filindra_-_self-deportation_042912.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/docs/filindra_-_self-deportation_042912.pdf Shelf Number: 128894 Keywords: DeportationIllegal ImmigrationImmigrantsImmigration Enforcement |
Author: Schwan, Michael J. Title: Border Cracks: Approaching Border Security from a Complexity Theory and Systems Perspective Summary: Presently, U.S. border security endeavors are compartmentalized, fragmented, and poorly coordinated. Moreover, international collaborations are extremely limited; success hinges on effective international cooperation. This thesis addresses U.S. border security management using complexity theory and a systems approach, incorporating both borders and all associated border security institutions simultaneously. Border security research has rarely viewed all stakeholders as a holistic unit up to this point, nor has border security been thoroughly examined using a systems approach. This research scrutinizes the current U.S. border security paradigm in an attempt to determine the systemic reasons why the system is ineffective in securing U.S. borders. Additionally, the research investigates the current level of international cooperation between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This thesis increases awareness and will possibly create dissent among established agencies, which is the first step in instituting needed changes that will ultimately increase North American security. The thesis contends that the establishment of a tri-national— United States, Canadian, and Mexican—border security agency, in addition to legalizing drugs and reestablishing a guest worker program, will be more effective and costefficient in securing North American borders. Details: Monterey, CA: Naval Postgraduate School, 2012. 153p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed June 1, 2013 at: http://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=732181 Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=732181 Shelf Number: 128908 Keywords: Border SecurityDrug TraffickingHomeland SecurityIllegal Immigration |
Author: Frontex Title: Annual Risk Analysis 2013 Summary: Detections of illegal border-crossing along the EU’s external borders dropped sharply in 2012 to about 73 000, i.e. half the number reported in 2011. This was the first time since systematic data collection began in 2008 that annual detections have plunged under 100 000. In the Central Mediterranean area, the large number of detections in 2011, which suddenly increased following the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Libya, had been significantly reduced by the end of 2011. However, throughout 2012, detections steadily increased and by the end of the year they totalled more than 10 300. Starting from 2008, considerable numbers of migrants had been detected crossing illegally the border between Turkey and Greece, along the so-called Eastern Mediterranean route. The situation changed dramatically in August 2012 when the Greek authorities mobilised unprecedented resources at their land border with Turkey, including the deployment of 1 800 additional Greek police officers. The number of detected illegal border-crossings rapidly dropped from about 2 000 in the first week of August to below 10 per week in October 2012. The enhanced controls along the Greek-Turkish land border led to a moderate increase in detections of illegal border-crossing in the Aegean Sea and at the land border between Bulgaria and Turkey, but simultaneous mitigation efforts in Turkey and Bulgaria have so far contained the displacements. There remains the risk of resurgence of irregular migration, since many migrants may be waiting for the conclusion of the Greek operations before they continue their journey towards Europe. Many migrants who cross the border illegally to Greece move on to other Member States, mostly through the land route across the Western Balkans. Contrary to the decrease at the Greek-Turkish land border, there was no decrease in detections of illegal border- crossing on the Western Balkan route (6 390, +37%). In 2012, in the Western Mediterranean area between North Africa and Spain, detections of illegal border-crossing decreased by nearly a quarter compared to 2011 but remained above the levels recorded in previous years (6 400, -24%). In 2012, Afghans remained the most detected nationality for illegal border-crossing at EU level, but their number considerably dropped compared to 2011. Syrians stand out, with large increases in detections of illegal bordercrossing and for using fraudulent documents compared to 2011. Most of the detected Syrians applied for asylum in the EU, fleeing the civil war in their country. There were large increases in refusals of entry at the Polish land border with Belarus and Ukraine. However, these increases were offset by a decrease in refusals of entry issued at other border sections, resulting in a stable total at EU level compared to 2011 (-3%, 115 000 refusals of entry). Detections of illegal stayers, which totalled about 350 000 in the EU in 2012, have shown a stable but slightly declining long-term trend since 2008. Most migrants detected illegally staying in the EU were from Afghanistan and Morocco. Despite a short-term increase of 10% between 2011 and 2012, the overall trend of detections of facilitators of irregular migration has been falling since 2008, totalling about 7 700 in 2012. This long-term decline may be in part due to a widespread shift towards the abuse of legal channels (such as overstaying, abuse of visa-free regime, etc.) and document fraud, which results in facilitators being able to operate remotely and inconspicuously. In 2012, there were around 8 000 detections of migrants using fraudulent documents to enter the EU or Schengen area illegally. Preliminary data on asylum applications in 2012 indicate an overall increase of about 7% compared to the previous year. While Afghans continue to account for the largest share of applications, much of the increase was due to an increasing number of applications submitted by Syrian nationals. The number of asylum applications submitted in the EU by Western Balkan citizens, mostly those from Serbia, remained unabated in 2012. Consequently, following the implementation of the visa facilitation agreement with five Western Balkan countries that started at the end of 2009, there are now discussions in the EU about the possible reintroduction of the visa regime. In 2012, there was a steady trend of about 160 000 third-country nationals effectively returned to third countries. Greece reported the largest number of returns of a single nationality (Albanians), and effective returns in Greece increased markedly in the last quarter of 2012 following the launch of the Xenios Zeus operation. Looking ahead, the assessment of risks along the EU’s external borders shows that despite a sharp reduction in detections between 2011 and 2012, the risks associated with illegal border- crossing along the land and sea external borders remain among the highest, in particular in the southern section of the border of the EU. The risk of illegal border-crossing along the land borders of the Eastern Mediterranean route, including the Greek and Bulgarian land border with Turkey, is assessed amongst the highest. This comes after several years of large numbers of migrants detected at the Greek land border with Turkey. Although the flow abruptly stopped in August 2012, there are reports of uncertainties related to the sustainability of the efforts and growing evidence that migrants are waiting in Turkey for the end of the operation. Increases at the neighbouring sea border (Aegean Sea), at the land border between Bulgaria and Turkey and increases in detections of document fraud from Istanbul airports, although so far relatively small, indicate that alternatives to the Greek land border are being explored by facilitators. Many of the migrants who crossed illegally through the Eastern Mediterranean route are expected to continue making secondary movements across the Western Balkans and within the EU. The risk of illegal border-crossing across the Central Mediterranean area was also assessed amongst the highest due the continued volatile situation in countries of departure in North Africa. Crisis situations are still likely to arise at the southern border with thousands of people trying to cross the border illegally in the span of several weeks or months. Past experiences also show that these crises take their toll on human lives, and are very difficult to predict and quell without a coordinated response. Most risks associated with document fraud were assessed as high. Indeed, document fraudsters not only undermine border security but also the internal security of the EU. These risks are also common to nearly all Member States, as they are associated with passenger flows and border checks, which are a specific expertise of bordercontrol authorities. Fraud is expected mostly among EU travel documents (e.g. passports, visas and ID cards). False pretence or deception is used to obtain a wide range of documents. The most common technique is to use fraudulent documents to obtain short-term visas. Most risks associated with the abuse of legal channels are assessed as high as they are common and widely spread phenomena. Based on currently available information, the risks associated with cross-border criminality are assessed as moderate, including the risks of trafficking in human beings, terrorism, smuggling of illicit drugs and exit of stolen vehicles. Details: Warsaw, Poland: Frontex, 2013. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 1, 2013 at: http://www.frontex.europa.eu/assets/Publications/Risk_Analysis/Annual_Risk_Analysis_2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Europe URL: http://www.frontex.europa.eu/assets/Publications/Risk_Analysis/Annual_Risk_Analysis_2013.pdf Shelf Number: 128911 Keywords: Border ControlBorder SecurityDrug SmugglingHuman TraffickingIllegal ImmigrationRisk Assessment (Europe)Stolen Vehicles |
Author: Rubio-Goldsmith, Raquel Title: The "funnel Effect" & Recovered Bodies of Unauthorized Migrants Processed by the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, 1990-2005 Summary: The Binational Migration Institute (BMI) of the University of Arizona’s Mexican American Studies and Research Center (MASRC) has undertaken a unique and scientifically rigorous study of all of the unauthorized border-crosser (UBC) deaths examined by the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office (PCMEO) from 1990-2005. Because the PCMEO has handled approximately 90% of all of the UBC recovered bodies in the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, an analysis of such deaths serves as both an accurate reflection of the major characteristics of all known UBC deaths that have occurred in this sector, as well as an exact, previously unavailable portrayal of the UBC bodies that have been handled by the overburdened PCMEO since 1990. BMI has also created a comprehensive and reliable set of criteria that can be used to better count and describe known UBC deaths throughout the entire U.S. A reliable analysis of known UBC deaths in the Tucson Sector is important for many reasons, but especially because, according to all available figures produced by the U.S. government and the academic community, a comparison of the totals of such deaths for each of the 9 Border Patrol sectors along the US/Mexico border, shows that the Tucson Sector in southern Arizona has been the site of the vast majority of known UBC deaths, or to use a more accurate phrase, UBC recovered bodies, in the new millennium. The results of the BMI study, which are confirmed by comparable research, show that there has been an exponential increase in the number of UBC recovered bodies handled by the PCMEO from 1990 to 2005, thereby creating a major public health and humanitarian crisis in the deserts of Arizona. Details: Tucson: Binational Migration Institute, University of Arizona, 2006. 97p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 6, 2013 at: http://bmi.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/The%20Funnel%20Effect%20and%20Recovered%20Bodies.pdf Year: 2006 Country: United States URL: http://bmi.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/The%20Funnel%20Effect%20and%20Recovered%20Bodies.pdf Shelf Number: 129260 Keywords: Illegal Immigrants (Arizona, U.S.)Illegal ImmigrationImmigrant Deaths |
Author: Latin America Working Group Education Fund Title: Perilous Journey: Kidnapping and Violence against Migrants in Transit through Mexico Summary: Every year, hundreds of thousands of undocumented Central American migrants, primarily from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, travel through Mexico on their way to the U.S. border. These migrants are vulnerable during their journey through Mexico, due both to the clandestine nature in which they are obligated to travel and to the generalized context of violence and impunity that dominates Mexico. Many suffer grave human rights abuses and violence along their journey at the hands of organized crime and corrupt officials. Kidnapping and extortion of migrants are among the most lucrative - and brutal - practices by organized crime in Mexico and are pervasive along the migratory route. Roughly five years ago, advocates at migrant shelters along the south-north train route began to systematically document and gather first-hand accounts of migrants who had survived kidnapping. What may have initially appeared to be sporadic and anecdotal accounts were soon recognized as reflecting a true humanitarian crisis rooted in flawed migration policy and a culture of impunity. A series of 33 of these testimonies were published by the Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez (Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center, or Center Prodh) and the Casa del Migrante de Saltillo (Migrant Shelter of Saltillo, Coahuila) in the Cuaderno sobre Secuestro de Migrantes (Report on Migrant Kidnappings) in December 2011. In the pages that follow, English translations of a sampling of those testimonies can be found. The migrants' testimonies vividly describe their experiences during kidnapping - rape and sexual assault; physical abuse and mutilation; torture; food and sleep deprivation. In some cases, victims were forced to serve as witnesses to sexual and physical assaults, and even murder. In others, migrants were forced to carry out physical abuse of fellow kidnapping victims. Although it is difficult to read the accounts of the barbaric treatment that many migrants endured, these testimonies help us to grasp the profound human impact of this crisis and confirm the experiences recounted by kidnapped migrants elsewhere. From these stories, we get a more complete picture of the depth of this humanitarian crisis that has destroyed the dignity and safety of thousands of victims and traumatized families and communities across the region. Details: Washington, DC: Latin America Working Group Education Fund, 2013. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 15, 2014 at: http://www.lawg.org/storage/LAWG2-13_Migrant_Report-v5.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Mexico URL: http://www.lawg.org/storage/LAWG2-13_Migrant_Report-v5.pdf Shelf Number: 131930 Keywords: Illegal ImmigrationKidnappingMigrantsOrganized CrimeViolence |
Author: Collett, Elizabeth Title: Trade-Offs in Immigration Enforcement Summary: Unauthorized migrants - those without a legal right of residence - live in all modern industrialized countries. Beyond their responsibility to respond to the challenges of fast-paced, diverse migration patterns, it is vital that public and private sector institutions address the harms associated with illegal or unauthorized migration. Policymakers face significant constraints in addressing this population, including insufficient financial and human resources, and legal frameworks that protect individuals regardless of their residence status. This report, part of a Transatlantic Council on Migration series focused on migration "bad actors," argues that a successful migration enforcement regime is best defined as one that does limited (or zero) harm to a country's institutions of governance and to citizens' livelihoods, while fortifying public trust that the government is running an efficient and effective system. The report concludes that policymakers have two main policy options: to offer legal residence to unauthorized immigrants, or to identify them and seek to return or deport them to their country of origin. Yet return remains an incomplete policy option. Despite political and public distaste for the policy, regularization remains a frequently employed tool. The authors suggest that one of the key elements of success in this field may well be the recognition that success is not solely an enforcement approach, but one which takes the broad range of policy tools (including regularization) into account. Details: Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2014. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 17, 2014 at: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/trade-offs-immigration-enforcement Year: 2014 Country: International URL: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/trade-offs-immigration-enforcement Shelf Number: 132386 Keywords: Border SecurityDeportationsIllegal ImmigrantsIllegal ImmigrationImmigration Enforcement |
Author: Reitano, Tuesday Title: Smuggled Futures: The dangerous path of the migrant from Africa to Europe Summary: In October 2013, Italy captured international headlines when a boat, carrying hundreds of asylum seekers sunk off its coast, killing over 360 people. The incident reflects the tremendous increase in African migration to Europe in recent years, in part due to the Arab Spring. While Africans have been migrating to Europe for decades, the instability across North Africa and the Sahel, coupled with the erosion of Libya's capacity to control its own borders, has resulted in an unprecedented surge of migrants to Italy in recent years. This surge shows no signs of subsiding. The decision to migrate may be fuelled by a multitude of motivations. Africa has the fastest population growth rate in the world, and although the continent is making momentous economic gains, it has broadly failed to translate these gains into sustainable livelihoods for its youth. Social and economic disparities, conflict, and crime in several countries throughout the continent, many Africans seek out new opportunities across the Mediterranean. It is estimated that in 80 percent of these cases, the journey is "facilitated" by migrant smugglers and criminal groups that who provides a range of services such as transportation, fraudulent identification, corruption of border officials and settlement services. Smugglers in transit countries coordinate with smugglers in source countries to act as guides, escorting individuals across the Sahara Desert, heading towards the coast. Although some smuggling networks are organized criminal structures, many are loosely linked chains of individuals, which make it challenging for authorities to dismantle. Three main smuggling routes characterize the irregular migration to Italy and beyond. The first is the Western route, for which the main source countries are Mali, the Gambia and Senegal. The Western route often connects in the Sahel with the Central Route, for which the source countries are Nigeria, Ghana and Niger. Finally, there is the Eastern route, which sources from Somalia, Eritrea and Darfur in South Sudan, and which tends to cut north through Sudan and Egypt and then along the northern coast of Africa. All of these routes converge in the Maghreb, and in recent years mostly in Libya, for the sea crossing to Italy. The cost of a trip to Italy averages several thousands of dollars, depending on the distance and difficulty of the route, the level of institutional control over the route and on the transit and destination countries' response to the migrants' arrival. It may take years to complete, as many remain in transit hubs along their route to work to afford the next leg of their trip. As a result, many migrants are "stuck" in towns along the way to the coast. In addition to exorbitant prices, migrants endure perilous conditions. As they make their way to the Mediterranean coast, migrants are often travel in overcrowded trucks, facing starvation and thirst before even reaching the coast. Once they reach the Mediterranean, people are packed into boats set for Europe, often embarking without enough fuel to make it to Italy. All too often, migrants drown. If migrants do arrive in Italy, their reception is less than favourable. Many are sent back to Africa. Given the exponential rise of irregular migrants and the humanitarian crises that accompany their failed attempts to reach European shores, EU states, including Italy, are under a growing pressure to restructure and align their immigration and asylum policies and practices. Current efforts to limit migration have only succeeded in shifting migration routes, forcing many seeking refuge to take more dangerous, riskier routes to Europe. Finding solutions to the problem of unmanaged migration cannot be limited to Italian border control but require regional cooperation in both Europe and Africa with governments addressing the root causes of mass migration. Details: Geneva, SWIT: Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, 2014. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 16, 2014 at: http://www.globalinitiative.net/download/global-initiative/Global%20Initiative%20-%20Migration%20from%20Africa%20to%20Europe%20-%20May%202014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Africa URL: http://www.globalinitiative.net/download/global-initiative/Global%20Initiative%20-%20Migration%20from%20Africa%20to%20Europe%20-%20May%202014.pdf Shelf Number: 132466 Keywords: Asylum SeekersHuman SmugglingIllegal ImmigrationImmigrantsMigrationOrganized Crime |
Author: Theodore, Nik Title: Insecure Communities: Latino Perceptions of Police Involvement in Immigration Enforcement Summary: This report presents findings from a survey of Latinos regarding their perceptions of law enforcement authorities in light of the greater involvement of police in immigration enforcement. Lake Research Partners designed and administered a randomized telephone survey of 2,004 Latinos living in the counties of Cook (Chicago), Harris (Houston), Los Angeles, and Maricopa (Phoenix). The survey was designed to assess the impact of police involvement in immigration enforcement on Latinos' perceptions of public safety and their willingness to contact the police when crimes have been committed. The survey was conducted in English and Spanish by professional interviewers during the period November 17 to December 10, 2012. Survey results indicate that the increased involvement of police in immigration enforcement has significantly heightened the fears many Latinos have of the police, contributing to their social isolation and exacerbating their mistrust of law enforcement authorities. Key findings include: - 44 percent of Latinos surveyed reported they are less likely to contact police officers if they have been the victim of a crime because they fear that police officers will use this interaction as an opportunity to inquire into their immigration status or that of people they know. - 45 percent of Latinos stated that they are less likely to voluntarily offer information about crimes, and 45 percent are less likely to report a crime because they are afraid the police will ask them or people they know about their immigration status. - 70 percent of undocumented immigrants reported they are less likely to contact law enforcement authorities if they were victims of a crime. - Fear of police contact is not confined to immigrants. For example, 28 percent of US-born Latinos said they are less likely to contact police officers if they have been the victim of a crime because they fear that police officers will use this interaction as an opportunity to inquire into their immigration status or that of people they know. - 38 percent of Latinos reported they feel like they are under more suspicion now that local law enforcement authorities have become involved in immigration enforcement. This figure includes 26 percent of US-born respondents, 40 percent of foreign-born respondents, and 58 percent of undocumented immigrant respondents. - When asked how often police officers stop Latinos without good reason or cause, 62 percent said very or somewhat often, including 58 percent of US-born respondents, 64 percent of foreign-born respondents, and 78 percent of undocumented immigrant respondents. These findings reveal one of the unintended consequences of the involvement of state and local police in immigration enforcement - a reduction in public safety as Latinos' mistrust of the police increases as a result of the involvement of police in immigration enforcement. Details: Chicago: Department of Urban Planning and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2013. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 30, 2014 at: https://greatcities.uic.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Insecure_Communities_Report_FINAL.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: https://greatcities.uic.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Insecure_Communities_Report_FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 132847 Keywords: Illegal ImmigrationImmigration EnforcementLatinosPolice-Citizen InteractionsUndocumented Immigrants (Illinois) |
Author: Seghetti, Lisa Title: Border Security: Immigration Inspections at Port of Entry Summary: About 362 million travelers (citizens and non-citizens) entered the United States in FY2013, including about 102 million air passengers and crew, 18 million sea passengers and crew, and 242 million incoming land travelers. At the same time about 205,000 aliens were denied admission at ports of entry (POEs); and about 24,000 persons were arrested at POEs on criminal warrants. (Not all persons arrested are denied admission, including because some are U.S. citizens.) Within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) is responsible for conducting immigration inspections at America's 329 POEs. CBP's primary immigration enforcement mission at ports of entry is to confirm that travelers are eligible to enter the United States and to exclude inadmissible aliens. Yet strict enforcement is in tension with a second core mission: to facilitate the flow of lawful travelers, who are the vast majority of persons seeking admission. A fundamental question for Congress and DHS is how to balance these competing concerns. In general, DHS and CBP rely on "risk management" to strike this balance. One part of the risk management strategy is to conduct screening at multiple points in the immigration process, beginning well before travelers arrive at U.S. POEs. DHS and other departments involved in the inspections process use a number of screening tools to distinguish between known, low-risk travelers and lesser-known, higher-risk travelers. Low-risk travelers may be eligible for expedited admissions processing, while higher-risk travelers are usually subject to more extensive secondary inspections. As part of its dual mission, and in support of its broader mandate to manage the U.S. immigration system, DHS also is responsible for implementing an electronic entry-exit system at POEs. Congress required DHS' predecessor to develop an entry-exit system beginning in 1996, but the implementation of a fully automated, biometric system has proven to be an elusive goal. The current system collects and stores biographic entry data (e.g., name, date of birth, travel history) from almost all non-citizens entering the United States, but only collects biometric data (e.g., fingerprints and digital photographs) from non-citizens entering at air or seaports, and from a subset of land travelers that excludes most Mexican and Canadian visitors. With respect to exit data, the current system relies on information sharing agreements with air and sea carriers and with Canada to collect biographic data from air and sea travelers and from certain non-citizens exiting through northern border land ports; but the system does not collect data from persons exiting by southern border land ports and does not collect any biometric exit data. Questions also have been raised about DHS' ability to use existing entry-exit data to identify and apprehend visa over-stayers. The inspections process and entry-exit system may raise a number of questions for Congress, including in the context of the ongoing debate about immigration reform. What is the scope of illegal migration through ports of entry, and how can Congress and DHS minimize illegal flows without unduly slowing legal travel? Congress may consider steps to enhance POE personnel and infrastructure and to expand trusted travel programs. Congress also may continue to seek the completion of the entry-exit system, a program that has been the subject of ongoing legislative activity since 1996, as summarized in the appendix to this report. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2014. 39p. Source: Internet Resource: R43356: Accessed July 31, 2014 at: http://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R43356.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R43356.pdf Shelf Number: 132857 Keywords: Border Security (U.S.)Homeland SecurityIllegal ImmigrationImmigrationImmigration EnforcementRisk ManagementUndocumented Immigrants |
Author: European Commission. Directorate-General for Home Affairs Title: Technical Study on Smart Borders: Final Report Summary: The "Smart Borders Package" was proposed by the Commission in February 2013. It follows the European Commission (EC) Communication of February 2008 suggesting the establishment of an Entry/Exit System (EES) and a Registered Traveller Programme (RTP). The Smart Borders Package is constituted of three legislative proposals. It aims to improve the management of the external borders of the Schengen Member States (MS), fight against irregular immigration and provide information on overstayers, as well as facilitate border crossings for pre-vetted frequent third country national (TCN) travellers. During the first examination of the Smart Borders Package, which was completed in February 2014, the Council and the European Parliament (EP) voiced technical, operational and cost concerns, mainly related to the overall feasibility of the proposed new systems and of some of their features. Concerns related especially to the impact on the actual border control process, the RTP token, the data retention period in the EES, the choice of biometric identifiers, the extent to which national Entry/Exit Systems could be integrated and/or reused, the need for enhanced synergies and/or interoperability with existing border control systems, and the possibility for law enforcement authorities to access the EES. In order to further assess the technical, organisational and financial impacts of the various possible ways to address these issues, the Commission subsequently initiated - with the support of both co-legislators - a proof of concept exercise aimed at identifying options for implementing the Smart Borders package. This exercise consists of two stages: 1. A Commission-led Technical Study (this report) aimed at identifying and assessing the most suitable and promising options and solutions. Based on this Study, the options and solutions to be tested through a pilot project should be identified by the end of 2014. 2. A Pilot project to be entrusted to the Agency for the Operational Management of large-scale IT Systems in the area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA), aimed at verifying the feasibility of the options identified in the Technical Study and validating the selected concepts for both automated and manual border controls. This Study addressed a series of questions raised in 20 Thematic Files (TFs) that were jointly agreed between the EC's Directorate General for Home Affairs (DG HOME), the MS and EP representatives in February 2014. These questions focused on six domains: 1. Statistics 2. Biometrics 3. Border control processes 4. Data 5. Architecture 6. Costs. The Study's methodological approach was primarily based on stakeholders' consultations through workshops, phone interviews and feedback from MS on the draft deliverables. The stakeholders consulted included MS, the EP, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), DG HOME, DG Justice (DG JUST), DG Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD), eu-LISA, Frontex and representatives from industry. The Study also built upon extensive desk research, literature review and various on-site visits. In addition, a specific data collection survey was carried out at the external borders of the Schengen Area by the MS at the end of May 2014. This survey allowed collecting up-to-date quantitative data concerning border crossings, including their number and type (air, land and sea), and the categories of travellers (i.e. EU/EEA/CH - abbreviated as EU-citizens, third country nationals either visa-exempt (TCNVE) or visa holders (TCNVH)). Details: Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2014. 416p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 30, 2014 at: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/smart-borders/docs/smart_borders_technical_study_en.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Europe URL: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/smart-borders/docs/smart_borders_technical_study_en.pdf Shelf Number: 133834 Keywords: Border ControlBorder Law EnforcementBorder Security (Europe)Illegal ImmigrantsIllegal ImmigrationImmigration Policy |
Author: American Immigration Council Title: Children in Danger: A guide to the Humanitarian Challenge at the Border Summary: The American Immigration Council has prepared this guide in order to provide policymakers, the media, and the public with basic information surrounding the current humanitarian challenge the U.S. is facing as thousands of young migrants show up at our southern border. This guide seeks to explain the basics. Who are the unaccompanied children and why are they coming? What basic protections are they entitled to by law? What happens to unaccompanied children once they are in U.S. custody? What has the government done so far? What additional responses have been proposed to address this issue? The children's reasons for coming to the United States, their care, our obligations to them as a nation, and the implications for foreign and domestic policies are critical pieces we must understand as we move toward solutions. Acknowledging the complexity of the situation, President Obama declared an "urgent humanitarian situation" along the southwest border requiring a coordinated federal effort by a range of federal agencies. The government's subsequent response has ignited a vigorous debate between advocates for refugees and unaccompanied minors and the government. We hope that this guide helps those engaging in the debate to understand the key concepts and America's laws and obligations related to unaccompanied children. Details: Washington, DC: American Immigration Council, 2014. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 30, 2014 at: http://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/docs/children_in_danger_a_guide_to_the_humanitarian_challenge_at_the_border_final.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/docs/children_in_danger_a_guide_to_the_humanitarian_challenge_at_the_border_final.pdf Shelf Number: 128069 Keywords: Border ControlChild ImmigrantsIllegal ImmigrationImmigration PolicyUnaccompanied Children (U.S.) |
Author: Gruben, William C. Title: "Illegal" Immigration on the U.S.-Mexico Border: Is It Really a Crisis? Summary: In recent months, print and television journalists have presented the American public with a "crisis" of illegal immigration on the U.S.-Mexico border. Much of this recent discussion has centered on Central American children traveling alone and on allegations that they are responding to motivations created by the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival policy. The word "crisis," however, can have alternative meanings. If a "crisis" of undocumented immigration means a historically large or very rapidly growing flow of undocumented immigrations, the overall national evidence shows today that there is no such crisis. Border Patrol apprehensions of undocumented immigrants attempting to cross the U.S.- Mexico border have in fact plummeted and remain far below levels a decade earlier. Nevertheless, apprehensions of children traveling alone have indeed surged. Many of these child immigrants are traveling alone from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. This flow of children from Central America requires careful examination, especially if compared to Mexico's numbers. Although Mexico's population is eight times Guatemala's, 15 times Honduras and 19 times El Salvador's, for example, the most recent partial-year apprehensions of unaccompanied children from each one of these countries have exceeded such apprehensions of children from Mexico. All this points to a surge of unaccompanied Central American children. But even this has to be qualified as a true crisis or not. While references to a record of apprehensions of unaccompanied child immigrants are correct, publicly available data for this category only go back to 2010. Thus, it may be preliminary to draw definitive conclusions about record numbers of unaccompanied children based on four full-fiscal-year observations plus monthly observations into a fifth year. Other data, including total apprehensions for any undocumented child immigrants, accompanied or otherwise, extend more than a decade. Preliminary estimates for fiscal year 2014 suggest that these apprehensions have remained below levels a decade earlier. Details: Houston, TX: James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, 2014. 22p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December a0, 2014 at: http://bakerinstitute.org/media/files/files/4d562970/MC-Immig-Gruben_Payan-101714.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://bakerinstitute.org/media/files/files/4d562970/MC-Immig-Gruben_Payan-101714.pdf Shelf Number: 134308 Keywords: Border ControlChild ImmigrantsIllegal ImmigrationUndocumented Immigrants |
Author: Accardi, Steven Title: "Humanitarian Aid in Never a Crime." A study of one local public's attempt to negotiate rhetorical agency with the state Summary: At its core, this dissertation is a study of how one group of ordinary people attempted to make change in their local and national community by reframing a public debate. Since 1993, over five thousand undocumented migrants have died, mostly of dehydration, while attempting to cross the US/Mexico border. Volunteers for No More Deaths (NMD), a humanitarian group in Tucson, hike the remote desert trails of the southern Arizona desert and provide food, water, and first aid to undocumented migrants in medical distress. They believe that their actions reduce suffering and deaths in the desert. On December 4, 2008, Walt Staton, a NMD volunteer placed multiple one-gallon jugs of water on a known migrant trail, and a Fish and Wildlife officer on the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge near Arivaca, Arizona cited him for littering. Staton refused to pay the fine, believing that he was providing life-saving humanitarian aid, and was taken to court as a result. His trial from June 1-3, 2009 is the main focus of this dissertation. The dissertation begins by tracing the history of the rhetorical marker "illegal" and its role in the deaths of thousands of "illegal" immigrants. Then, it outlines the history of NMD, from its roots in the Sanctuary Movement to its current operation as a counterpublic discursively subverting the state. Next, it examines Staton's trial as a postmodern rhetorical situation, where subjects negotiate their rhetorical agency with the state. Finally, it measures the rhetorical effect of NMD's actions by tracing humanitarian and human rights ideographs in online discussion boards before and after Staton's sentencing. The study finds that despite situational restrictions, as the postmodern critique suggests, subjects are still able to identify and engage with rhetorical opportunities, and in doing so can still subvert the state Details: Phoenix, AZ: Arizona State University, 2011. 192p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed January 16, 2015 at: http://repository.asu.edu/attachments/56796/content/Accardi_asu_0010E_10757.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://repository.asu.edu/attachments/56796/content/Accardi_asu_0010E_10757.pdf Shelf Number: 134414 Keywords: Illegal Immigrants (Arizona)Illegal ImmigrationImmigration EnforcementUndocumented Migrants |
Author: Morse, Amyas Title: Reforming the UK Border and Immigration System: report Summary: The Home Office (the Department) has been directly responsible for managing the UK's immigration and border operations since April 2013. The Department aims to ensure the flow of people and goods through the system is efficient, while working towards its target to reduce net migration. In 2013-14, nearly 112 million people arrived in the UK. Before 2013, the former UK Border Agency (the Agency) managed the Department's immigration and asylum work. The Home Secretary separated border operations from the Agency in March 2012, setting up Border Force as a directorate within the Department. In March 2013, the Home Secretary abolished the remaining Agency and brought its work into the Department under two new directorates: UK Visas and Immigration and Immigration Enforcement. The Home Secretary did this because of the Agency's troubled history, including its large size and conflicting cultures; inadequate IT systems; the problematic policy and legal framework it worked in; and the resulting lack of transparency and accountability. The three directorates now working within the Department each have a different focus. UK Visas and Immigration decides on applications to visit and stay in the UK with a strong customer focus. Immigration Enforcement's remit is to enforce the law for those who break immigration rules. Border Force secures the UK border, through immigration and customs controls. The Department's new corporate centre, comprising finance, human resources, IT and performance reporting, supports the directorates. We reported progress in cutting costs and improving performance in the Agency and Border Force in July 2012. We also reported progress in Border Force in September 2013. After our 2012 report, the Committee of Public Accounts (the Committee) wrote to the Department expressing concerns, including: delays to the former Agency's transformation programme; the risk that a flagship IT programme would not deliver intended benefits; significant backlogs; poor workforce planning and skills strategy; inadequate demand modelling; and an insufficient focus on improvingperformance management. This report focuses on the progress the two new directorates have made in addressing the Committee's concerns and the Home Secretary's reasons for abolishing the Agency. Details: London: National Audit Office, 2014. 59p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 20, 2015 at: http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Reforming-the-UK-border-and-immigration-system.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Reforming-the-UK-border-and-immigration-system.pdf Shelf Number: 134415 Keywords: Asylum SeekersBorder SecurityIllegal ImmigrationImmigration (U.K.) |
Author: Rosenblum, Marc R. Title: Unaccompanied Child Migration to the United States: The Tension between Protection and Prevention Summary: Between 2011 and 2014, the number of Central American children and "family units" - parents traveling with minor children - who arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border increased rapidly, reaching a peak of 137,000 in fiscal year 2014. While many of these migrants have valid claims for asylum or other forms of humanitarian relief, others are chiefly driven by economic concerns and a desire to reconnect with family members. This mixed flow has challenged the capacity of the United States to carry out its core immigration functions of preventing the admission of unauthorized immigrants while also providing protection to those who cannot be safely returned to their home countries. Media coverage of Central American arrivals in 2014 portrayed their entry as a failure of border security, but the actual policy failures were in the processing and adjudication of claims for relief from migrants presenting in a mixed migration flow of humanitarian and irregular migrants. Inadequate judicial and legal resources left some migrants waiting two years or more for a hearing before an immigration judge. Such delays amounted to a de facto policy of open admission for children and families. Furthermore, the Obama administration's responses to the rising Central American flows, including greater law enforcement resources at the border, expanded detention facilities, and the establishment of dedication child and family immigration court dockets, focused exclusively on immediate needs rather than longer-term solutions and they failed either to adequately protect vulnerable immigrants or to prevent future unauthorized flows. This report explains the shifting patterns of Central American migration between 2011 and 2014, analyzes the root of the policy challenges posed by these flows, and outlines U.S. and regional policy responses to address the crisis. It also makes recommendations on policies that advance both critical protection and enforcement goals in situations of complex, mixed flows, and provides additional policies that the United States, Mexico, and the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras might adopt to better manage child and family migration pressures today and in the future. Details: Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2015. 33p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 8, 2015 at: http://migrationpolicy.org/research/unaccompanied-child-migration-united-states-tension-between-protection-and-prevention Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://migrationpolicy.org/research/unaccompanied-child-migration-united-states-tension-between-protection-and-prevention Shelf Number: 135193 Keywords: Asylum SeekersBorder SecurityChild ProtectionHuman SmugglingIllegal ImmigrationImmigrationUnaccompanied Children (U.S.) |
Author: United States Sentencing Commission Title: Illegal Reentry Offenses Summary: This report analyzes data collected by the United States Sentencing Commission1 concerning cases in which offenders are sentenced under USSG 2L1.2 - commonly called "illegal reentry" cases. Such cases are a significant portion of all federal cases in which offenders are sentenced under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. In fiscal year 2013, for instance, illegal reentry cases constituted 26 percent of all such cases. As part of its ongoing review of the guidelines, including the immigration guidelines, the Commission examined illegal reentry cases from fiscal year 2013, including offenders' criminal histories, number of prior deportations, and personal characteristics. Part I of this report summarizes the relevant statutory and guideline provisions. Part II provides general information about illegal reentry cases based on the Commission's annual datafiles. Part III presents the findings of the Commission's in-depth analysis of a representative sample of illegal reentry cases. Part IV presents key findings. Details: Washington, DC: United States Sentencing Commission, 2015. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 20, 2015 at: http://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-publications/research-projects-and-surveys/immigration/2015_Illegal-Reentry-Report.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-publications/research-projects-and-surveys/immigration/2015_Illegal-Reentry-Report.pdf Shelf Number: 135259 Keywords: Illegal ImmigrationIllegal Reentry (U.S.)ImmigrantsImmigration PolicySentencing Guidelines |
Author: Hansen, Randall Title: Securing Borders: The Intended, Unintended, and Perverse Consequences Summary: All countries have the same basic goals in regard to national borders: to ensure that the beneficial movement - of legal goods, tourists, students, business people, and some migrants - is allowed, while keeping unwanted goods and people out of the country. All countries also face a similar set of border enforcement goals and challenges. They must prevent cross-border terrorism, illegal migration, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activity such as drug trafficking. In adopting policies and practices to combat these activities, countries also face a common and basic dilemma: policies in any one area have perverse, regrettable, and often unintended, consequences and feedbacks. As states implement extensive border controls and apply a wide variety of deterrence measures such as visas and carrier sanctions to prevent illegal migration, they indirectly push unauthorized migrants into the hands of smugglers and traffickers who promise to evade these controls. This report is first in a series that focuses on ways to curb the influence of these"bad actors" who pose challenges to countries' immigration control efforts. The report outlines the security-related challenges that borders are intended to address and, in turn, the perverse consequences that tighter border enforcement generates. The report analyzes challenges in five key categories: terrorism, asylum, human smuggling and trafficking, illegal migration, and drug trafficking. Turning to policy implications of the analysis, the authors argue that in order to operate successfully in the changing landscape of border management, and prevent the perverse consequences of border control efforts, policymakers must focus on principles of good governance. Weak states cannot have strong borders, and states will not get border policy right unless they get their institutions right. Accordingly, proper border policy depends on a commitment to the rule of law, low levels of corruption, effective police and border control forces, and successful coordination both among responsible agencies and with like-minded states. To this end, this report offers several policy recommendations for more effective border security. Details: Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2014. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 20, 2015 at: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/securing-borders-perverse-consequences Year: 2014 Country: International URL: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/securing-borders-perverse-consequences Shelf Number: 135282 Keywords: Border SecurityHuman SmugglingHuman TraffickingIllegal Immigration |
Author: Eguizabal, Cristina Title: Crime and Violence in Central America's Northern Triangle: How U.S. Policy Responses are Helping, Hurting, and Can Be Improved Summary: Throughout the spring and summer of 2014, a wave of unaccompanied minors and families from Central America began arriving at the U.S.-Mexican border in record numbers. During June and July over 10,000 a month were arriving. The unexpected influx triggered a national debate about immigration and border policy, as well as an examination of the factors compelling thousands of children to undertake such a treacherous journey. Approximately two-thirds of these children are from Central America's Northern Triangle-El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. According to interviews with the children their motives for migrating ranged from fleeing some of the world's highest homicide rates, rampant extortion, communities controlled by youth gangs, domestic violence, impunity for most crimes, as well as economic despair and lack of opportunity. Many hoped to reunite with family members, especially parents, who are already in the United States. The wave of migrants has underscored chronic problems in the region that stem back decades. It is often assumed that international drug trafficking explains the surge in violence since 2009, but other important factors are also at play. Drug trafficking is certainly a factor, especially in areas where criminal control of territory and trafficking routes is contested, but drugs do not explain the entirety of the complex phenomenon. Other factors have also contributed. While there are important differences among the three countries, there are also common factors behind the violence. Strong gang presence in communities often results in competition for territorial and economic control through extortion, kidnapping and the retail sale of illegal drugs. Threats of violence and sexual assault are often tools of neighborhood control, and gang rivalries and revenge killings are commonplace. Elevated rates of domestic abuse, sexual violence, and weak family and household structures also contribute as children are forced to fend for themselves and often chose (or are coerced into) the relative "safety" of the gang or criminal group. Likewise, important external factors such a weak capacity among law enforcement institutions, elevated levels of corruption, and penetration of the state by criminal groups means impunity for crime is extraordinarily high (95 percent or more), and disincentives to criminal activity are almost non-existent. Public confidence in law enforcement is low and crime often goes unreported. U.S. policy and practice are also a major contributing factor to the violence. U.S. consumption of illegal drug remains among the highest in the world, and U.S. and Mexican efforts to interdict drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Mexico has contributed to the trade's relocation to Central America. Furthermore, the policy of deporting large numbers of young Central Americans in the 1990s and 2000s, many of them already gang members in the United States, helped transfer the problem of violent street gangs from the United States to Central America's northern triangle. El Salvador now has the largest number of gang members in Central America followed close behind by Honduras and Guatemala. Finally, the trafficking of firearms, especially from the United States, has also contributed to the lethality and morbidity of crime. Efforts to slow firearms trafficking from the United States have encountered many domestic and political barriers and continue largely unchecked. Over the past year, the Woodrow Wilson Center's Latin American Program has undertaken an extensive review of the principal United States security assistance program for the region-the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI). This review has focused on the major security challenges in the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras and how CARSI seeks to address these. This publication includes country reports on each country including a review of the current in-country security context, as well as assessing CARSI's effectiveness for addressing these challenges. The report also includes a chapter providing an in-depth analysis of the geographic distribution of homicides and an examination of how such an analysis can help policy makers design more effective targeted strategies to lower violence. A final chapter outlining policy options for the future completes the report. Details: Washington, DC: Latin America Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2015. 155p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 26, 2015 at: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/FINAL%20PDF_CARSI%20REPORT_0.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Central America URL: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/FINAL%20PDF_CARSI%20REPORT_0.pdf Shelf Number: 135789 Keywords: Border SecurityDrug TraffickingDrug-Related ViolenceGangsHomicidesIllegal ImmigrationImmigrationKidnappingOrganized CrimeTrafficking in Firearms |
Author: United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) Title: Unaccompanied Alien Children: Actions Needed to Ensure Children Receive Required Care in DHS Custody Summary: From fiscal years 2009 through 2014, DHS apprehended more than 200,000 UAC, and the number of UAC apprehended in fiscal year 2014 (about 74,000) was more than four times larger than that for fiscal year 2011 (about 17,000). On the journey to the United States, many UAC have traveled thousands of miles under dangerous conditions. The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 included a provision for GAO to, among other things, review how DHS cares for UAC. This report examines, among other things, the extent to which DHS has developed policies and procedures to (1) screen all UAC as required and (2) care for all UAC as required. GAO reviewed TVPRA and other legal requirements, DHS policies for screening and caring for UAC, fiscal year 2009 through 2014 apprehension data on UAC, and 2014 Border Patrol UAC care data. GAO also randomly sampled and analyzed case files of Mexican UAC whom Border Patrol apprehended in fiscal year 2014. GAO interviewed DHS and HHS officials in Washington, D.C., and at Border Patrol and OFO facilities in Arizona, California, and Texas selected on the basis of UAC apprehension data. What GAO Recommends GAO recommends that DHS, among other things, provide guidance on how agents and officers are to apply UAC screening criteria, ensure that screening decisions are documented, develop processes to record reliable data on UAC care, and document the interagency process to transfer UAC from DHS to HHS. DHS concurred with the recommendations. Details: Washington, DC: GAO, 2015. 113p. Source: Internet Resource: GAO-15-521: Accessed July 15, 2015 at: http://gao.gov/assets/680/671393.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://gao.gov/assets/680/671393.pdf Shelf Number: 136062 Keywords: Child ProtectionIllegal ImmigrantsIllegal ImmigrationImmigrant DetentionUnaccompanied Alien Children |
Author: Kuschminder, Katie Title: Irregular Migration Routes to Europe and Factors Influencing Migrants' Destination Choices Summary: Irregular migration to Europe has become a central issue for the 28 member states of the European Union (EU). The number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean with the intention to irregularly cross a European border reached a record high in 2014, when 267,344 people were detected at the EU borders. This is more than double the number of people who irregularly crossed a European border from the Mediterranean in 2013 (Frontex, 2015). Until the mid-2000s, Morocco was the main source country of irregular migrants entering Europe, but the majority of migrants who have entered Europe irregularly in recent years are from conflict-affected countries such as Syria, Somalia, and Afghanistan (Duvell, 2011; Frontex, 2015). The same shift can be seen in the Dutch context: research from the Netherlands has indicated a decrease in the number of irregular Moroccans in the Netherlands over the past decade (Engbersen, Snel & van Meeteren, 2013). This is an example of the fact that the patterns of migration to Europe are continually changing (Collyer & De Haas, 2012). As will be shown in this comprehensive review of the literature of irregular migration to Europe, the routes of entry to the EU constantly adjust according to circumstances in the countries of origin, transit and destination. The EU has reacted to increased irregular migration flows through increased border securitisation and the building of 'Fortress Europe' (De Haas & Czaika, 2013). As has been continually stated by De Haas (2014), however, "increased border controls do not stop migration". The record number of irregular crossings into Europe in 2014 has illustrated this well. Irregular entry poses many challenges for the nation state by both challenging state sovereignty and requiring resources to address the movements. Border States of the EU, such as Greece and Italy, have in recent years received the largest numbers of irregular migrants. In December 2011, the European Court of Justice ruled that migrants could not be returned to Greece under the Dublin II regulation due to the over burdening of the asylum system and poor conditions for asylum seekers in Greece. Italy has placed 'burden-sharing' and migration in general as a high priority on the EU agenda given the disproportionate number of irregular migrants the country receives and the lack of resources the country possesses to address them. Details: Maastricht, The Netherlands: Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, 2015. 92p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 24, 2015 at: http://www.emnbelgium.be/sites/default/files/publications/irregular_migration_routes_maastricht_graduate_school_of_governance_june_2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Europe URL: http://www.emnbelgium.be/sites/default/files/publications/irregular_migration_routes_maastricht_graduate_school_of_governance_june_2015.pdf Shelf Number: 136147 Keywords: Asylum SeekersHuman SmugglingIllegal ImmigrationImmigrantsImmigration |
Author: Rosenblum, Marc R. Title: An Analysis of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States by Country and Region of Birth Summary: Mexican and Central American immigrants, who have long histories of migration to the United States, represent 37 percent of the U.S. foreign-born population, yet are disproportionately represented (71 percent) among the total unauthorized immigrant population. Mexico alone accounts for more than half of the estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States, with another 15 percent and 14 percent from Central America and Asia, respectively. This report describes trends in the origins of the unauthorized population since 1990, offering estimates for top states and counties of residence by country or region of origin. It also provides estimates for how many members of each origin group are potentially eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, finding application rates vary significantly across national origins. The report also reviews how settlement patterns vary by origin among new and more established immigration destinations. During the 1990s, the unauthorized population rose substantially, doubling from 3.5 million to 7 million. It continued to increase during the 2000s, reaching a peak of 12.2 million in 2007, then fell to 11 million during and after the recession. While Mexicans comprised a majority of unauthorized immigrants throughout these years, between 2007 and 2013 the population declined by about 1 million. In contrast, unauthorized populations from Central America, Asia, and Africa grew rapidly after 2000-with the numbers from Central America and Asia tripling and from Africa doubling. Countries significantly represented in these increases include China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, and South Korea. Details: Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2015. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 19, 2015 at: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/analysis-unauthorized-immigrants-united-states-country-and-region-birth Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/analysis-unauthorized-immigrants-united-states-country-and-region-birth Shelf Number: 136486 Keywords: Illegal ImmigrationImmigrantsImmigrationUndocumented Citizens |
Author: Parkin, Joanna Title: The Criminalisation of Migration in Europe: A State-of-the-Art of the Academic Literature and Research Summary: In the last 30 years, a clear trend has come to define modern immigration law and policy. A set of seemingly disparate developments concerning the constant reinforcement of border controls, tightening of conditions of entry, expanding capacities for detention and deportation and the proliferation of criminal sanctions for migration offences, accompanied by an anxiety on the part of the press, public and political establishment regarding migrant criminality can now be seen to form a definitive shift in the European Union towards the so-called 'criminalisation of migration'. This paper aims to provide an overview of the 'state-of-the-art' in the academic literature and EU research on criminalisation of migration in Europe. It analyses three key manifestations of the socalled 'crimmigration' trend: discursive criminalisation; the use of criminal law for migration management; and immigrant detention, focusing both on developments in domestic legislation of EU member states but also the increasing conflation of mobility, crime and security which has accompanied EU integration. By identifying the trends, synergies and gaps in the scholarly approaches dealing with the criminalisation of migration, the paper seeks to provide a framework for on-going research under Work Package 8 of the FIDUCIA project. Details: Brussels: Center for European Policy Studies, 2013. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: CEPS Papers in Liberty and Security in Europe, no. 61: Accessed August 19, 2015 at: http://www.ceps.eu/system/files/Criminalisation%20of%20Migration%20in%20Europe%20J%20Parkin%20FIDUCIA%20final.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Europe URL: http://www.ceps.eu/system/files/Criminalisation%20of%20Migration%20in%20Europe%20J%20Parkin%20FIDUCIA%20final.pdf Shelf Number: 131704 Keywords: Illegal ImmigrationImmigrant DetentionImmigrantsMigrants |
Author: Rubio Grundell, Lucrecia Title: EU Anti-Trafficking Policies: from Migration and Crime Control to Prevention and Protection Summary: Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) emerged on the EU's agenda in the mid-1990s. Since then, it has been the subject of increased media attention, intense political cooperation and much legal regulation. Despite three decades of commitment to maximizing co-operation in the fight against THB however, facts regarding prevention, prosecution and especially protection remain extremely discouraging. The upcoming adoption of the European Agenda on Migration therefore, which points to the "fight against criminal human trafficking networks" as one of its four priorities, is promising. It may mark the stepping up the EU's efforts to implement the existing tools and cooperation in dealing with THB. Even more so, when the transitional period for the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty's provisions regarding Justice and Home Affairs expired in December 2014. This policy brief argues however, that even though the absence of internal borders renders a European approach indispensable, the management of migration flows from third countries is not an adequate framework within which to tackle THB. In fact, the incorporation of THB into the category of migration, especially irregular migration, is arguably one of the main reasons for the lack of success of EU anti-trafficking policies to date. A revision of EU anti-trafficking policies should ensure a more inclusive decision-making process, a focus on exploitation and not on the irregular crossing of borders, a harmonization of penalties and the guarantee that measures regarding protection are made compulsory, non-discriminatory, unconditional and adequate. Moreover, the root causes of THB must be addressed and this must include a review of the impact of EU migration laws themselves. Details: Florence, Italy: Migration Policy Centre Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies - European University Institute, 2015. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief: Accessed August 20, 2015 at: http://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/35745/MPC_PB_2015_09.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2015 Country: Europe URL: http://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/35745/MPC_PB_2015_09.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 136497 Keywords: Human TraffickingIllegal ImmigrationMigrantsOrganized Crime |
Author: Bigo, Didier Title: Justice and Home Affairs Databases and a Smart Borders System at EU External Borders An Evaluation of Current and Forthcoming Proposals Summary: This study examines current and forthcoming measures related to the exchange of data and information in EU Justice and Home Affairs policies, with a focus on the 'smart borders' initiative. It argues that there is no reversibility in the growing reliance on such schemes and asks whether current and forthcoming proposals are necessary and original. It outlines the main challenges raised by the proposals, including issues related to the right to data protection, but also to privacy and non-discrimination. Details: Brussels: Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS), 2012. 97p. Source: Internet Resource: CEPS Paper in Liberty and Security in Europe No. 52: Accessed August 25, 2015 at: http://www.ceps.eu/system/files/No%2052%20JHA%20Databases%20Smart%20Borders.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Europe URL: http://www.ceps.eu/system/files/No%2052%20JHA%20Databases%20Smart%20Borders.pdf Shelf Number: 136574 Keywords: Border SecurityIllegal ImmigrationInformation SharingOrganized Crime |
Author: Bandyopadhyay, Subhayu Title: Illegal Immigration and Fiscal Competition Summary: Reflecting recent enforcement policy activism of US states, this paper examines federal-state overlap of illegal immigration policy in a spatial context. Keeping the US-Mexico context in mind, we assume that labor from a source nation enters a host nation through bordering states. Once in the host, illegal immigrants may stay in the state of entry or move to another state. The host nation's federal government and/or the state governments choose border and internal enforcement policies, and also provide local goods. As a benchmark, we define the completely centralized solution as the case where the federal government chooses all the policies, while the state governments are passive. At higher levels of decentralization (i.e., as states take more responsibility in deciding some of the policies), the overlap of federal and state policies is associated with both vertical and horizontal externalities. Among other results, we find that if inter-state mobility is costless, internal enforcement is overprovided, and border enforcement and local goods are under-provided under decentralization, leading to relatively high levels of illegal immigration. While inter-state migration costs moderate such overprovision/under-provision, extreme levels of inter-state immobility may lead to too little illegal immigration, and an overprovision of local goods. Details: Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2015. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 9061: Accessed October 5, 5015 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp9061.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://ftp.iza.org/dp9061.pdf Shelf Number: 136959 Keywords: Border SecurityIllegal ImmigrantsIllegal Immigration |
Author: De Vito, Elisabetta Title: Public health aspects of migrant health: a review of the evidence on health status for undocumented migrants in the European Region Summary: Undocumented migrants are people within a country without the necessary documents and permits. They are considered at higher risk for health problems because of their irregular status and the consequences of economic and social marginalization. A systematic review found 122 documents that suggested policies and interventions to improve health care access and delivery for undocumented migrants. Undocumented migrants mostly have only access to emergency care across Europe, and even in the countries where they are fully entitled to health care, formal and informal barriers hinder their access. This raises concerns for both public health and migrant care. On the basis of findings, policy options are suggested regarding data collection, research, entitlement to health care, information and communication, training and intersectoral approaches. Details: Copenhagen: World Health Organization, 2015. 49p., app. Source: Internet Resource: Health Evidence Network synthesis report 42: Accessed November 9, 2015 at: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/289255/WHO-HEN-Report-A5-3-Undocumented_FINAL-rev1.pdf?ua=1 Year: 2015 Country: Europe URL: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/289255/WHO-HEN-Report-A5-3-Undocumented_FINAL-rev1.pdf?ua=1 Shelf Number: 137227 Keywords: Health CareIllegal ImmigrationMigrantsUndocumented Migrants |
Author: Isacson, Adam Title: Increased Enforcement at Mexico's Southern Border: An Update on Security, Migration, and U.S. Assistance Summary: Key Findings - Far from deterring migrants from making the journey north, the most notable effect of Mexico's migration crackdown has been changes in how migrants are traveling. With decreased possibilities of boarding the train in Chiapas, migrants and smugglers are now relying on different and dangerous routes and modes of transportation, including by foot, vehicle, and boat. These routes expose migrants to new vulnerabilities while simultaneously isolating them from the network of shelters established along traditional routes. - Raids and operations to prevent migrants from riding atop cargo trains, known collectively as La Bestia, have been the most visible and aggressive enforcement efforts under the Southern Border Program. Migration authorities have blocked migrants from boarding trains, pulled migrants off of trains, and raided establishments that migrants are known to frequent, detaining thousands. The train operations have prompted concerns about excessive use-of-force and other abuses by the authorities involved. - U.S. assistance to help Mexico secure its southern border region has increased, though there is limited transparency regarding dollar values, recipient units, equipment, and training. Additionally, some of the U.S.- donated equipment at Mexico's southern border has seen little use and was reported to be ill-suited for the terrain in this region. For example, U.S.-donated observation towers serve little purpose at the densely forested Mexico-Guatemala border. U.S.-donated biometric data equipment was also observed to be in disuse or only used sporadically. - The Southern Border Program brought an increase in mobile checkpoints, and new customs facilities have opened since its launch. Beyond these, there has been little change in the number of roadside checkpoints present on main highways in Chiapas. We observed no new checkpoints on the Pacific coast between Tapachula and Arriaga. The most notable difference is the INM's use of volantas, or mobile checkpoints, which frequently change geographic position, ensnaring unaware migrants and smugglers. The large multi-agency customs checkpoints (Centros de Atencion Integral de Transito Fronterizo, CAITFs) are not a product of the Southern Border Program but have become a key component of the region's border security strategy. Three of these facilities in Huixtla, La Trinitaria, and Playas de Catazaja, Chiapas are already in operation; construction is underway on an additional center in Chiapas and one in Tabasco. - Between July 2014 and June 2015, the Mexican government's apprehensions of Central American migrants increased by 71 percent over the same period in the previous year, before the July 2014 launch of its Southern Border Program. The Southern Border Program modestly increased the presence of immigration agents and security forces, including from Mexico's National Migration Institute (Instituto Nacional de Migracion, INM), Federal Police, and Gendarmeria, a new division of the Federal Police. On the train lines, companies have begun to employ more private security personnel to monitor the cars and tracks. - Increased apprehension and rapid deportation of migrants has not coincided with increased capacity to screen migrants for protection concerns. Rather than viewing this heavy movement of people as a refugee and protection crisis, the Mexican government sees this as an issue of managing large flows of people. Mexican law recognizes a broad definition of "refugee" under which a significant number of Central Americans fleeing violence could qualify; however, few request protection and few receive it. Mexico only granted refugee status in approximately 21 percent of requests in 2014 and during the first seven months of 2015. The lack of awareness or understanding of the right to solicit asylum, the prolonged stay in grim detention center conditions while asylum requests are processed, lack of legal representation, and the shortage of protection officers authorized to make determinations are among the reasons why so few refugees are recognized in Mexico. - Mexico's stepped-up migrant apprehensions reduced the sense of urgency in the United States to support addressing the "root causes" of Central American migration, namely the high levels of violence and poverty, and the lack of opportunity. With fewer migrants arriving at the U.S. border, legislators have delayed or scaled back badly needed reforms or assistance. Whereas Mexico apprehended 67 percent more unaccompanied children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras from October 2014 to September 2015 compared to the same period in the previous year, U.S. authorities apprehended 45 percent fewer over this period. Details: Washington, DC: Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), 2015. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 11, 2015 at: http://www.wola.org/sites/default/files/WOLA%20Report_Increased%20Enforcement%20at%20Mexico%E2%80%99s%20Southern%20Border_Nov%202015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Mexico URL: http://www.wola.org/sites/default/files/WOLA%20Report_Increased%20Enforcement%20at%20Mexico%E2%80%99s%20Southern%20Border_Nov%202015.pdf Shelf Number: 137237 Keywords: Border EnforcementBorder SecurityIllegal ImmigrationImmigration EnforcementMigrants |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Country Office Pakistan Title: Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea in Pakistan: A Review of National Laws and Treaty Compliance Summary: Irregular migration, especially in the form of migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons, and associated criminal activities such as money laundering, document fraud, and corruption, are of imminent concern to Pakistan. Recent reports confirm that Pakistan is simultaneously a sending, transit, and destination point for smuggled migrants. Smuggling of migrants involves the procurement for financial or other material benefit of illegal entry of a person into a State of which that person is not a national or resident. Virtually every country in the world is affected by these crimes. The challenge for all countries, rich and poor, is to target the criminals who take advantage of desperate people and to protect and assist smuggled migrants, many of whom endure unimaginable hardships in their bid for a better life. In response to the emergence of migrant smuggling, the Government of Pakistan has taken some action to develop national strategies to prevent and suppress this crime. Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), as the country's chief national law enforcement agency, has the mandate to prevent and suppress migrant smuggling and is in a unique position to comprehensively combat this phenomenon, along with associated crime such as money laundering, document fraud, and corruption. UNODC, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, is the guardian of the United Nations (UN) Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrant by Land, Air, and Sea (the Migrant Smuggling Protocol)1 and the Convention against Transnational Organised Crime. UNODC leads international efforts to comprehensively prevent and suppress migrant smuggling and protect smuggled migrants. UNODC's Country Office in Islamabad stands ready to assist Pakistan's authorities in their efforts. To this end, in August 2010, UNODC requested the services of independent experts to assess the compliance of national laws and regulations in Pakistan against the requirements of international law and international best practice relating to the smuggling of migrants. The purpose of this report is to identify domestic laws, regulations, and policies in Pakistan relating to migrant smuggling and assess them against the requirements articulated in international law and the standards set by international best practice guidelines. Based on this assessment, recommendations for law reform, policy change, and for further analysis are made. Details: Islamabad : United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Country Office Pakistan, 2011. 78p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 25, 2015 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/pakistan//2011.10.00_Laws_relating_to_Migrant_Smuggling_in_Pakistan_final.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Pakistan URL: https://www.unodc.org/documents/pakistan//2011.10.00_Laws_relating_to_Migrant_Smuggling_in_Pakistan_final.pdf Shelf Number: 137339 Keywords: Human SmugglingIllegal ImmigrationImmigrationMigrant SmugglingMigrantsOrganized Crime |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Country Office Pakistan Title: Pakistan's law enforcement response to the smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons. Summary: This report assesses the legal frameworks, law enforcement strategies, capacities, and methodologies pertaining to migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons in Pakistan, focusing specifically on the mandate, organisation, and operations of Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency. The report identifies, maps, outlines, and explores existing law enforcement responses and assess these against international law requirements and against the standards set by international best practice guidelines. This report reveals strengths of existing arrangements and identifies areas where further development or reform may be needed. This report shows that Pakistan has solid policy, legislative, and organisational frameworks to combat trafficking in persons and, to a lesser degree, the smuggling of migrants. The Government of Pakistan has to be commended for setting up a National Action Plan for Combating Human Trafficking in 2004 and enacting the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance two years earlier. This report shows enforcement mandates pertaining to trafficking in persons, especially those of the FIA, are sufficiently clear and are supported by relevant enforcement powers. Legislative and law enforcement frameworks for migrant smuggling are not well developed or, as confirmed by other reports, non-existent and concerns remain over ongoing confusion between migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons in Pakistani law and by Pakistani authorities. Pakistan is also not a Signatory to the United Nations Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air, and Sea and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children. Pakistan has, however, signed the Convention against Transnational Organised Crime. Pakistan's relatively sound policy, legal, and organisational frameworks are, however, not matched by consistent implementation and execution; words are often not followed by actions. This assessment has found major deficiencies in the training of FIA personnel and in the facilities and equipment used by and available to FIA investigators and front-line officers. Most FIA officers working in units charged with investigating migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons obtain no training at all and frequently lack the most basic equipment to carry out their duties. FIA facilities in local areas are often in poor condition and lack reliable electricity supplies. Practical mechanisms for the protection of smuggled and migrants and, in particular, victims of trafficking in persons are, for the most part, non-existent, under-developed, or are only addressed in very rudimentary and ad-hoc ways. Also of concern are deficiencies in inter-departmental cooperation, national coordination, human resources, case management and data storage, information and evidence gathering. Details: Islamabad : United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Country Office Pakistan, 2011. 147p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 25, 2015 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/pakistan//2011.10.00_Pakistans_Law_Enforcement_Response_final.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Pakistan URL: https://www.unodc.org/documents/pakistan//2011.10.00_Pakistans_Law_Enforcement_Response_final.pdf Shelf Number: 137340 Keywords: Human SmugglingHuman TraffickingIllegal ImmigrantsIllegal ImmigrationImmigration EnforcementMigrant SmugglingMigrantsOrganized Crime |
Author: Rosenblum, Marc R. Title: Trends in Unaccompanied Child and Family Migration from Central America Summary: After reaching record high levels during the spring and summer of 2014, the flow of Central American unaccompanied children (UACs) and families arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border declined sharply. Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show a resurgence in the numbers of child migrants and families from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras arriving in the United States in the summer and fall of 2015. What caused the sharp drop in Central American child and family migration flows in summer 2014, and why have the numbers begun to climb once again? Undoubtedly, numerous factors contributed to the downturn. The United States intensified its enforcement efforts at the U.S.-Mexico border, detained large numbers of Central American women and children, targeted more resources to investigate and prosecute migrant smugglers, and worked with the Northern Triangle countries on a public information campaign to discourage outflows. Perhaps most importantly, Mexico significantly stepped up its enforcement, with the advent of the Southern Border Program. Guatemala and Honduras also took additional steps to secure their common borders and Guatemala's border with Mexico; and the three Northern Triangle countries announced a large-scale development strategy known as the Plan for the Alliance for Prosperity. While the drop in child migration and family arrivals in 2014 led some to believe the regional migration crisis had been resolved, rising flows in 2015 offer a reminder that humanitarian and migration pressures in the Northern Triangle remain a major concern, and that smuggling networks play a significant role. This fact sheet examines influencing factors on the recent trends in unaccompanied child and family arrivals from Central America to the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as Mexico's role in enforcement. Details: Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2016. 11p. Source: Internet Resource: Fact Sheet: Accessed February 8, 2016 at: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/trends-unaccompanied-child-and-family-migration-central-america Year: 2016 Country: Central America URL: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/trends-unaccompanied-child-and-family-migration-central-america Shelf Number: 137790 Keywords: Border Law EnforcementBorder SecurityHuman SmugglingHuman TraffickingIllegal ImmigrationUnaccompanied Children |
Author: Malone, Mary Fran T. Title: Why Do the Children Flee? Public Security and Policing Practices in Central America Summary: In this brief, author Mary Fran Malone discusses the security crisis in Central America and successful policing strategies for confronting this crisis. She reports that Central Americans' experiences and perceptions of crime are linked to an increased likelihood of migration. In 2014, approximately 57,000 unaccompanied minors traveled from Central America to Mexico, continuing north to cross the U.S. border illegally. The large numbers of people fleeing Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras testify not only to the violence of illicit markets but also to the failure of these countries' governments to fulfill their most important task - protecting the lives of their citizens. Not all Central American countries have failed at this task, however. Nicaragua and Panama have successfully created civilian police forces that have contained the crime crisis while also respecting the rights of citizens. Trust in police is significantly higher in Nicaragua and Panama than other countries in Central America, and people have more trust that the justice system will convict perpetrators of crime. If the United States aims to reduce the number of people fleeing north, it must invest more seriously in policing and public security practices that have a track record of success. After almost two decades, it is clear that the militarized and repressive policing strategies of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras do not work. As the cases of Nicaragua and Panama demonstrate, community-oriented policing strategies are effective in building citizens' trust in their police and fostering a culture of respect for human rights. Details: Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire, Carsey School of Public Policy, 2015. 10p. Source: Internet Resource: National Issue Brief #95: Accessed February 8, 2016 at: http://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1259&context=carsey Year: 2015 Country: Central America URL: http://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1259&context=carsey Shelf Number: 137791 Keywords: Community-Oriented PolicingDrug TraffickingIllegal ImmigrationIllicit MarketsPolice LegitimacyUnaccompanied Children |
Author: Argueta, Carla N. Title: Border Security Metrics Between Ports of Entry Summary: Understanding the risks present at the U.S. borders and developing methods to measure border security are key challenges for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Border Patrol, the agency within DHS charged with securing the border between ports of entry. Metrics for border security are used at both the strategic level, by DHS, and at the operational level by Customs and Border Protection (Border Patrol). This report reviews DHS's and the Border Patrol's use of metrics in evaluating their objective to secure the border between ports of entry. DHS and the Border Patrol can use metrics to measure their performance and estimate risks at the border. Additionally, metrics provide Congress with an understanding of DHS's and Border Patrol's progress in securing the border. At a strategic level, DHS uses performance metrics to understand its ability to meet border security objectives. However, DHS has struggled to create a comprehensive measure of border security. Most recently, DHS has labored to create a new generation of performance metrics, through the estimation of unauthorized entry of migrants into the United States. This measure represents the volume of migration entering the United States and can be influenced by factors outside of DHS's control, and therefore may not directly speak on border security. Congress may want to consider whether this is an adequate performance metric for border security and whether additional and/or more comprehensive and targeted metrics are required. DHS's Annual Performance Report for FY2014-FY2016 reported two other performance metrics used to measure its progress in securing the border. First, the percentage of people apprehended multiple times along the Southwest border, or the recidivism rate, is used to capture the ability of the Border Patrol to deter migrants from re-entering the United States. Second, the rate of interdiction effectiveness along the Southwest border between ports of entry, or the effectiveness rate, measures the Border Patrol's ability to apprehend unauthorized migrants. In the past, DHS has used several different performance metrics. For example, from 2001 to 2004, DHS, and the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), used optimum deterrence as a measure for border security, defining it as the level where applying more border security would not significantly increase apprehensions or deterrence. In 2005, DHS began to use operational control as a new measure, describing it as the miles along the border where the Border Patrol had the ability to detect, identify, respond to, and interdict cross-border unauthorized activity. When operational control was retired as a metric, migrant apprehensions became the interim measure for border security from 2011 to 2013. At an operational level, the Border Patrol uses metrics within its risk assessments At an operational level, the Border Patrol uses metrics within its risk assessments. The estimation of risk at the sector level assists the Border Patrol in making day-to-day decisions with regard to how to best align its resources against different threats. The agency determines risk through its "State of the Border Risk Methodology." A secured border is characterized as low risk. The Border Patrol's methodology estimates the magnitude of risk by gathering and understanding intelligence information, developing a detailed awareness of threats at the border, and applying a standardized measurement of risk. These assessments are not used as metrics themselves. However, the Border Patrol's methodology monitors certain metrics at the sector level, such as the recidivist rate and effectiveness rate, which may be able to speak to the Border Patrol's performance. Metrics can provide an understanding of the state of the border. In reviewing border security metrics, Congress may be interested in issues surrounding the oversight of DHS's measurement practices, the determination of acceptable levels of risk for each metric, and the implementation of strategic and operational metrics and how they relate to one another. Moreover, Congress may consider how metrics can be used to inform decisions on expenditures and whether additional data and methodologies are needed to provide a more holistic view of border issues. Lastly, with migrant demographics shifting and some transit countries conducting their own enforcement of unauthorized migration, Congress may consider how these practices affect data and outcomes and what can be done to account for these changes. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2016. 23p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 22, 2016 at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R44386.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R44386.pdf Shelf Number: 137930 Keywords: Border SecurityHomeland SecurityIllegal ImmigrationImmigration PolicyMigrants |
Author: Kandel, William A. Title: Unaccompanied Alien Children: Potential Factors Contributing to Recent Immigration Summary: Since FY2008, the growth in the number of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras seeking to enter the United States has increased substantially. Total unaccompanied child apprehensions increased from about 8,000 in FY2008 to 52,000 in the first 8 1/2 months of FY2014. Since 2012, children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras (Central America's "northern triangle") account for almost all of this increase. Apprehension trends for these three countries are similar and diverge sharply from those for Mexican children. Unaccompanied child migrants' motives for migrating to the United States are often multifaceted and difficult to measure analytically. Four recent out-migration-related factors distinguishing northern triangle Central American countries are high violent crime rates, poor economic conditions fueled by relatively low economic growth rates, high rates of poverty, and the presence of transnational gangs. In 2012, the homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants stood at 90.4 in Honduras (the highest in the world), 41.2 in El Salvador, and 39.9 in Guatemala. International Monetary Fund reports show economic growth rates in the northern triangle countries in 2013 ranging from 1.6% to 3.5%, relatively low compared with other Central American countries. About 45% of Salvadorans, 55% of Guatemalans, and 67% of Hondurans live in poverty. Surveys in 2013 indicate that almost half of all unaccompanied children experienced serious harm or threats by organized criminal groups or state actors, and one-fifth experienced domestic abuse. In 2011, Mexico passed legislation to improve migration management and ensure the rights of migrants transiting the country. According to many migration experts, implementation of the laws has been uneven. Some have questioned whether passage of such legislation has affected in some way the recent flows of unaccompanied children. However, the impact of such laws remains unclear. Although economic opportunity may motivate some unaccompanied children to migrate to the United States, labor market conditions for low-skilled minority youth have worsened in recent years, even as industrial sectors employing low-skilled workers enjoy improved economic prospects. Educational opportunities may also provide a motivating factor to migration as perceptions of free and safe education may be widespread among the young. Family reunification is reported to be one of the key motives of unaccompanied children. Many have family members among the sizable Salvadoran, Guatemalan, and Honduran foreign-born populations residing in the United States. While the impacts of actual and perceived U.S. immigration policies have been widely debated, it remains unclear if, and how, specific immigration policies have motivated children to migrate to the United States. Misperceptions about U.S. policies may be a contributing factor. The existence of long-standing humanitarian relief policies confounds causal links between them and the recent surge in unaccompanied children. A notable and recent exception is revised humanitarian relief provisions for unaccompanied children included in the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2008, which affects asylum claims, trafficking victim protections, and eligibility for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Some argue that unaccompanied children and their families falsely believe they would be covered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative and legalization provisions in proposed comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) legislation. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Services, 2014. 25p. Source: Internet Resource: R43628: Accessed March 12, 2016 at: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R43628.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R43628.pdf Shelf Number: 138183 Keywords: AsylumChild Protection Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)Illegal Immigrants Illegal Immigration Immigrant Detention ImmigrationUnaccompanied Alien Children |
Author: Finch, Jessie K. Title: Legal Borders, Racial/Ethnic Boundaries: Operation Streamline and Identity Processes on the US-Mexico Border Summary: How do individuals navigate situations in which their work-role identity is put in competition with social identities of race/ethnicity, nationality, or citizenship/generational status? This research uses a controversial criminal court procedure (Operation Streamline) as an optimal setting to understand the strategies employed by lawyers and judges who manage such delicate identity processes. I examine how legal professionals assign salience to their various identities while developing a perspective of competing identity management that builds on and further integrates prior sociological research on identity. In particular, Latino/a judges and lawyers who participate in Operation Streamline (OSL) take on a specific work-related role identity that entails assisting in the conviction and sentencing of border-crossers with whom they share one social identity - race/ethnicity - but do not share another social identity - citizenship. I systematically assess identity management strategies used by lawyers and judges to manage these multiple competing identities while seeking to comprehend under what circumstances these identities affect legal professionals' job-related interactions. In this dissertation, I demonstrate that Latino/a lawyers and judges involved with OSL manage their potentially competing social and role identities differently than non-Latino/as whose social identities do not compete with their role identities, demonstrating variation between racial/ethnic social identities. I also find that some Latino/a lawyers and judges (those with higher racial/ethnic social identity salience) involved with OSL manage their potentially competing social and role identities differently than other Latino/a lawyers and judges (those with higher racial/ethnic social identity salience), demonstrating variation within racial/ethnic social identity based on the social identity of citizenship/generational status. Finally, I demonstrate that situationality is a factor in identity management because a shared social identity with defendants seems to be useful in the daily work of Latino/a lawyers and judges, but often detrimental in how they are perceived by outsiders such as activists and the media. From this case, we can take the findings and begin to create an outline for a new theory of competing identity management, integrating prior literatures on social and role identities. I have been able to elaborate mechanisms of some identity management processes while also developing grounded hypotheses on which to base future research. My research also contributes to improving how the criminal justice system deals with sensitive racial/ethnic issues surrounding immigration crimes and en masse proceedings such as OSL. Because proposed "comprehensive immigration reform" includes expanding programs like OSL, my research to understand the broader effects of the program on legal professionals is especially important not only to social scientists but to society at large. The fact that there is a difference in identity management strategies for Latino/a and non-Latino/a respondents helps demonstrate there is in fact an underlying racial tension present in Operation Streamline. Details: Tucson: University of Arizona, 2015. 222p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed July 20, 2016 at: http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/578902 Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/578902 Shelf Number: 139720 Keywords: Border ControlBorder SecurityIllegal ImmigrationImmigrantsImmigrationOperation Streamline |
Author: Gutierrez, Carlos Title: Shared Border, Shared Future: A Blueprint to Regulate US-Mexico Labor Mobility Summary: Mexico and the United States have lacked a bilateral agreement to regulate cross-border labor mobility since 1965. Since that time, unlawful migration from Mexico to the US has exploded. Almost half of the 11.7 million Mexican-born individuals living in the U.S. do not have legal authorization. This vast black market in labor has harmed both countries. These two neighboring countries, with an indisputably shared destiny, can come together to work out a better way. The time has come for a lasting, innovative, and cooperative solution. To address this challenge, the Center for Global Development assembled a group of leaders from both countries and with diverse political affiliations - from backgrounds in national security, labor unions, law, economics, business, and diplomacy - to recommend how to move forward. The result is a new blueprint for a bilateral agreement that is designed to end unlawful migration, promote the interests of U.S. and Mexican workers, and uphold the rule of law. Details: Washington, DC: Center for Global Development, 2016. 65p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 20, 2016 at: http://www.cgdev.org/sites/default/files/CGD-shared-border-shared-future-report-eng1.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 140364 Keywords: Border SecurityIllegal ImmigrationMigrantsMigration |
Author: Barrick, Leigh Title: Divided by Detention: Asylum-Seeking Families' Experiences of Separation Summary: As the number of asylum-seeking families from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico arriving in the United States soared in recent years, the Obama Administration aggressively expanded family detention in an attempt to "deter" the arrival of others. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) opened large detention centers to detain mothers and children. Although DHS has the authority to place asylum-seekers directly into immigration court proceedings, it continues to detain mothers and children and subject them to fast-track removal. Families and advocates have exposed the numerous ways that detention and fast-track removal jeopardize the well-being of asylum-seeking families. They have also drawn attention to the due-process violations caused by detention that prevent families from accessing the system of humanitarian protection created for people in their circumstances. This report examines what happens when "family detention" does not actually keep loved ones together. Through its custody determinations, DHS splits family members - sending them to different facilities around the country - while failing to track and reunite those who arrive separately. While DHS claims that family detention keeps families together, the truth is that a mother and child who are sent to family detention will often have been separated by DHS from other loved ones with whom they fled - including husbands, fathers, grandparents, older children, and siblings. Minors who arrive with non-parent caretakers are often removed from their custody. These DHS custody determinations that divide families do not occur in a vacuum. The administration has targeted these families, while Congress maintains a controversial directive to fund a minimum capacity of 34,000 noncitizen detention beds. This report profiles the experiences of five asylum-seeking families who are divided by detention. It provides a preliminary analysis of how this separation occurs, and the impact this separation can have on families' well-being and ability to access humanitarian protection. The families interviewed express that separation negatively impacts their mental and material well-being. Four attorneys highly experienced in representing detained asylum-seeking families interviewed for this report argue that being split up also negatively impacts families' ability to access protection. Families bear the burden of tracking down their loved ones, worrying about their well-being, and attempting to link their cases. Multiple adjudicators across the country may rule on the same case, while only hearing a piece of the story. Ultimately, it is possible that family members who fled their country for the same reason may receive inconsistent decisions in their cases. This report calls for further research into these issues. Separating families has countless negative impacts, while allowing them to stay together has numerous benefits. Doing the latter would allow the U.S. government to better uphold its various commitments to family unity and parental rights in immigration enforcement activities, support the well-being of families, give them more effective access to humanitarian protection, and prevent the unnecessary waste of government resources. Details: Washington, DC: American Immigration Council, 2016. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 17, 2016 at: https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/divided-by-detention-asylum-seeking-families-experience-of-separation Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/divided-by-detention-asylum-seeking-families-experience-of-separation Shelf Number: 144864 Keywords: Asylum SeekersIllegal ImmigrationImmigrant DetentionImmigration EnforcementImmigration Policy |
Author: United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime Title: Global Report on Trafficking in Persons: 2016 Summary: The 2016 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons is the third of its kind mandated by the General Assembly through the 2010 United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons. It covers 136 countries and provides an overview of patterns and flows of trafficking in persons at global, regional and national levels, based primarily on trafficking cases detected between 2012 and 2014. As UNODC has been systematically collecting data on trafficking in persons for more than a decade, trend information is presented for a broad range of indicators. The thematic chapter of the 2016 edition of the Global Report looks at how migrants and refugees can be vulnerable to trafficking in persons, en route or at destination. It also analyses the particular condition of people escaping war, conflict and persecution. Most countries have passed legislation that criminalizes trafficking in persons as a specific offence; many have done so recently. The Global Report shows that there is a relation between how long a country has had proper trafficking legislation on its books, and how many convictions it reports. Countries with longer-standing legislation record, on average, more convictions. That said, the overall criminal justice response to trafficking in persons, which has historically been very weak, has not improved significantly. Details: New York: UNODC, 2016. 126p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 23, 2016 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/glotip/2016_Global_Report_on_Trafficking_in_Persons.pdf Year: 2016 Country: International URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/glotip/2016_Global_Report_on_Trafficking_in_Persons.pdf Shelf Number: 144837 Keywords: Human SmugglingHuman TraffickingIllegal ImmigrationMigrantsRefugees |
Author: Garcia, Michael John Title: Barriers Along the U.S. Borders: Key Authorities and Requirements Summary: Federal law authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to construct barriers along the U.S. borders to deter illegal crossings. DHS is also required to construct reinforced fencing along at least 700 miles of the land border with Mexico (a border that stretches 1,933 miles). Congress has not provided a deadline for DHS to meet this 700-mile requirement, and as of the date of this report, fencing would need to be deployed along nearly 50 additional miles to satisfy the 700-mile requirement. Nor has Congress provided guidelines regarding the specific characteristics of fencing or other physical barriers (e.g., their height or material composition) deployed along the border, beyond specifying that required fencing must be reinforced. The primary statute authorizing the deployment of fencing and other barriers along the international borders is Section 102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA; P.L. 104-208, div. C). Congress made significant amendments to IIRIRA Section 102 through three enactments - the REAL ID Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-13, div. B), the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-367), and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (P.L. 110-161, div. E). These amendments required DHS to construct hundreds of miles of new fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, and they also gave the Secretary of DHS broad authority to waive - all legal requirements - that may impede construction of barriers and roads under IIRIRA Section 102. These statutory modifications, along with increased funding for border projects, resulted in the deployment of several hundred miles of new barriers along the southwest border between 2005 and 2011. But in the years following, DHS largely stopped deploying additional fencing, as the agency altered its enforcement strategy in a manner that places less priority upon barrier construction. On January 25, 2017, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order that, among other things, instructs the Secretary of Homeland Security to “take all appropriate steps to immediately plan, design, and construct a physical wall along the southern border ... to most effectively achieve complete operational control" of the U.S.-Mexico border. The order defines a 'wall' to mean "a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous, and impassable physical barrier." The order does not identify the contemplated mileage of the wall to be constructed. Until recently, interest in the framework governing the deployment of barriers along the international border typically focused on the stringency of the statutory mandate to deploy fencing along at least 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. But attention has now shifted to those provisions of law that permit deployment of fencing or other physical barriers along additional mileage. IIRIRA Section 102 authorizes DHS to construct additional fencing or other barriers along the U.S. land borders beyond the 700 miles specified in statute. Indeed, nothing in current law would appear to bar DHS from installing hundreds of miles of additional physical barriers, at least so long as this action was determined appropriate to deter illegal crossings in areas of high illegal entry or was deemed warranted to achieve "operational control" of the southern border. DHS's policy not to deploy a substantial amount of additional fencing, beyond what is expressly required by law, appeared primarily premised on policy considerations and funding constraints, rather than significant legal impediments. This report discusses the statutory framework governing the deployment of fencing and other barriers along the U.S. international borders. For more extensive discussion of ongoing activities and operations along the border between ports of entry, see CRS Report R42138, Border Security: Immigration Enforcement Between Ports of Entry, by Carla N. Argueta. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2017. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: R43975: Accessed February 4, 2017 at: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R43975.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R43975.pdf Shelf Number: 145879 Keywords: Border SecurityHomeland SecurityIllegal ImmigrationImmigration Enforcement |
Author: Molenaar, Fransje Title: Turning the Tide: The politics of irregular migration in the Sahel and Libya Summary: This online report analyses the relationship between irregular migration and conflict and stability in Mali, Niger and Libya. Studying the human smuggling networks that operate within and across these three countries provides insights into the transnational dynamics of irregular migration as well as these networks' interaction with local, national and regional political and economic dynamics. The report's main finding is that current EU policies are misaligned with the reality of trans-Saharan migration as they do not take into account the diversity of intra-African migration. In addition, human smuggling networks form part of larger political economies and cannot be addressed effectively without taking into account the extent to which state authorities are involved in and/or capable of controlling irregular migration. Failure to take these local realities into account results in ineffcient and ineffective policies at best, and counter-productively strengthens one of the root causes of migration at worst, because it overlooks the intricate links that exist between migration and conflict and stability in the region. This report synthesises the findings of the following background studies: - Irregular migration and human smuggling networks in Mali - Irregular migration and human smuggling networks in Niger - Understanding human smuggling networks in Libya Details: The Hague: The Clingendael Institute, 2017. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: CRU Report: Accessed March 3, 2017 at: https://www.clingendael.nl/sites/default/files/turning_the_tide.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Africa URL: https://www.clingendael.nl/sites/default/files/turning_the_tide.pdf Shelf Number: 141311 Keywords: Criminal NetworksHuman SmugglingIllegal ImmigrationImmigrationMigrants |
Author: Molenaar, Fransje Title: Irregular migration and human smuggling networks in Mali Summary: In 2016, an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 migrants transited through Mali on their way to Algeria and Libya. One major dilemma facing policy makers that want to stop irregular migration through Mali is that state authorities are either complicit in migration, such as by providing migrants free passage in exchange for a toll at roadblocks or by issuing false passports, or that they lack the effective presence and/or capacity to counter human smuggling. This problem is particularly salient in the north, where armed groups have taken over territorial control and offer protection to, and feed off, the human smuggling industry. At the time of writing, a solution to the internal conflict appears to lie in the distant future, meaning that addressing the issue of irregular migration remains one of the lowest priorities on the government’s agenda. Regaining political stability is its number one concern. Details: The Hague: Netherlands Institute of International Relations 'Clingendael', 2017. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: CRU Report: Accessed March 3, 2017 at: https://www.clingendael.nl/sites/default/files/irregular_migration_and_human_smuggling_networks_in_mali.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Mali URL: https://www.clingendael.nl/sites/default/files/irregular_migration_and_human_smuggling_networks_in_mali.pdf Shelf Number: 141312 Keywords: Criminal NetworksHuman SmugglingIllegal ImmigrationImmigrantsMigration |
Author: Molenaar, Fransje Title: Irregular migration and human smuggling networks in Niger Summary: This report outlines some of the dilemmas that the human smuggling industry poses for policy makers addressing irregular migration flows in Niger. Through a detailed focus on the manifestation of the relationship between human smugglers and state authorities on the ground, and between state authorities and former rebels more generally, this report shows that the development of human smuggling networks reinforces prevailing patterns of collusion between armed and/or criminal actors, state security forces and political elites. Any attempt to address irregular migration through securitised measures should take into account that security forces, local authorities and even national political elites are tied to the smuggling industry in direct and indirect ways. They are not neutral actors, and any attempt to treat them as such could result in heightened conflict risk and/or the instrumental use of policy instruments to take out competitors. Policy makers should also recognise that the issue of irregular migration is tied to broader issues of good governance and rule of law. Policies targeting migration should therefore form part of a broader package of measures combatting state fragility and insecurity. Details: The Hague: Netherlands Institute of International Relations 'Clingendael', 2017. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: CRU Report: Accessed March 3, 2017 at: https://www.clingendael.nl/sites/default/files/irregular_migration_and_human_smuggling_networks_in_niger.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Niger URL: https://www.clingendael.nl/sites/default/files/irregular_migration_and_human_smuggling_networks_in_niger.pdf Shelf Number: 141313 Keywords: Criminal NetworksHuman SmugglingIllegal ImmigrationImmigrantsImmigration |
Author: Australia. Auditor General Title: The Australian Border Force's Use of Statutory Powers Summary: Background 1. On 9 May 2014, the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection announced the government's decision to bring together the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (Immigration) and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (Customs) in a single department from 1 July 2015. Within the integrated department, the government established the Australian Border Force (Border Force) as a 'single frontline operational border agency to enforce our customs and immigration laws and protect our border'. 2. Both the Customs Act 1901 (Customs Act) and Migration Act 1958 (Migration Act) contain a wide range of powers. While many of these are essentially administrative in nature, there are a wide range of coercive powers - such as powers to question, search, detain or arrest people, or enter and search vehicles or premises - which departmental officers, such as Border Force officers, can now exercise. Other Acts (such as the Maritime Powers Act 2013) also confer powers on officers. In total, officers can exercise coercive powers under 35 Acts and more than 500 empowering provisions. Audit objective and criteria 3. The objective of the audit was to assess the establishment and administration of the Australian Border Force's framework to ensure the lawful exercise of powers in accordance with applicable legislation. 4. To form a conclusion against the audit objective, the ANAO adopted the following high-level audit criteria: Is there an effective accountability and reporting framework for the lawful exercise of powers? Do Border Force officers have adequate knowledge of their powers and how to use them? Conclusion 5. As part of the integration of Immigration and Customs, the department has made progress towards establishing a framework to ensure Border Force officers exercise coercive powers lawfully and appropriately. However, significantly more work needs to be done to gain assurance that controls are effective. 6. The department's enterprise risk management framework does not adequately address the risk of officers exercising coercive powers unlawfully or inappropriately. Several internal assurance reviews have uncovered problems relating to the exercise of statutory powers. The Border Force has established an integrated operational quality assurance team, which has not yet finalised any reports. Delegations and authorisations for coercive powers are complete and in place but not all instruments are accessible to officers. 7. The ANAO found instances of potentially unlawful searches and failure to comply with instructions under both the Customs Act and Migration Act, which indicate current internal controls for mitigating the risk of unlawful or inappropriate use of coercive powers are inadequate. 8. The department has not provided adequate instructions and guidance for officers exercising coercive powers. There is currently no single source of instructions and guidance material for Border Force officers, and much of the guidance material available is out of date and inaccurate. While positive foundational work has commenced on integrating the former Customs and Immigration training regimes, officers have been exercising significant coercive powers without having undertaken pre-requisite training. Supporting findings 9. The department's approach to risk management at the enterprise level has been developing over the past two years. It has established an enterprise risk framework and is finalising profiles for each of its enterprise risks. The current profile relating to unlawful or inappropriate use of coercive powers conflates this risk with integrity and corruption risks, which require different internal controls. This has the potential to divert attention from controls relating to the risk of unlawful or inappropriate use of coercive powers. 10. The department has undertaken several internal assurance reviews that have uncovered problems relating to the exercise of statutory powers. The Border Force has recently established an integrated team responsible for operational quality assurance testing. The team has not yet completed any reviews. Prior to this, the department did not have satisfactory mechanisms for gaining assurance that officers understand their powers and are exercising them lawfully. 11. Instruments of authorisation and delegation for coercive Migration and Customs Act powers are complete and up-to-date. While Migration Act instruments of authorisation and delegation are available on the intranet, instruments relating to the Customs Act (and other Acts) are not accessible to officers. 12. Some personal searches of passengers at international airports examined by the ANAO were unlawful or inappropriate, indicating weaknesses in the control framework. A number of searches of premises under the Migration Act potentially exceeded the authority of the warrant which authorised them, and officers routinely questioned people without documenting their legal authority to do so. Officers also frequently failed to comply with departmental policy instructions, including compliance with certification and recordkeeping requirements. 13. The department has commenced a project to identify the statutory powers of officers of the integrated department, with a longer term view to possibly amending some powers. As part of the project, in July 2016, the department completed a consolidated inventory of all powers available to departmental officers under Commonwealth legislation. Such an inventory will enable the department to identify overlap, duplication, redundancy and inconsistency within and between Acts. It will also assist with identifying any gaps or deficiencies in powers in order to be able to submit a proposal for potential legislative change for government consideration. 14. The Border Force is developing a coordinated systematic framework for reporting on its use of coercive powers. It presently does not have such a framework. 15. Many of the instructions that are provided to Border Force officers on the department's intranet are out of date, incomplete, inaccurate and are not accessible to all officers. A project to remedy this situation was endorsed by the department's executive in December 2015 and has to date delivered only a very small number of operational instructions for Border Force officers. 16. The department has made progress in integrating the former Customs and Immigration training regimes and addressing deficiencies identified through pre-integration training audits conducted in 2014. The establishment of an integrated Learning and Development Branch and the Border Force College has been managed as a priority project, under the Reform and Integration Taskforce. While this project has delivered solid foundations for enhancing the learning maturity of the department, at the time of examination the results of these foundational efforts had yet to be realised. 17. Not all officers exercising coercive powers under the Migration Act and Customs Act have received pre-requisite training. The department has established an integrated Learning Management System but issues remain in relation to the completeness of training records. 18. The department has been undertaking a project to transition to a new workforce model, which has involved establishing 'vocations', profiling job roles under each vocation, mapping required competencies, and developing high level curricula. Training needs analysis for the Border Force vocational stream commenced in October 2016. Details: Barton, ACT: Australian National Audit Office, 2017. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 7, 2017 at: https://www.anao.gov.au/sites/g/files/net2766/f/ANAO_Report_2016-2017_39.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Australia URL: https://www.anao.gov.au/sites/g/files/net2766/f/ANAO_Report_2016-2017_39.pdf Shelf Number: 146415 Keywords: Border PatrolBorder SecurityCustoms EnforcementIllegal ImmigrationImmigrantsImmigration EnforcementUse of Force |
Author: Baldo, Suliman Title: Border Control from Hell: How EU's migration partnership legitimizes Sudan's "militia state" Summary: Large-scale migration to Europe has precipitated a paradigm shift in relations between the European Union (EU) and the government of Sudan, and closer ties between both entities. This new partnership has resulted in the EU disbursing millions of euros to the Sudanese government for technical equipment and training efforts geared toward stopping the flow to Europe of migrants from Sudan and those from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa who come through Sudan. The EU's action plan will involve building the capacities of Sudan's security and law enforcement agencies, including a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been branded as Sudan's primary "border force." The EU will assist the RSF and other relevant agencies with the construction of two camps with detention facilities for migrants. The EU will also equip these Sudanese border forces with cameras, scanners, and electronic servers for registering refugees. There are legitimate concerns with these plans. Much of the EU-funded training and equipment is dual-use. The equipment that enables identification and registration of migrants will also reinforce the surveillance capabilities of a Sudanese government that has violently suppressed Sudanese citizens for the past 28 years. Sudan's strategy for stopping migrant flows on behalf of Europe involves a ruthless crackdown by the RSF on migrants within Sudan. Dogged by persistent armed uprisings led by opponents protesting chronic inequalities in the distribution of national wealth and political power in its periphery regions, the Sudanese government has always relied on a plethora of militia groups to counter insurgencies. The RSF is one of these militia groups. It evolved from the disparate Janjaweed militias that carried out the genocidal counterinsurgency policy of the Sudanese regime in Darfur that began in 2003. However, in its functions and evolution, the RSF differs significantly from other militia groups employed by the government. The RSF first evolved from a strike force deployed against insurgents in Darfur into a national counterinsurgency force under the operational command of Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) that was tasked with fighting the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army-North (SPLM/A-N) in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. Then, in September 2013, the RSF was deployed against peaceful demonstrators who were protesting the Sudanese government's removal of subsidies on basic commodities. More than 170 people were killed in September 2013, in incidents that unmasked the Sudanese regime's dependence on the militia to quell political dissent and marked a new evolution in the role of the RSF. Starting in 2015 and 2016, and convinced of the RSF's effectiveness as a counterinsurgency force, the regime designated the RSF as Sudan's primary force tasked with patrolling Sudanese borders to interdict migrants' movement. The Sudanese government made this designation within the framework of its partnership with the EU for the control of migration. As such, the RSF is positioned to receive EU funds for reducing the flows of migrants from Sudan to Europe. The Sudanese government enacted a law in January 2017 that integrated the RSF into the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF, national army). The 2017 law (conflictingly) made the RSF autonomous, integrated into the army, and under the command of President Omar al-Bashir. The EU and the EU member states that are most engaged with Sudan in the actual programmatic partnership on migration flows should scrutinize the record and conduct of the RSF as the partnership unfolds. By "building the capacity" of Sudan's newly minted border force with funding and training, the EU would not only be strengthening the hand of the RSF but also could find itself underwriting a complex system of a "militia state" that Sudan has evolved into since the current regime came to power in 1989. In so doing, the EU contradicts and undermines the overriding objectives of its own founding treaty. EU members cannot advance peace, security, and human rights and they cannot stem irregular migration from Sudan and the Horn of Africa by directly funding a government that deploys a militia group that stokes violent conflict, commits atrocities, and creates massive displacement of populations within Sudan. The remainder of this paper synthesizes public information about the RSF's activities and argues how EU support for this group could ultimately worsen irregular migration to Europe, escalate violent conflict within Sudan and the Horn of Africa, and embolden a regime and militia force that acts with impunity and now faces even fewer checks on its criminal behavior. This paper aims to highlight the latest developments from Sudan and examine the record of earlier engagements of the RSF, lest one or all of Sudan's EU partners claim, at a later date, that they were unaware of the perverse incentives at play. Details: Washington, DC: Enough Project, 2016. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 10, 2017 at: http://www.enoughproject.org/files/BorderControl_April2017_Enough_Finals.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Europe URL: http://www.enoughproject.org/files/BorderControl_April2017_Enough_Finals.pdf Shelf Number: 144768 Keywords: Border ControlBorder SecurityIllegal ImmigrationMigrantsMigration Enforcement |
Author: Lopez, Mark Hugo Title: Latinos' Views of the Impact of Illegal Immigration on Their Community Improve Summary: Hispanics' views of the impact of unauthorized immigration on the U.S. Hispanic community have grown more positive since 2010, according to a new nationwide survey of 5,103 Hispanic adults by the Pew Research Center. Today, 45% of Hispanic adults say the impact of unauthorized immigration on Hispanics already living in the U.S. is positive, up 16 percentage points from 2010 when 29% said the same. Views of unauthorized immigration's impact have improved more among foreign-born Hispanics than native-born Hispanics. According to the new survey, half (53%) of Hispanic immigrants say the impact of unauthorized immigration on the U.S. Hispanic community is positive, up 19 percentage points from 2010 when 34% said the same. This compares with a 12 percentage point increase in the share of native-born Hispanics who say the same - from 24% in 2010 to 35% in 2013. Among the native born, views of unauthorized immigration's impact on U.S. Hispanics differ by immigrant generation. Some 42% of second generation Hispanics (the native-born adult children of immigrant parents) say the impact of unauthorized immigration is positive. By comparison, just 29% of third generation Hispanics (native-born adults of native-born parents) say the same. For both groups, the share saying the impact of unauthorized immigration is positive has grown since 2010-up 11 percentage points among second generation Hispanics and up 10 percentage points among third generation Hispanics. Details: Washington, DC: Pew Research Center, 2013. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 18, 2017 at: http://www.pewhispanic.org/2013/10/03/latinos-views-of-illegal-immigrations-impact-on-their-community-improves/ Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.pewhispanic.org/2013/10/03/latinos-views-of-illegal-immigrations-impact-on-their-community-improves/ Shelf Number: 131378 Keywords: HispanicsIllegal ImmigrationPublic Opinion |
Author: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Office of Inspector General Title: CBP's Border Security Efforts - An Analysis of Southwest Border Security Between the Ports of Entry Summary: In 1993, Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) published a study on the state of the security along the United States/Mexico border. In the study, Sandia identified measures and made recommendations designed to increase border security and to gain control of areas of rampant illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Sandia recommended a two-part strategy of enforcement and containment. As the keystone of the enforcement strategy, Sandia recommended construction of a three-layer barrier fence. For containment in rural areas and locations with varied terrain, Sandia recommended: x Surveillance or sensor systems x Vehicle cable and concrete vehicle barriers x Passive surveillance combined with patrol strategy x Movable and static checkpoints and key transit points x Graded penalties for repeat offenders, "deep" deportation, and fast judicial actions At the time of the Sandia study, border security was the responsiblity of the U.S. Border Patrol, the enforcement arm of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), which was part of the Department of Justice. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 established DHS, and on March 1, 2003, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) became responsible for securing of the Nation's borders and ports of entry. Currently, CBP guards nearly 2,000 miles of U.S. land border with Mexico, seeking to deter, detect, and interdict illegal entry of people and contraband into the United States while facilitating lawful travel and trade. CBP also enforces applicable U.S. laws, including those pertaining to illegal immigration, narcotics smuggling, and illegal importation. Within CBP, the Border Patrol uses its $3.8 billion operating budget to secure areas between ports of entry. According to CBP, the Border Patrol's more than 21,000 agents accomplish this mission using surveillance, sensor alarms and aircraft sightings, and interpreting and following tracks. Traffic checkpoints, city patrols, transportation checks, and anti-smuggling investigations are also used. From our review of audit and research reports on southwest border security issued by DHS OIG, GAO, and CRS since 2003, we concluded that CBP likely did not act in direct response to the Sandia report, but it has instituted many border security programs and operations that align with the report's recommendations. However, our review and analysis of these reports also highlighted some continuing challenges to CBP in its efforts to secure the southwest border. In particular, CBP does not measure the effectiveness of its programs and operations well; therefore, it continues to invest in programs and act without the benefit of the feedback needed to help ensure it uses resources wisely and improves border security. CBP also faces program management challenges in planning, resource allocation, infrastructure and technology acquisition, and overall efficiency. Finally, coordination and communication with both internal and external stakeholders could be improved. Details: Washington, DC: Department of Homeland Security, 2017. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: OIG-17-39:Accessed November 29, 2017 at; https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2017/OIG-17-39-Feb17.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2017/OIG-17-39-Feb17.pdf Shelf Number: 148577 Keywords: Border Control Border Patrol Border Security Drug Trafficking Homeland Security Illegal Immigration |
Author: Johnson, Jennifer Title: The Forgotten Border: Migration and Human Rights at Mexico's Southern Border Summary: The nature of transborder migration and human rights violations against migrants at Mexico's southern border has received scant attention. The Forgotten Border: Migration & Human Rights at Mexico's Southern Border sheds light on the abuse and exploitation experienced by many transmigrants as they journey northward, as well as trends in Mexico's practices regarding immigration and border enforcement policies. The nature of transborder migration and human rights violations against migrants at Mexico's southern border has received scant attention. The Forgotten Border: Migration & Human Rights at Mexico's Southern Border sheds light on the abuse and exploitation experienced by many transmigrants as they journey northward, as well as trends in Mexico's practices regarding immigration and border enforcement policies. In 2008, the U.S. Congress will consider giving $1 billion in assistance to Mexico as part of the "Merida Initiative." As programs in this aid package are framed as support for human interdiction, border security and law enforcement activities, it is critical that policymakers and advocates gain a clearer understanding of the broader context in which human rights abuses take place in Mexico's southern border region to ensure that U.S. policy, and in particular, the Merida Initiative, does not aggravate a precarious situation any further. Details: Washington, DC: Latin America Working Group, 2008. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 20, 2018 at: http://www.lawg.org/storage/documents/forgotten%20border.pdf Year: 2008 Country: Mexico URL: http://www.lawg.org/storage/documents/forgotten%20border.pdf Shelf Number: 149528 Keywords: Border SecurityHuman Rights AbusesIllegal ImmigrationImmigrationImmigration EnforcementMigration |
Author: O'Brien, Matthew Title: The Fiscal Burden of Illegal immigration on United States Taxpayers (2017) Summary: A continually growing population of illegal aliens, along with the federal government's inefective eforts to secure our borders, present signifcant national security and public safety threats to the United States. Tey also have a severely negative impact on the nation's taxpayers at the local, state, and national levels. Illegal immigration costs Americans billions of dollars each year. Illegal aliens are net consumers of taxpayer-funded services and the limited taxes paid by some segments of the illegal alien population are, in no way, significant enough to offset the growing financial burdens imposed on U.S. taxpayers by massive numbers of uninvited guests. Political and judicial efforts to accord illegal aliens the same government benefits available to U.S. citizens (e.g., the Supreme Court's holding in Plyler v. Doe guaranteeing illegal alien children a free public education, at taxpayer expense) have increasingly stressed federal, state and local budgets - to the detriment of Americans, particularly the poor, elderly, and disabled. Te impact on public school systems1 and criminal justice institutions has been particularly harsh. And the situation has been greatly exacerbated by government refusal to implement measures aimed at deterring, detecting and prosecuting illegal aliens who commit fraud to obtain benefits and/or to avoid deportation following a criminal conviction. Tis study examines the fiscal impact of illegal aliens as reflected in both federal and state budgets. It does not address the question of whether unchecked mass migration is a net boon to the United States. Most studies that extol the many benefits that allegedly accrue from illegal immigration suffer from a number of key problems: - Unreasonable assumptions about who is an illegal alien. Most relevant data sets don't clearly distinguish who is an illegal alien and who isn't. Studies that wish to portray illegal immigration in a favorable light frequently rely on narrow definition of "illegal alien" to skew data in their favor. - Failure to examine whether the same, or even more significant, benefits would be achieved by flling vacant jobs, at market wages, with American employees. - Refusal to acknowledge that there are many activities which create profit but remain illegal because of their negative effects on society as a whole. Te exploitation of illegal alien labor to increase the profits of unscrupulous employers falls squarely into this category. - A deceptive and inappropriate focus on the amount of taxes remitted by illegal aliens, rather than the taxes actually paid by illegal aliens. Te American system of taxation returns a signifcant portion of monies paid by people earning low incomes. As a result, most illegal aliens receive a refund of all tax payments along with additional net income from the federal government, in the form of tax credits. - Erroneous claims that illegal aliens subsidize federal benefit programs through un-refunded tax payments remitted by illegal aliens who are unable collect a return. Most illegal aliens are able to file a tax return using an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN). In addition, neither the states or the federal government have any data indicating how much of the pool of unclaimed tax refunds is attributable to illegal aliens versus deceased taxpayers, foreign investors, etc. Even in the absence of any complex studies, basic mathematics make it self-evident that illegal aliens are a drain on the U.S. economy. For example, in its report Te Sinking Lifeboat: Uncontrolled Immigration and the U.S. Health Care System in 2009, FAIR found that, in some hospitals, as many as two-thirds of total operating costs are attributable to uncompensated care for illegal aliens.3 If those costs are being borne by American taxpayers, rather than the illegal aliens who received medical treatment, then those illegal aliens are consuming more services than they pay for, and the costs of providing those services are never recouped. Tat makes them a net drain on the economy. A careful examination of the federal budget shows an annual outlay of approximately $46 billion for expenses related to illegal immigration. A review of state budgets indicates even greater local costs, estimated at $89 billion annually. This means that the overall costs attributable to illegal aliens totals an annual bill of $135 billion. Tat equates to over $8,000 per illegal alien and dependent, per year. Some illegal aliens do pay certain taxes. However, employers usually hire illegal aliens to obtain cheap labor at wages well below the market rate for a given area. Many of those employers pay illegal aliens "under-the-table" and do not deduct payroll taxes. Due to their lack of immigration status, illegal aliens are unlikely to report their income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Therefore, state and local governments, as well as the federal government, are not collecting enough taxes from illegal aliens to cover the costs of the services they consume. We estimate that illegal aliens actually pay just under $19 billion in combined state, local, and federal taxes. Tat means that the United States recoups only about 14 percent of the amount expended annually on illegal aliens. If the same jobs held by illegal aliens were fled by legal workers, at the prevailing market wage, it may safely be presumed that federal, state and local governments would receive higher tax payments. FAIR firmly believes that the costs of illegal immigration (and massive legal immigration) significantly outweigh any perceived benefit. Accordingly, this study focuses only on calculating the overall costs of illegal immigration. Details: Washington, DC: Federation for American Immigration Reform, 2017. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2018 at: https://fairus.org/sites/default/files/2017-09/Fiscal-Burden-of-Illegal-Immigration-2017.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://fairus.org/sites/default/files/2017-09/Fiscal-Burden-of-Illegal-Immigration-2017.pdf Shelf Number: 149551 Keywords: Cost AnalysisCosts of Criminal JusticeIllegal ImmigrantsIllegal ImmigrationImmigration |
Author: Danelo, David J. Title: For Protection or Profit? Free trade, human smuggling and international border management Summary: For the past two decades, policy officials and human-rights groups in both Europe and the US have participated in a vicious cycle of criticizing each other over the impact of border-control policies. Many activists hold enforcement authorities responsible for the human impact of migration enforcement, evident in allegations of increases in human smuggling and the grim realities of migrant deaths. In contrast, policymakers often claim that humanrights advocates encourage migration and risk-taking by proposing consequence-free international transit, which exacerbates the problem. Although the role of free-trade policies and supply chains is critical to understanding the border-management landscape in which these activities play out, customs laws are rarely considered by either side in this debate. This policy paper considers the impact of multinational corporations on border control through so-called trusted trader and traveller programmes, whose aim is to reduce border inspections for individuals and companies by allowing inspectors to pre-screen cargo and passengers who pass background investigations. Although these programmes have become essential to the management of global supply chains, they often create an illusion of increased security while simultaneously intensifying the divide between those who are and those who are not willing to pay the fees to participate in them. The paper also critically examines two pillars of American border policy - beyond-the-border initiatives and joint border management - and compares them with security elements of the European system. These mechanisms, which increased sharply through American-led initiatives following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, often appear effective and harmless, and therefore receive little scrutiny. Both in the US and Europe, multinational border-control agreements have been subjected to little scrutiny because of the failure of stakeholders to hold the global transportation system and state authorities accountable for these agreements. Although scant empirical evidence is available, what little does exist suggests that illicit activities, such as smuggling, are only marginally deterred by these strategies. By taking advantage of the vulnerabilities in such border-control agreements, smugglers of migrants and contraband are able to exploit trusted trader/ traveler programmes and public-private partnerships by using companies or people that are participants to make illicit transits. Although these agreements should not be eliminated, Europe should be cautious about mirroring the American approach to border management. And amid the current political climate of increasingly xenophobic US immigration policies, European policy negotiators should consider stipulating minimum requirements for participation in US programmes, including protections for people seeking humanitarian relief. Details: Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, 2018. 22p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Note: Accessed April 18, 2018 at: http://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/For-Protection-or-Profit-Intl-Border-Management-March-2018-web.pdf Year: 2018 Country: International URL: http://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/For-Protection-or-Profit-Intl-Border-Management-March-2018-web.pdf Shelf Number: 149847 Keywords: Asylum SeekersBorder ControlBorder SecurityHuman SmugglingIllegal ImmigrationMigration EnforcementOrganized Crime |
Author: Europol Title: Two Years of EMSC: Activity Report Jan. 2017 - Jan. 2018 Summary: Ruthless and violent criminals are increasingly providing smuggling services to irregular migrants to evade border controls, migration regulations and visa requirements. Most irregular migrants resort to the assistance of profit-seeking smugglers. With improved border controls, migrants are deterred from attempting to illegally cross borders by themselves and are diverted into the hands of smugglers who put migrants' lives at serious risk and therefore pose a security challenge to the internal security of the European Union (EU). A pan-European response to efficiently disrupt migrant smuggling activities is still needed and the European Migrant Smuggling Centre (ESMC) is leading it by strongly supporting EU Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). Migrant smuggling continues to represent a highly-profitable business in which criminal syndicates enjoy low risk of detection and punishment. The business model of criminals involved in migrant smuggling is continuously evolving and responding to the dynamics and the needs of the migratory flows impacting the EU. Migrant smugglers are becoming more and more organised, establishing sophisticated professional networks, operating transnationally from source towards destination countries. According to the vast amount of data and information reported to the EMSC in recent months, targeting migrant smuggling therefore persists as one of the most relevant priorities. These factors highlight the need to continue developing comprehensive and coordinated responses across and between affected continents to efficiently combat migrant smuggling. Adaptable, innovative and agile support to EU Member States in the fight against this serious crime is required in order to face new challenges and that is where the EMSC is investing its efforts and allocating resources. The results of this report are the outcome of the cooperation between Europol, EU and non-EU law enforcement partners. Details: The Hague: European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation 2018. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 17, 2018 at: https://www.europol.europa.eu/publications-documents/two-years-of-emsc Year: 2018 Country: Europe URL: https://www.europol.europa.eu/publications-documents/two-years-of-emsc Shelf Number: 150248 Keywords: Human SmugglingIllegal ImmigrantsIllegal ImmigrationMigrant SmugglingOrganized Crime |
Author: Mann, Lori Title: Trafficking in Human Beings and Smuggling of Migrants in ACP Countries: Key Challenges and Ways Forward Informing discussions of the ACP-EU Dialogue on Migration and Development Summary: This report was commissioned by the ACP-EU Migration Action in 2017 as part of the Action's efforts to collect, analyse and disseminate information and knowledge on the results achieved through its activities. Focusing on trafficking in human beings (THB) and the smuggling of migrants (SoM), experts from ACP and EU countries met in Brussels in July 2014 to discuss their respective policies pertaining to these fields, and to identify concrete areas of cooperation in order to tackle both phenomena in a spirit of shared responsibility and cooperation. The meeting demonstrated a shared commitment to address challenges, and recognized the necessity to deepen cooperation among countries of origin, transit and destination, including by fostering a South-South perspective. The recommendations elaborated during the experts' meeting were subsequently validated by the Ambassadors' meeting in January 2015. Soon after, the ACP-EU Migration Action began implementing activities to address the issues of THB and SoM. The ACP-EU Dialogue recommendations on THB and SoM include: - Enact (or amend) comprehensive national legislation on both trafficking in human beings and the smuggling of migrants, in line with the Palermo Protocols and EU legislation; - Effectively implement national legislation on trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling, ensuring victim identification and protection and the prosecution of perpetrators for the full range of existing forms of exploitation; - Raise awareness regarding THB and SoM among all key stakeholders, including: law enforcement, the judiciary, health care workers and labour inspectors, among others, by providing information and training; - Promote cross-border and international cooperation among countries of origin, transit and destination through bilateral Memorandums of Understandings (MoUs) and a special focus on South-South cooperation; - Improve data collection on THB and SoM as a prerequisite for evidence-based policy action; - Promote a victim-centred, human rights-based, gender-sensitive approach to ensure victim protection and identification in full cooperation with NGOs; - Dismantle criminal networks through financial tracking and tackling corruption among public officials, and prosecute traffickers and smugglers to prevent impunity; mentation of existing laws, the lack of comprehensive legislation on trafficking- and smuggling-related issues and underlying primary governance problems constitute additional significant barriers to addressing THB and SoM. The prevention of, and response to, trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling requires a comprehensive, "whole of government" approach. It touches upon a myriad of related issues, inter alia: corruption, access to civil registration documents, labour laws and inspections, access to social welfare, gender-based violence, child protection and migration. As many of the recipients of the Action's support are poor and/or Small Island States, they face basic infrastructure and primary governance challenges that necessitate, but at the same time complicate, the provision of specialized technical assistance. Meeting the demand for institutional strengthening and capacity building requires adapting methodologies to the particularities of each country, including geographical and resource constraints, as well as the ways in which social and cultural norms function in relation to forms of exploitation and gender-based violence that lead to, or themselves might constitute of trafficking in human beings. Cooperation is the cornerstone of effective anti-trafficking and anti-migrant smuggling initiatives, and is required between States, institutions and non-State actors at all levels: subnational, national and international. Several ACP State recipients demonstrate increasingly effective cooperation at diverse levels, especially where such efforts benefit from existing structures and/or support at the regional level, such as regional platforms or cooperation agreements. However, for most State recipients, weak inter-agency cooperation at the national level constitutes a huge barrier to the effective implementation of laws and policies. National inter-agency coordination mechanisms to address trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling (where existent) remain new for many of the examined ACP States, and few work systematically with civil society organizations. Cooperation between States is crucial for disrupting both the smuggling and trafficking business models, given the inherently transnational nature of the former and the often -albeit not always- international character of the latter. Cross-border collaboration must hence also be strengthened, especially with regards to data sharing, investigations, prosecutions and returns. Yet, the best examples of cooperation do not focus on policing alone, but include elements of prevention and development, and the integration of a human rights-based approach. The potential use of regional mechanisms should be highlighted too, given the increased interest by stakeholders in this modality of South-South cooperation, and the large percentage of victims trafficked regionally. The most striking gap among ACP State recipients is the absence of the provision of assistance to, and the protection of, trafficking victims and smuggled migrants, which should be at the heart of any anti-THB and anti-SoM strategy. Upholding human rights remains central for all cases. In addition to the rights accorded to trafficking victims, and those accorded to smuggled migrants, specific needs due to individual trafficking or smuggling experience, as well as characteristics such as gender and age and socio-cultural norms, should be taken into account. To date, little efforts have been made in most of the examined countries to develop referral systems and for ensuring that victims are duly identified and receive the needed assistance. Moreover, cases were noted where victims of trafficking and smuggled migrants were not shielded from prosecution - as is set forth by the Protocols - and in few countries they are subject to immediate deportation and potential refoulement. In some countries, civil society actors play an important role in providing shelter and other basic necessities. Yet sometimes they operate with no clear mandate to assist trafficking victims or vulnerable migrants specifically, indicating a potential lack of experience and expertise in addressing the needs and rights of trafficking victims and smuggled migrants. In addition, many operate with little if any government support or involvement. Prevention efforts should raise awareness on trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants among the public, while addressing the root causes of both phenomena, and targeting a wide range of stakeholders. Many of the examined ACP countries have organized, or are in the process of organizing capacity building for government entities at the policy and/or frontline level, including awareness raising on these phenomena. However, prevention and awareness raising should target and actively involve a wider range of stakeholders, for example traditional community leaders and diaspora, given the direct contact they have with (aspiring) migrants in many ACP countries. Communities should also be consulted in the design of awareness campaigns. The private sector is another key partner for prevention efforts in ACP countries, especially when addressing the demand side of the trafficking chain. Any meaningful prevention effort must be associated with realistic alternative options to unsafe migration, such as development and work opportunities that benefit migrants and their societies in the countries of origin and destination. Finally, reliable data is the most basic prerequisite for developing policies that are evidence based and respond appropriately to the local context. However, in many of the examined ACP countries, data tends to range from anecdotical to non-existent. In many instances, capacity building on data management, analysis and sharing is needed, at the inter-agency as well as the international level. Proper case management systems with standardized interfaces are also essential. However, the limitations in both infrastructure and resources should be taken into account and in that sense, international methodologies and systems for data collection and management should be adapted to the local context. Through a series of baseline assessments, the ACP-EU Migration Action has identified the above mentioned gaps among other specific barriers to effective anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling strategies. Such assessments are conducted within each targeted country and form the foundation of the related technical assistance support. In light of its work with States and Regional Organizations throughout the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions, the Action remains poised to provide the needed technical assistance and to contribute new knowledge to the concrete dialogue that is ongoing between States within the ACP-EU Partnership framework. The recommendations presented at the conclusion of the report build upon those issued by the ACP-EU Dialogue on Migration and Development and seek to highlight emerging challenges while bringing the achievement of stakeholders and the related good practices to the fore. This analysis seeks to produce knowledge that can be adapted for use in other context where States struggle with these same phenomena. Details: Brussels: IOM, 2018. 233p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 1, 2018 at: http://acpeumigrationaction.iom.int/sites/default/files/final_web.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Africa URL: http://acpeumigrationaction.iom.int/sites/default/files/final_web.pdf Shelf Number: 151003 Keywords: Criminal NetworksHuman SmugglingHuman TraffickingIllegal ImmigrationImmigrantsMigrationOrganized CrimeVictims of Trafficking |
Author: Avila, Krsna Title: The Rise of the Sanctuary: Getting Local Officers Out of the Business of Deportations in the Trump Era Summary: Juxtaposed against the Statue of Liberty's promise of refuge to "the huddled masses, yearning to breathe free" lies another reality: immigration policy in the United States has long been fraught with racial tension and dictated by an uneasy fear of "the other." From the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Mexican Bracero program of the past to the Muslim ban and elimination of Temporary Protected Status of the present, history has shown that the work of immigrant justice and racial justice are inextricably linked. Since the first week of the Trump administration, the federal government has launched a racist and mean-spirited attack on immigrants and those who support and welcome them, all in the aim of satisfying Trump's steadfast campaign promise to "deport them all" as a way to "make America great again." With a budget of over $18 billion - more than all other federal law enforcement agencies combined - the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detention and deportation machine is vast and dangerous. But it also relies heavily on the voluntary assistance of local governments, particularly local law enforcement agencies, to remove individuals from the families and livelihoods they have built in the U.S. Localities have no legal authority to enforce immigration laws and no legal obligation to assist DHS with its immigration enforcement actions. Yet local assistance with federal immigration work continues across the country. Three out of every four counties will voluntarily detain individuals at the request of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Threats and attempts to deny federal grants to "sanctuary jurisdictions" - loosely identified as those who enact policies limiting involvement of their local law enforcement agencies in immigration enforcement - have been key strategies in Trump's anti-immigrant agenda. From executive order pronouncements and Department of Justice (DOJ) policy decisions to near weekly public speeches invoking threats against and denunciations of sanctuary policies, the administration has sought to force localities to help carry out its increased deportation efforts, pushing local agencies to prioritize federal immigration enforcement over their own community concerns - and seeking to punish those who rightfully refuse to be involved. However, efforts to thwart sanctuary policies have failed in a number of ways. During 2017, local policies limiting involvement with ICE expanded in spite of, and sometimes because of, the hateful anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy changes in the Trump Administration. Over 400 counties now have stronger limitations on engaging in immigration enforcement than they did a year ago. Under pressure from community members and advocates, cities, counties, and states across the country enacted new laws and policies disengaging with federal immigration enforcement in a variety of manners, from restricting ICE access within their jails to refusing to honor ICE detainers, which are requests to detain someone for apprehension by ICE - a detention that federal courts continue to find unconstitutional. Federal courts have also ruled against other unconstitutional overreaches by the federal government, issuing new rulings on the strict limits of local authority in immigration enforcement and preventing the administration from stripping federal funding to sanctuary jurisdictions. In 2018, strengthening and expanding local sanctuary policies will be crucial to resisting the anti-immigrant Trump agenda. Though we recognize that sanctuary policies alone are not sufficient to prevent deportations, we hope that their adoption continues and increases over the Trump administration's second year. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) will continue our work to support and advise local advocates and city, county, and state government bodies across the country to fight back against unjust detention and deportations and to protect immigrant rights. Details: Immigrant Legal Resource Center, 2018. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 14, 2018 at: https://www.ilrc.org/sites/default/files/resources/rise_of_sanctuary-lg-20180201.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://www.ilrc.org/sites/default/files/resources/rise_of_sanctuary-lg-20180201.pdf Shelf Number: 151528 Keywords: Department of Homeland SecurityIllegal ImmigrationImmigrationImmigration Customs EnforcementImmigration PolicySanctuary City |
Author: Wang, Shuguang Title: (No) Access T.O.: A Pilot Study on Sanctuary City Policy in Toronto Canada Summary: The "sanctuary city" movement is a grassroots, human rights-based response to increased numbers of non-status migrants living and working in global cities (Faraday 2012; Sawchuk & Kempf 2008; Bhuyan 2012; OCASI 2012). Non-status migrants live in situations of extreme precariousness - they are subject to detention and deportation if identified by federal authorities; often work in poor conditions; are socially isolated; face poverty, abuse, and exploitation; and are unable to safely access essential social services, including those related to public health, education, labour, shelters, food banks, and police services (Gibney 2000; De Giorgi 2010; Noll 2010). In February 2013, Toronto became the first "sanctuary city" in Canada, which is currently styled "Access T.O." Hamilton and Vancouver followed suit in 2014 and 2016, respectively. The primary objective of Access T.O. is to ensure that all residents are able to access municipal and police services, regardless of immigration status. The policy directs city officials not to: 1) inquire into immigration status when providing select services, 2) deny non-status residents access to services to which they are entitled, and 3) share personal or identifying information with federal authorities, unless required to do so by federal or provincial law (City of Toronto 2013). There are many questions surrounding Access T.O., not the least of which: is it working? The answer to this question depends very much on what one takes the goals of the policy to be, as well as what measures of success one employs. Is the policy concerned with providing access to municipal services i.e. local bureaucratic membership (de Graauw 2014)? Does it have a larger, multijurisdictional significance, helping advocates challenge exclusionary federal (and provincial) laws? Does it have a more local or even transnational, non-state significance, shifting ideas around community, belonging, and political relationships? (McDonald 2012:143)? The purpose of this paper is to share the results of a pilot study that explored whether Access T.O. is working. For approximately one year, we conducted legal, policy, and qualitative research into what barriers are the most significant and how they may be removed. Our qualitative research included interviews with 24 stakeholders, including City officials, Community Service Organizations (CSOs), NGOs, professionals (e.g. physicians, lawyers), and non-status migrants. Although the study was concerned with Access T.O. in all of three of the above-mentioned senses, this working paper places the policy primarily in the context of access to City services, and not so much in the broader contexts of federal/provincial law or shifting political identities, interests, and relationships. Access T.O. began as a symbolically ambitious but practically cautious policy - and it remains so. Despite major newspaper headlines circulated at the time, City Council never fully committed itself to a sanctuary city policy. By "reaffirming" the City's commitment to non-status residents, Council seems to have thought that the policy was more or less informally in place already. It then called on various City officials to report back on the financial and resource costs of additional measures, including training and community outreach, but has yet to provide any additional funding of note. Finally, it called on the provincial and federal governments to shoulder their share of responsibility for more systematic legislative and policy change, but has not yet entered into a dialogue with either government on the subject. After this series of pronouncements, Council has been relatively inactive in this area. In these respects, it may be more accurate to view Access T.O. as a pilot project than as a full policy. We argue that it is time for Council to commit itself to the policy, including by providing the funding and mandate for: more comprehensive training tailored to specific Divisions, dedicated Access T.O. portfolios within many (if not all) City divisions, "service integration" geared towards better community engagement and capacity-building, and revisiting the City's position on the collection and protection of demographic data. The paper will begin by placing Access T.O. in jurisdictional context, including its demographic and historical background. We will then provide an overview of the nature and origins of Access T.O. We then shift to the research project, outlining out methodology and analyzing select themes that arose during our interviews. Embedded within these interpretations will be recommendations aimed at improving the effectiveness of Access T.O. Details: Canada, 2017. 39p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 14, 2018 at: https://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/rcis/documents/RCIS%20Working%20Paper%202017_1GHudsonFinal%20.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Canada URL: https://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/rcis/documents/RCIS%20Working%20Paper%202017_1GHudsonFinal%20.pdf Shelf Number: 151549 Keywords: Illegal ImmigrationImmigrationImmigration PolicySanctuary City |
Author: Podkul, Jennifer Title: Death by a Thousand Cuts: The Trump Administration's Systematic Assault on the Protection of Unaccompanied Children Summary: INTRODUCTION Since its first days, the Trump Administration has sought to limit protections for some of the most vulnerable migrants seeking protection in this country - unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children. These protections, which were carefully crafted over nearly 15 years through bipartisan dialogue and collaboration in Congress, are grounded in basic child welfare principles. These procedural protections recognize that a child who has taken a life - threatening journey of hundreds, if not thousands, of miles - without a parent or legal guardian - is uniquely at-risk and should be treated in ways that help promote fundamental fairness in helping the child access the U.S. immigration system to ensure that we do not return a child to the often life-threatening harm they have fled. Immediately after taking office in January 2017, President Trump, through a series of executive orders and published immigration priorities, categorized unaccompanied children in need of protection as opportunistic, and laws designed to give these children a fair opportunity to have their stories heard by our legal system as "loopholes." Since issuing these executive orders, the White House has also consistently supported legislative efforts that would undermine procedural protections for these children - as provided for by the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA), and the Flores Settlement Agreement - and limit children's access to a fair judicial process. Congress has so far not rolled back important legislative protections. Not finding legislative success, the Administration has instead turned to using its authority to implement policy changes that are dramatically undermining children's ability to access our legal system. On a surface level, these changes appear to make only small adjustments to existing procedures. But taken as a whole, they represent a systematic assault on the ability of children to access the U.S. immigration system and assert claims for protection for which they may qualify under law. Based on the Administration's own public statements and leaked drafts of forthcoming documents, the attacks on this vulnerable population will continue. Details: Washington, DC, 2018. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 11, 2018 at: https://supportkind.org/media/death-by-a-thousand-cuts-the-trump-administrations-systematic-assault-on-the-protection-of-unaccompanied-children/ Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://supportkind.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Death-by-a-Thousand-Cuts_May-2018.pdf Shelf Number: 152877 Keywords: Illegal ImmigrationImmigrantsImmigrationRefugeesVictiimization |
Author: TRAC Title: Detention of Criminal Aliens: What Has Congress Bought? Summary: Over the last five years, Congress poured $24 billion dollars into the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), upping the overall funding for this agency by 67 percent. The largest as well as the fastest growing segment of these appropriated dollars went to ICE's Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) office whose budget more than doubled (increasing 104 percent). Under the law, the DRO is charged with finding, detaining and removing non-citizens who do not have a legal basis for continuing to reside in this country. To determine what these greatly expanded funding levels accomplished the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) has analyzed hundreds of thousands of ICE records about every detainee held by the government for the period from FY 2005 through the first quarter of FY 2010. The analysis had two goals. The first was to determine the actual policies that were followed from FY 2005 to 2009, mostly under President Bush. The second was to see what if any changes have occurred since last May when ICE's new head, John T. Morton, took over the reins of the agency. This report is the second in a series on ICE enforcement policies. A previous report examined detention transfer practices. By contrast, this report focuses on the changing composition of detainees. A third TRAC report will examine the role of detention on the ICE goal of deporting and removing aliens from this country. Details: Syracuse, New York: Transnational Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) Reports, 2010. 7p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 21, 2018 at: http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/224/ Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/224/ Shelf Number: 153339 Keywords: Criminal ImmigrantsDepartment of Homeland SecurityDetention and Removal OperationsIllegal ImmigrationImmigration and Customs EnforcementImmigration DetaineesMigrationNon-Citizens |
Author: Webber, Frances Title: The Embedding of State Hostility: A Background Paper on the Windrush Scandal Summary: The Embedding of State Hostility: a background paper on the Windrush scandal is a briefing that shows how the injustices meted out to the Windrush generation are not anomalies but the logical result of an immigration system that, over many years, has weaponised the idea of 'the illegal immigrant'. It examines the Windrush scandal in the context of three decades of immigration law, based around a set of interlocking policies of denial, exclusion, surveillance and enforcement that, taken together, have coalesced into today's 'hostile environment'. With sections on: the build up to the Windrush scandal; case studies of those affected; the roots of hostile environment policies; the role of the media in weaponising 'illegality'; the government's retreat from universal human rights standards; the role of campaign groups and professional organisations in challenging the hostile environment and standing up for the Windrush Generation. Details: U.K.: Institute of Race Relations, 2018. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 17, 2018 at: http://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/wpmedia.outlandish.com/irr/2018/11/19150132/Embedding-State-hostility-v4.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.irr.org.uk/publications/issues/the-embedding-of-state-hostility-a-background-paper-on-the-windrush-scandal/ Shelf Number: 153864 Keywords: Human Rights AbusesIllegal ImmigrationImmigrantsImmigration PolicyWindrush Scandal |
Author: Gaston, Sophia Title: Out of the Shadows: Conspiracy Thinking on Immigration Summary: Out of the Shadows: Conspiracy Thinking on Immigration, a major new report by Sophia Gaston of the Centre for Social and Political Risk at the Henry Jackson Society, is published today. Polling conducted for the report shows 58% of British adults believe the Government is hiding the cost of immigration to taxpayers and society. The report finds that the rise in immigration levels and the public's concerns about immigration have coincided with the weakening of trust in governments and institutions. These forces are mutually reinforcing, with politicians seen to have systematically ignored and disregarded citizens' anxieties, challenging the contract that stands at the heart of Western democracies. The think tank undertook polling with Opinium to understand the number of British voters who had resorted to 'conspiratorial thinking' over the issue of immigration. Key findings were: - 58 percent of all British citizens believe the Government is hiding the true cost of immigration to taxpayers and society. Only 12% disagree with the contention that the Government is hiding these costs. - 51 percent of all Brits believe that successive governments have deliberately tried to make British society more diverse through its immigration policy. Of those who expressed a view, 59 percent believe that those who have spoken out about immigration in the media and politics have been treated unfairly. In a signal of how mainstream conspiracy thinking on immigration has become, 40 percent of Remain voters and 49 percent of Labour voters believe that the Government is concealing the economic and social costs of immigration. The report comes as Theresa May and her Government are scheduled to continue their promotion of the Withdrawal Bill by promoting it as a 'step change' on immigration policy. The report finds that distrust over immigration is far higher amongst Leave voters. 75 percent of Leave voters believe the Government is hiding the true costs of immigration - just 4 percent are convinced that the Government is not. Likewise, 65 percent of Leave voters believe that those who had spoken out on immigration had been treated unfairly. In news that will trigger alarm bells amongst Tory MPs, 62 percent of Conservative voters believe that the aim of Government policy over recent years had been to 'make Britain more ethnically diverse'. Details: London, U.K.: Centre for Social and Political Risk, 2018. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 18, 2018 at: https://henryjacksonsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Out-of-the-Shadows-Conspiracy-thinking-on-immigration.pdf Year: 2018 Country: International URL: https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/out-of-the-shadows-conspiracy-thinking-on-immigration/ Shelf Number: 154036 Keywords: Government ConspiracyIllegal ImmigrationImmigrationImmigration PolicyPublic Safety |
Author: Pew Research Center Title: Shifting Public Views on Legal Immigration into the U.S.: Many Unaware that Most Immigrants in the U.S. are Here Illegally Summary: While there has been considerable attention on illegal immigration into the U.S. recently, opinions about legal immigration have undergone a long-term change. Support for increasing the level of legal immigration has risen, while the share saying legal immigration should decrease has fallen. The survey by Pew Research Center, conducted June 5-12 among 2,002 adults, finds that 38% say legal immigration into the United States should be kept at its present level, while 32% say it should be increased and 24% say it should be decreased. Since 2001, the share of Americans who favor increased legal immigration into the U.S. has risen 22 percentage points (from 10% to 32%), while the share who support a decrease has declined 29 points (from 53% to 24%). The shift is mostly driven by changing views among Democrats. The share of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents who say legal immigration into the U.S. should be increased has doubled since 2006, from 20% to 40%. Growing share of Democrats support increased legal immigration into the U.S.Republicans' views also have changed, though more modestly. The share of Republicans and Republican leaners who say legal immigration should be decreased has fallen 10 percentage points since 2006, from 43% to 33%. Still, about twice as many Republicans (33%) as Democrats (16%) support cutting legal immigration into the U.S. The new survey, which was largely conducted before the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border involving immigrant children being separated from their parents, finds deep and persistent partisan divisions in a number of attitudes toward immigrants, as well as widespread misperceptions among the public overall about the share of the immigrant population in the U.S. that is in this country illegally. Details: Washington, DC: Pew Research Center, 2018. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 16, 2019 at: http://www.people-press.org/2018/06/28/shifting-public-views-on-legal-immigration-into-the-u-s/ Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: http://www.people-press.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/06/06-28-2018-Immigration-release.pdf Shelf Number: 154221 Keywords: Illegal ImmigrationImmigrant ChildrenImmigration PolicyLegal ImmigrationPublic AttitudesPublic Opinion |
Author: Guevara, Carlos Title: Beyond the Border: Family Separation in the Trump Era Summary: This white paper examines the direct and indirect harms to American children at risk of being torn from their parents, the report's first section examines the scope and composition of the "rest of the iceberg." The next section takes an in-depth historical look at immigration enforcement practices and their implications for the present day. Then, the report analyzes in detail the harms to U.S.-citizen children in terms of economic prosperity, health and nutrition, educational attainment, and safety. Concluding with a discussion of the implications for the whole of American society. Details: s.l.: UNIDOSUS, 2019. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: White Paper: Accessed April 25, 2019 at: http://publications.unidosus.org/bitstream/handle/123456789/1915/unidosus_beyondtheborder_22519.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y Year: 2019 Country: United States URL: http://publications.unidosus.org/bitstream/handle/123456789/1915/unidosus_beyondtheborder_22519.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y Shelf Number: 155522 Keywords: Children of Immigrants Illegal ImmigrationImmigrants Immigration Enforcement Immigration Policy |
Author: No Name Kitchen Title: Illegal Push-Backs and Border Violence Reports Summary: The following document presents testimonies of illegal push-backs where displaced people are expelled into the Bosnian territory from the borderlands and interior of Croatia and Slovenia. All testimonies are gathered from oral interviews via a standardised framework used by the grassroots organisations working in Velika Kladusa. Details: Kladusa, Bosnia: No Name Kitchen, 2018. 78p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 4, 2019 at: http://nonamekitchen.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Push-backs-and-violence-report-August.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina URL: http://nonamekitchen.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Push-backs-and-violence-report-August.pdf Shelf Number: 156182 Keywords: Border SecurityBosniaCroatiaDisplaced PersonsIllegal ImmigrationPush-BacksSlovenia |
Author: Cadman, Dan Title: A Brief Examination of the FIRST STEP Act: Immigration Concerns with the Criminal Justice Reform Bill Summary: From time to time we at the Center for Immigration Studies have examined various aspects of criminal justice, incarceration, and sentencing reform bills introduced into Congress, filtered through the lens of their impact on illegal immigration and criminal aliens. In doing so, we have often found that the collateral impact of such bills on alien criminals, drug smugglers, and illegal border-crossers and reentrants hasn't been fully considered. The latest such effort to come to our attention is the "FIRST STEP Act", introduced by Reps. Doug Collins (RGa.) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) in the House, with a companion measure introduced by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) in the Senate. According to some media sources, although the attorney general is not enthusiastic about the contents of the bill, presidential advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner has thrown his support behind it and, if passed, it could very well be signed into law by the president. Details: Washington, DC: Center for Immigration Studies, 2018. 4p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 17, 2019 at: https://cis.org/sites/default/files/2018-05/cadman-first-step-act.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://cis.org/Report/Brief-Examination-FIRST-STEP-Act Shelf Number: 156380 Keywords: Criminal Aliens Drug Smugglers First Step Act Illegal Immigration |