Immigration
Introduction
“To the esteemed members of the committee on authorized immigration. Immigration is the movement of people from one country to another to permanently live there. The topic of immigration has always been a sore topic in almost all countries. In some instances, the process of immigration has been used to smuggle drugs into a country. Historically, debates on immigration policies have emerged due to factors such as large-scale migration. The United States borders are constantly guarded due to the smuggling of drugs. Homeland Security is in charge of maintaining security at the borders. Currently, in the United States policies are being made and implemented at a local level, the sheriffs are playing a vital role when it comes to making policies on immigration at the federal and local levels. Despite the increased involvement of sheriffs in making policies on immigration at a local level, there are challenges that hinder enforcement of these policies. Many changes have been undergone at a federal and local level in order to make and enforce policies that concern immigration.
Many at times people have smuggled drugs into another country when crossing the borders. In El Indio there was a device that was rotating high above in the cloudless sky, the device was a satellite device being used by the Homeland security to monitor if there are drugs in cargos that are being flown over the border into the United States. Border patrol officers are always alert and pursue the least alarming concern that might be a threat. Security of the borders has been on the increased in many countries and with each time it is increased it grows more complex (Hodge, 2012). Death at the border is not something entirely new, in 2001 the United States The country entered the eighth year of enforcing protection at the border to help reduce and deal with the murders being carried out at the border (Cornelius, 2001).The United states has immigration and civil rights, and example is the law of the country protects minorities from forms of discrimination. These laws are responsible for protecting the rights of all citizens and moderate the efforts of discrimination towards any minorities (Johnson, 2004)
The El Indio and United States border is 1,954 miles long and 18-foot-tall, this border covers rivers, mountains, canyons and communities on both sides of the line. The security of the border is as vital as the security of the nation since the year 2003 the funds used to maintain this border were doubled, these funds were invested into the Homeland security that is in charge of patrolling the border. The Homeland Security in return has deployed increasingly advanced measures that not only scrutinize measures but also channel and save data such as the CCTV footages, saving the name of immigrants and date entries. All the technologies of surveillance and control aim to achieve a perspective advantage, however, the large quantity of data produced by the new technologies threaten to overload the system that will jeopardize the whole goal of these technologies. The border that was defined by a geographical line on the map is increasingly defined by wars taking place in the countries and acts of Congress and the more the innovation at the border are continuing to increase (Hodge, 2012).
In the United States, immigration policymaking and enforcement has continued to gain momentum at the local level. The sheriffs have been presented with an opportunity to make decisions on immigration in the local context. When it comes to dealing with issues of immigration at a county level sheriff are also confided by the federal and state authority to act as policymakers and enforcers. Sheriffs play an important role when it comes to making decisions that concern immigration. During summer in 2014, Sheriff Paul Babeu of Arizona, Pinal County is responsible for leading a series of immigration protests after revealing the locations of detained, unaccompanied minors who had entered the country without proper documentation. He stated that the local citizens have the right to a protest since the government at the federal level had failed its role of implementing migration laws (Farris, & Holman, 2017). This act of raising concern on the absence of laws on migration helped call for the attention of the federal government.
Despite the involvement of bureaucrats in immigration policies at a local level, there have been challenges that hinder local law enforcement. These challenges include; enforcement of immigration violations that might undermine local law enforcement efforts when collaborating and communication with immigrant communities in the counties, this might also be profiled as racism. Due to the unique position of these sheriffs, they have emerged as a representation of the people and their stand on migration policies. Some sheriffs such as Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County in Arizona and Sheriff Terry Johnson of Alamance County in North Carolina have been the center of attention since they have been viewed as figures who are going against the policies of immigration. Sheriff Arpaio engaged in immigration raids while sheriff Johnson illegally targeted the Latino community while enforcing laws. Despite the actions of these two sheriffs, many other sheriffs are vocal supporters of immigrant communities (Farris, & Holman, 2017).
The implementation of the 287(g) programs permitted the local immigration trained officers to act on behalf of federal immigration officers in Nashville-Davidson County. This program is an example of the devolution of immigration authority from federal bureaucracy to county and municipal agencies. The implementation of this program has led to an increase in policies that give the local authority more control over immigration. 1996, is the year when criminalization of immigration laws begun, that year the Illegal Migration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act was drafted. This act made immigrants who had committed Misdemeanor eligible for deportation. The changes that have been made recently giving rise to the 287(g) allow for greater cooperation between the federal government immigrant enforcement and the local state's enforcement. In the previous year’s local enforcement agencies enforced an only criminal violation of immigrant laws and the federal agencies enforced civil and criminal violation (Armenta, 2012).
When the 278(g) programs were implemented the local authorities were allowed to adopt; a jail model, a task force model and a hybrid model. The jail model allowed the officers at this level to check whether the foreign-born arrestees are in the United States legally or illegally. The task force model allows these trained officers to check the legality of any foreigner they encounter when in the line of their duty. The hybrid model allows these officers to do what is allowed by the jail model and the task force model. The 278(g)-program originated with the county’s effort to control the population of Latinos in the country. The population of Latinos in the county had hiked immensely between 2000 and 2010, it rose from 4.5% to 9.8%. Their increase led to an increase in high-profile cases that were associated with unauthorized immigrants. One of these cases involves that of an undocumented driver who had been arrested 14 times in Nashville after crashing into vehicles (Armenta, 2012). The 278(g) programs will only affect illegal immigrants who have a blunt disregard for the law in counties who are enforcing these policies.
Understanding how officials in Bureaucratic agencies such as immigration make decisions has been a topic of concern among scholars for decades. People tend to focus more on the government elites who create policies than the actual policymakers who are the low-level workers. How bureaucratic respond to immigration has been a major concern. In countries such as the Netherlands every sector has its national policies on immigration. Police officers working in immigration are pragmatic and selective on who to detain in the country and who to deport back to their countries. In the health and education sector workers have found a loophole in the law and provided services to immigrants who have proper documentation (Farris, & Holman, 2017).
Immigration is a sore subject. Many debates surrounding immigration have been raised and scholars over the decades have tried to understand how bureaucrats working in agencies such as migration respond to concerns. The El Indio and United States border is heavily guarded in order to ensure no drugs are flown in the United States using this border. In the United States immigration, law enforcement at a local level is gaining momentum, sheriffs are playing a vital role in implementing policies on immigration at the federal and local levels. There are challenges that are arising when it comes to the implementation of these laws at a local level. While a minority of sheriffs are polarizing the efforts of implementing these policies by raiding immigrants, the majority support immigrant communities. The 278(g) programs are being implemented in many counties in order to give the local authority a chance to be involved more in policymaking and enforcement of these policies in their counties. The implementation of these policies will allow local officers to check the legality of immigrant arrestees and question the legality of any immigrant when in the line of duty. The immigration agencies are slowly transforming as many changes are being made.”
References
Armenta, A. (2012). From Sheriff’s Deputies to Immigration Officers: Screening Immigrant Status in Tennessee Jail.
Cornelius, A, W. (2001). Death at the Border: Efficacy and Unintended Consequences of US Immigration Control Policy.
Farris, M.E., & Holman, R, M. (2017). All Politics Is Local? County Sheriffs and Localization Policies of Immigration Enforcement. Retrieved from; https://www.jstor.org/stable/26384906
Hodge, D. R. (2012). Border world
Johnson, R. K. (2004). The “Huddle Masses” Myth. Philadelphia: Temple University Press
