reply to discussion post below

cody

DHS Actions to End Legal Loopholes and Secure Our Border

In the first part of this, what this is referring to is the fact that illegal immigrants are exploiting legal loopholes in the United States immigration system. In a house hearing before the one-hundredth fourteen Congress, several good examples of how this is happening were brought up. In one of many examples, immigrants are exploiting our Nation’s asylum system. According to the U.S. Government Publishing Office (2017), “Aliens making asylum claims after they are apprehended by Border Patrol for entering illegally are being released into American Society”. The immediate concern here is that the United States has had a history of providing refuge to victims of persecution, but today our asylum system serves as one of many vulnerabilities that immigrants have learned to exploit. Another example is that of immigrants making credible fear claims that only serve to set in motion a process that keeps them in this country longer (U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2017). Statistically, these claims have risen from 4, 995 in 2008 to that of 51, 001 in 2014. The largest concern here is that transnational gangs, criminal aliens, cartels, cartel operatives, etc. are all using these loopholes to enter the United States. As the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (2019), states “To truly keep the American people safe, we must end legal loopholes that have left us with policies that serve as tremendous magnets for illegal immigration”.

Then the second part of this, is referring to building the wall along the border which to some is the more controversial issue of the two. Because of the recent rises in immigration, President Trump has been pushing to build a physical wall that would extend across the U.S. southern border. In many cases, this has led to debate about the affordability and justified reasoning for wanting this. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (2013), “Secure, well-managed borders must not only protect the United States against threats from abroad, they must also safeguard and expedite the flow of lawful trade and travel” (p. 20). In addition to everything else, over the years there has also been numerous press releases surrounding this issue, which has only led to more debates surrounding building the wall.

References

U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2013). U.S. Department of Homeland Security Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2014-2018. Retrieved from https://learn.umuc.edu/d2l/le/content/398488/viewC…

U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2019). DHS Actions to End Legal Loopholes and Secure Our Border. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/ending-legal-loopholes-and-sec…

U.S. Government Publishing Office. (2017). National security: Threats at our borders. Retrieved from https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-114hhrg23…