Border Security In The 1980's: A Case Study

The way in which the various levels of government concerned with border security has handled the border has changed with the political winds throughout the past. However one could trace a few policies and actions within the past two decades to precise incidents and trends. However if I was to pick a singular incident which prompted the border control offensive I would have to mention the political backlash that was borne out of the Immigration Control and Reform act of the 1980’s. The IRCA was initially implemented in an attempt to reform the immigration process through legalization programs. However, according to Andreas (2009) IRCA’s perverse consequences helped set the stage for a powerful backlash against illegal immigration in the 1990’s (p. 86). This backlash was fueled by citizens as well as politicians looking to obtain support in both elections as well as appropriating funds for security and policies. To briefly summarize fiscal data that Andreas (2009) provided to reinforce his

Unfortunately I think it is prudent to remember that border security exists to prevent illegal smuggling, illegal migration, spread of disease, intellectual theft and of course to attempt to deter and prevent state and non-state actors looking to infiltrate our nation in an attempt to do us harm. If you were to read through the mission statement of the Department of Homeland Security (2015) you would notice that throughout the page the statement that the vision of homeland security is to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient, is stated throughout. Therefore, I would be led to believe that the enemy that we are protecting our borders from is not one specific person, weapon or plan, instead it is anything that threatens the security, prosperity, society and well-being of our nation, its people and its