Security Center for Immigration Studies on US National Security - page 3

Below, security center for immigration studies includes featured articles on how immigration policy affects U.S. national security.

• North American Borders: Why They Matter - by Glynn Custred, CIS, April 2003
  Borders matter not only in an instrumental sense but in a symbolic sense as well, both for the states assertion of power and legitimacy and in the way citizens imagine their nations as limited sovereign communities. In this respect, the borders of North America are no different from other borders of the world. North American borders, however, are unique since they divide one of the earth's seven continents into three large and important nation-states that differ in significant ways from one another.
• Modernizing America's Welcome Mat: The Implementation of US-VISIT - by Jessica Vaughan, CIS, August 2005
  the administration's decision to exempt most Mexicans and Canadians from screening, despite well-documented problems in regulating the entry and exit of these visitors, along with foot-dragging in making use of the exit-recording capability, severely undermines the program and risks transforming this potentially critical national security tool into a high-tech Potemkin Village. In addition, this very limited deployment of US-VISIT will make it virtually impossible to undertake a secure large-scale guestworker program, either of the type President Bush has promoted or any of the proposals currently before Congress.
• The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001: A Summary of the Anti-Terrorism Law's Immigration-Related Provisions - by Rosemary Jenks, Center for Immigration Studies, December 2001
  Despite the fact that U.S. immigration policy clearly is responsible for allowing foreign terrorists to enter the United States and conduct terrorist activities, the USA PATRIOT Act treats immigration policy almost as an afterthought.
• Immigration: Terrorist Grounds for Exclusion of Aliens - US Government Accountability Office, May, 2005
  The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) spells out a strict set of admissions criteria and exclusion rules for all foreign nationals, whether coming permanently as immigrants (i.e., legal permanent residents) or temporarily as nonimmigrants. This report opens with an overview of the grounds for inadmissibility and summarizes key legislation enacted in recent years. The section on current law explains the legal definitions of "terrorist activity," "terrorist organization," and other security-related grounds for inadmissibility and analyzes the legal implications of these provisions.
• The Deportation Abyss: "It Ain't Over 'Til the Alien Wins" - by Michelle Malkin, CIS, September 2002
  The highest-priced, most sophisticated home security system will be ineffective if police don't come and take away the thieves who manage to break in. The same holds true for homeland security. Tight locks and screen doors are important, but the United States must also develop an effective system of detention and deportation to rid our collective home of uninvited guests - and keep them out. Illegal aliens who have been ordered deported must not be allowed to run free. The voluntary departure option is an escape hatch that must be eliminated.
• Becoming American: The Hidden Core of the Immigration Debate - by Stanley Renshon, Center for Immigration Studies, January 2007
  The central question of American immigration policy is how this country can help facilitate the emotional attachments of immigrants and citizens alike to the American national community. Given the centrifugal pulls of multiculturalism and international cosmopolitans this is easier said than done. Multiculturalists want to substitute racial and ethnic identities for an American identity, while cosmopolitans think that emotional connections to this country are too parochial and nationalistic and urge our citizens to look abroad for their primary attachments.
• CPB and ICE: Does the Current Organizational Structure Best Serve U.S. Homeland Security Interests? - Testimony before the Subcommittee on Management, Integration, and Oversight, by Michael W. Cutler, CIS, March 9, 2005
  We are currently engaged in a war on terror where control of our nation's borders is critical to the outcome of this battle where the stakes are so high. In order for the borders to be secured we need to have a coordinated enforcement program that creates a seamless effort from the borders to the interior. This can best be done, in my estimation, by putting the CBP and ICE under one roof.
• Secure Licenses Critical to Homeland Security - Testimony Prepared for the Joint Transportation Committee, Massachusetts State House, by Jessica M. Vaughan, Center for Immigration Studies, October 2005
  A secure driver's license issuance process helps protect Americans and visitors from identity theft and terrorist attacks. The key ingredients to a secure license are: a legal presence requirement, a state residency requirement, verification of key identity documents, a biometric identifier, and linking the expiration of the license to a foreign visitor's authorized duration of stay. The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) now does all of these things, except for the last item. Adoption of this suite of bills would complete the package... Why it this important? First of all, visa overstayers represent a fairly large share of the 11-12 million illegal aliens residing in the United States -- roughly 33 percent, according to the Department of Homeland Security, or possibly more. If those estimates hold true for Massachusetts, that would mean that roughly 58,000 of the estimated 175,000-200,000 illegal aliens residing here are visa overstayers.
• U.S. Border Security: Realities and Challenges for the Obama Administration - by Matt A. Mayer, Heritage Foundation, July 2009
  Despite the change in presidential administration from Republican to Democrat, much of the activity on the border will remain the same.
• The Security Costs of Immigration - by Mark Krikorian, American Outlook, February 2003
  Ultimately, however, America's security in a globalized world depends on the curtailment of the mass admission of people, especially from less-developed societies where terrorist and criminal organizations are more likely to flourish... Somehow, we must address the conflict between our country's security and the mass movement of people made possible by globalization.
• Biometric Exit Programs Show Need for New Strategy to Reduce Visa Overstays - by Diem Nguyen and Jena Baker McNeill, Heritage Foundation, January 2010
  In 2007, Congress mandated that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) biometrically track the exit of all foreign visitors from U.S. airports by June 30, 2009. DHS was unable to meet the mandate by the deadline. While most visitors leave by the time their visas expire, about 40 percent, possibly more, overstay their visas. The problem with these "overstays" is twofold. First, overstays perpetuate the illegal immigration problem by using the visa process to break the law to remain in the U.S. Second, a small percentage represent a very real national security risk to the United States. In fact, at least six of the 9/11 hijackers were visa overstays.
• Immigration and Terrorism - Should the U.S. pare back immigration until it has full security measures in place against terrorism? - by Mark Krikorian, The San Diego Union-Tribune, November 2002
  We could attempt to preserve today's historically unprecedented level of immigration, and apply tighter security measures to all comers - but does anyone think the INS is now, or will be in the foreseeable future, capable of such a Herculean task? No, the only realistic solution is to cut immigration across the board, regardless of the religion the immigrant claims to profess, and target our other security procedures at the smaller number of people arriving from abroad. Only in this way do we have any hope of limiting al-Qaeda's access to the United States. We fail to act at our peril.
• Plenary Power: Should Judges Control U.S. Immigration Policy? - by Jon Feere, Center for Immigration Studies, February 2009
  Despite the fact that the courts have affirmed the plenary power doctrine countless times since the 19th century, there is a movement underway to erode political-branch control over immigration in favor of a judge-administered system based on the implicit idea that foreigners have a "right" to immigrate.
• Two Sides of the Same Coin: The Connection Between Legal and Illegal Immigration - by James R. Edwards Jr., CIS, February 2006
  Legal and illegal immigration are inextricably related. The level of illegal immigration is severely masked by several amnesties that legalized millions of unlawfully resident aliens. The largest amnesty was the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which legalized 3 million aliens. "Anchor babies" and "chain migration" provide opportunities for many aliens to plant roots in the United States. Those aliens might not otherwise have done so. Continual Mexican migration northward, both legally and illegally, may pose the biggest threat to U.S. security and sovereignty.
• The Uniting American Families Act: Addressing Inequality in Federal Immigration Law - Congressional testimony by Jessica Vaughan, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, June 2009
  Marriage fraud motivated for immigration purposes creates thousands of victims each year, and produces emotional trauma as well as financial hardship on its victims. In addition, it represents a national security and public safety vulnerability.
• Border Basics: What Is Terrorist Travel? - by Janice Kephart, Bryan Griffith, Center for Immigration Studies, March 2009
  Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's refusal to even use the word "terrorism" in remarks prepared for a congressional hearing last week underlines the fact that she has yet to commit to upholding the laws that derive from the 9/11 Commission's recommendations on border security.
• Mexico Isn't a Failed State - Yet: But we need to protect ourselves now - by Mark Krikorian, National Review Online, March 2009
  Mexico is in trouble. The drug wars there have claimed more than 7,000 lives since President Calderón took office in late 2007. Police are being beheaded, politicians are being assassinated, and pundits are talking of Mexico's becoming a "failed state." Our military's Joint Forces Command reported last fall: "Any descent by Mexico into chaos would demand an American response based on the serious implications for homeland security alone."