As Good as it Gets: Reform Must Be the Next Benchmark to Achieve True Homeland Security

November 19, 2009

Washington DC – Over the last week it is evident that comprehensive immigration reform is part and parcel to the security of our nation. Today, the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee held a hearing on human, gun and drug trafficking at the U.S – Mexico Border, last Friday the Texas Border Coalition (TBC) released a report and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars held a symposium on resources at ports of entry and new border security strategies, and on that same day, the Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano noted benchmarks achieved on border security during her speech at the Center for American Progress.

Ali Noorani, Executive Director from the National Immigration Forum commented, “The message of border security experts this week is clear: the Administration needs a balanced, targeted and accountable approach to achieve true border security. Without comprehensive immigration reform and secure ports of entry, human traffickers prosper and immigrants continue to be victims of a broken system”.

During her speech last Friday, Secretary Napolitano emphatically stated that security at the border has improved dramatically, but real homeland security can only happen with comprehensive immigration reform. “Over the past ten months, we’ve worked to improve immigration enforcement and border security within the current legal framework. But the more work we do, the more it becomes clear that the laws themselves need to be reformed.”

Her statements are underscored by the new report from the Texas Border Coalition, a group of border mayors, county judges, and economic development commissions, as well as a recent symposium on Rethinking the Border by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; it’s clear that increased investment in the border alone isn’t going to solve our immigration problem, we need immigration reform to take us all the way. 

According to the report, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has invested heavily in deterrence at the Southwest border, mostly in areas between ports of entry while relatively small investments have been dedicated to improving commerce and travel at heavily used yet chronically neglected land-based ports of entry. The southern border is the life-blood of economic security not only for local communities, but for the national economy as well.  Future investments in border security must focus on ports of entry to ensure real national security and reach the full economic potential of our border region.

Scholars agree: We can do better with reform and investments at ports of entry, not between them. Andrés Rozental, former Deputy Foreign Secretary, Government of Mexico, said “Congestion at crossing points imposes considerable costs on tourists, commuters, consumers, business owners, and border communities; the financial price alone of delays at the border reaches billions of dollars per year.” Robert Jacobson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Canada and Mexico echoed the sentiment. “We need secure flows. Security and flows are not a zero sum equation.” But perhaps Arturo Sarukhan, Ambassador of Mexico, best summed up the opportunity offered by our border region, “Prosperity and security are not at odds; in fact they can be mutually reinforcing.”

In addition, although the Administration has dedicated unprecedented resources to the Mexican border in terms of manpower, technology and infrastructure between the ports of entry, the likelihood of apprehension of real threats to national security are still weak at land-ports of entry.  Today’s Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Confronting the Cartels: Addressing U.S.-Mexican Border Security reaffirms that DHS has increased resources to combating trafficking in drugs, firearms and other illicit goods, but that there is still a need for better training, better infrastructure and safer, more efficient ports, and a system that allows for people and goods to come through legally. As the TBC report concludes “criminal organizations stand a better chance at getting through ports of entry than between ports of entry.”

However, proper resource allocation at the border must be coupled with accountability and oversight measures.  Secretary Napolitano stated that we must demand responsibility and accountability from everyone involved in the system: immigrants, employers and government. And that begins with fair, reliable enforcement.  For years border communities have been demanding better training for immigration officials along the border in immigration and civil rights laws to ensure fair and reliable enforcement. 

True reform that addresses the underlying problems generated by our rusty and broken immigration laws will promote both legitimate travel and trade and bolster true national security by giving the Secretary of Homeland Security a system of immigration laws that people can go through and not around. 

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