Many of the shortfalls in homeland security since 9/11 can be
directly traced to Congress piling more missions and
responsibilities on the Department of Homeland Security than it
could practically accomplish. The Senate's proposal to give amnesty
to millions of immigrants unlawfully present in the United States
would further overwhelm DHS's capacity to manage immigration
services, enforce the law, and ramp up security at the border.
Giving more missions to DHS now is a strategy for failure. Instead,
Congress should let DHS focus on its current missions and mandates,
using its existing authority to secure the border, enforce the law,
and provide a powerful deterrent to future illegal migration.
Work in Progress
The federal government has yet to complete many of its post-9/11
security initiatives. These include:
- Implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative
(WHTI). In 2004, the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative was
established. It requires U.S. and Canadian citizens crossing the
border to carry a passport or equivalent document. The WHTI caused
an explosion in passport applications and, in effect, a backlog of
500,000 passports. The Department of Homeland Security and the
State Department announced last week that full implementation of
WHTI requirements on land and at seaports will be delayed until
January 2008.
- Improved Immigration Services. The 2007 report of the
ombudsman of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
stated that there is a backlog of an estimated 1,275,795
applications from would-be immigrants. Some reports state this
number is actually as high as 4 million. USCIS personnel have been
encouraged to process applications faster, such as by pushing aside
applications thought to be more difficult and processing the easier
ones.
- Secure Flight Initiative. The Secure Flight Initiative
was introduced by the Bush Administration as a replacement for the
CAPPS and CAPPS II systems. The program is meant to screen
manifests for domestic flights against the Terrorist Watch List. It
is one on the capabilities that, if available then, could have
stopped some of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Implementing the
system was a priority recommendation of the 9/11 Commission. The
program was intended to be operative in 2005, and has been granted
several time extensions, but has yet to be fully implemented.
- An Exit System in U.S. VISIT. U.S. VISIT is a system
meant to screen foreigners when they enter and exit the United
States. The federal government has completely failed to implement a
mandatory exit system. Currently, foreign travelers are tracked
with the I-94 form, which simply asks them when they expect to
leave. An electronic system capable of verifying a traveler's
identity and confirming that the traveler has boarded a flight out
of the country does not yet exist. Although Congress acted to put
this system in place years before the 9/11 attacks, it is still not
ready.
- Fugitive Alien Deportation. Illegal aliens who are
apprehended are released and then expected to appear at their
deportation hearings. Many do not return for their court dates,
however, which makes them fugitive aliens. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE), which is tasked with apprehending fugitive
aliens and deporting them, currently has a backlog of 630,000
fugitive aliens.
- Watch List Consolidation. In 2003, following the
recommendations of the 9/11 Commission's report, President Bush
proposed to consolidate all of the government's watch lists. Four
years later, this has yet to be accomplished.
- Operational Control of the Border with Mexico. The
Secure Fence Act of 2005 contained a number of initiatives to
enhance security on America's southern border. Even in its most
optimistic estimates, DHS acknowledges that it will need 18 months
to three years to carry out these initiatives in places.
More Missions?
DHS has not yet fulfilled many congressional and administrative
mandates to improve its services and security for immigration,
travel, and border control. Nevertheless, the Senate's immigration
legislation would present a number of new and daunting challenges.
These include:
- Providing immigration services for the 12 million to 15 million
unlawfully present persons who will be granted amnesty by the
legislation. USCIS would be responsible for this complicated,
multi-year task.
- Establishing an Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification
System (EEVS) to verify whether workers may legally work in the
United States. The federal government would be required to create a
new nationwide system that employers can easily access and that is
capable of querying several different databases containing
information of all legal employees in the country. This system
would have to include over 7 million employers and over 130 million
employees.
It is unrealistic to believe that DHS will be able to accomplish
these tasks efficiently. Nonetheless, the legislation requires that
these initiatives and additional border security measures be
completed before the government can implement a temporary worker
program. Delaying the temporary worker program, however, would only
increase illegal immigration and provide additional opportunities
for those who oppose the program to undermine its
effectiveness.
Recommendations for the Administration and
Congress
Rather than heap more requirements on DHS, Congress and the
Administration should recognize that much can be done under DHS's
existing authority to secure the border, enforce the law, and
provide a powerful deterrent to future illegal migration.
The Administration should continue to do the following:
- Increase the Number of Border Patrol Agents.
The Administration should fulfill its goal of hiring 3,000 agents
per year-a more than five-fold increase over the numbers hired in
previous years. Contractors from the private sector can assist with
many functions, including border patrol and detention and
removal.
- Cooperate with State and Local Law
Enforcement. Cooperative efforts should focus on enhancing
border security and addressing the criminal alien population. Such
efforts include expanding Border Enhancement Security Task Forces;
supporting state operations similar to "Operation Linebacker"
conducted in Texas; providing homeland security grants to assist
community policing in border communities; and increasing
participation in the 287 (g) program, which coordinates cooperation
between federal, state, and local law enforcement on immigration
matters.
- Deploy Technology and Obstacles Along the
Border. The Department of Homeland Security should
implement its border security plans, which include increased
intelligence sharing, expanding its capabilities along the border
through its SBI Net program, and placing obstacles where they prove
efficient and effective.
- Target Enforcement on Specific Sectors of the
Economy. These include sectors in which undocumented
workers are the most prevalent and in which businesses
intentionally hire illegal workers to undercut competitors and reap
illegal profits. This can be done using existing legal
authority.
Congress should:
- Not Grant Amnesty. Rejecting amnesty would
serve as part of a powerful deterrent against future illegal
migration.
- Establish a Temporary Worker Program. This
would provide legitimate opportunities for industries to get the
employees they need and for foreign individuals to work in the
U.S.
These measures will not remove every unlawfully present person
from the United States, nor will they seal the border. They will,
however, enable the government to gain control of the southern
border, facilitate serious workplace enforcement, and serve as a
deterrent against future illegal migration. This is a much better
plan than handing DHS an impossible mission.
James Jay Carafano,
Ph.D., is Assistant Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom
Davis Institute for International Studies and Senior Research
Fellow for National Security and Homeland Security in the Douglas
and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at The Heritage
Foundation.