B N H R . O R G

hose living at the border understand the need for responsible border security more than most. A secure border would mean freer, safer and more prosperous border communities. However, something has gone wrong. In the rush to build walls, install technology and put boots on the ground, a core American value of accountability has been left behind.

In recent years, border enforcement programs have been the subject of unprecedented spending and expansion. In fact, every border enforcement benchmark contained in the 2006, 2007 and 2010 Senate bills have been met. Yet, immigration reform is still held hostage to the ever-changing goalposts of border security.

Border communities, like the rest of the U.S., need an immigration enforcement system that is accountable and responsible. What we have now under President Obama is a policy of indiscriminate mass deportation, unlimited spending and misplaced priorities. In 2012, the U.S. spent more on ramping up enforcement against immigrants and border communities than on every other federal law

enforcement agency combined. Yet this massive system has no mechanisms for accountability, oversight or transparency.

Checks and balances is an American tradition. We cannot accept that this tradition doesn’t apply to the U.S. government’s largest law enforcement system.

But this doesn’t mean that there isn’t still work to be done at the borders. It does mean that we

need to deal with our borders in a rational way.

That requires investing in the infrastructure and staffing at the ports of entry along our southern border. This is of the utmost importance to people doing business with and in border states.

We now know that these legal entry points account for most of the illegal movement of drugs, money, weapons and people into and out of the U.S. — yet funding of the ports has lagged behind other border security measures.

As long as these ports are dysfunctional and enforcement remains unaccountable, border economies will be choked off and real threats to national security will slip through the cracks. ❚

Border Network for Human RightsBorder Enforcement Policy Solutions for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

The American values of checks and balances, accountability and fiscal responsibility must apply to the U.S. government’s largest law

enforcement operation — border and immigration enforcement.

B N H R . O R G

T

B E N C H M A R K S R E A C H E D

2 Border Policy Solutions for Immigration Reform

Go From Quantity to Quality“... Because of this committee’s support and others, we have received unprecedented resources, both in terms of Border Patrol agents and technology. And there are more sections along this border that are secure because of that.”

— Mr. Michael J. Fisher, Chief, Border Patrol, U.S. Department of Homeland Security in testimony to the House Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security on February 26, 2013.

“In negotiating the failed 2007 deal, Republican

lawmakers demanded that President Bush

deploy four drones to scan the border, build 105

radar and camera towers, raise the number of

Border Patrol agents to 20,000, and erect 670

miles of fencing. Today, the U.S. has 10 border

drones, 300 towers, and 21,394 agents—

18,500 of them stationed on the U.S.-Mexico

border. Fencing now covers 651 miles of the

border, twice the length in 2009, and

immigration agents have deported some 1.5

million undocumented workers in the past four

years, the most since Dwight Eisenhower was

president.”

Source: Business Week, February 21, 2013,http://buswk.co/1005Yxy

Achieving “operational control” of the border

Increasing border personnel

Increasing border infrastructure and surveillance

Increasing penalties for border crossers, including prosecution and incarceration.

In FY 2012, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) alone was funded at $11.7 billion, an increase of 64% sinceFY 2006.2

In 2010, Congress passed a special border security bill providing an additional $600 million on top of the amount already appropriated.

Source: “Border Security: Moving Beyond Past Benchmarks,” AILA.org, http://bit.ly/ZIo48K

A B E T T E R A P P R O A C H

Border Policy Solutions for Immigration Reform 3

DHS Border Oversight Task Force

BNHR recommends a DHS Border Oversight Task Force to

bring accountability to border enforcement programs, policies

and strategies. A public advisory taskforce for community

relations oversight of DHS agencies, their respective polices,

programs, public-private contracts, and grants to state and

local governments. Members are to be recognized

community members with expertise on immigration, civil

and constitutional rights, and the quality of life of border

communities and their economies.

Sensible legislation Must Not Include:

1. Provisions to expand the border fence or permit further construction

2. Broadening of border patrol powers or jurisdiction

3. Demands on local law enforcement to participate in immigration enforcement, for example through Stonegarden grants

4. Expansion of resources or requirements for installation of SBInet until it has demonstrated cost-effectiveness

5. Military or national guard deployment to the border

6. Additional resources or expansion of Operation Streamline

7. Increased criminal sentences for crossing the border without inspection

Bring the Border to the TableAnd Infuse Accountability into the Strategy We can do better by moving on and putting our resources into stopping real threats and creating accountability for our current border enforcement strategies. Border enforcement must reflect our shared American values of accountability and oversight, respect for human and civil rights, and fiscal responsibility. In the past, border residents, business owners, and local law enforcement have not been considered as partners in making the border region better and more secure. This must change.

B O R D E R P O L I C Y P R I O R I T I E S

4 Border Policy Solutions for Immigration Reform

Policies directed at the border must be consistent with American humanitarian values and simultaneously bolster the safety, security, civil and human rights, and economic well-being of our nation, including our border communities. The needs, concerns and insights of those who know the border best and are directly impacted by policies – border communities – must be systematically taken into consideration when developing these policies.

During the last two decades, dramatic expansion of resources, personnel, and infrastructure have characterized the federal government’s management of the Southwest border, particularly between ports of entry. Within this context, rhetoric of a “border crackdown” holds considerable sway for some in Congress. As a result, instead of considering a comprehensive approach, the United States adopted a fundamentally flawed “border-security-only” model that has cost taxpayers billions of dollars, jeopardized the safety, well-being and civil rights of border communities and their residents, increased unacceptable racial profiling, and created a militarized border situation that deters migrants from leaving the United States as well as from entering.

Border policies must shift away from this enforcement-only paradigm and the notion of the border as barrier to one as a gateway, in which we encourage legitimate cross-border commerce and travel. In this new paradigm, our enforcement operations must focus on efforts that effectively and proportionately address genuine risks to safety and security of the United States and communities along the border, including arms and drug trafficking, terrorism, and other serious criminal activity. Our under-resourced and understaffed ports of entry need more equipment and personnel to both welcome entrants to the United States and effectively protect against criminal and security risks. The DHS agents and personnel responsible for the border must receive improved training and oversight on their responsibilities to uphold the law and safeguard the border region.! To make this paradigm shift, we recommend the following legislative priorities, which emphasize oversight, training, community consultation, and public accountability.

DHS Border Oversight Task Force The DHS Border Oversight Task Force shall be composed of diverse appointed stakeholders, from northern and southern border communities and experts on border issues. The Task Force shall oversee the implementation of federal policies and programs on the borders, and review the activities of federal agencies at the borders and in the immediate interior. The Task Force shall hold federal border enforcement

agencies accountable and provide recommendations regarding border operations, complaint procedures, conditions in Border Patrol facilities and vehicles, DHS

training programs, and federal border security and immigration policy. The Task Force shall conduct independent investigations, evaluate, and submit reports, findings, and recommendations to the President, Congress, and relevant federal agencies on a semiannual basis.

Improve Training for Border Security PersonnelDHS, in consultation with the DHS Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the DOJ Civil Rights Division, shall review and improve training requirements for Border Patrol, ICE, and Customs agents in civil and constitutional rights, human rights, adequate use of force, community relations and racial sensitivity, and basic immigration law, including how to apply these laws during border enforcement procedures. DHS shall require regular recertification on these topics for all agents involved in enforcement operations.

Community ConsultationThere shall be mandatory and formalized consultation with border communities through the creation of a Border Communities Liaison Office located within DHS. A community liaison from this office shall be present in each border sector. The Liaison Office shall be empowered to share agency policies with border community representatives and receive grievances or complaints from the public.

Mandatory Reporting on Migrant Death at the BorderDHS shall submit to Congress a report that includes an assessment of impacts of current and proposed border infrastructure and operations on migrant deaths, the civil, human, and property rights of border community residents, on commerce and the environment, and a description of efforts taken to mitigate or eliminate negative impacts. DHS shall halt further construction of the border fence pending the submission and review of this report by Congress. Fence construction shall not be resumed unless Congress subsequently reauthorizes construction.

Standards for Ports of Entry and CustodyDHS shall allocate additional resources and staffing to ports of entry to improve infrastructure and expedite legal entry and exits. DHS shall specify clear standards for protecting due process and individual rights at ports of entry according to current law, including policies against racial profiling and the provisions regarding searches of electronic

equipment. Additionally, DHS shall establish and enforce short term custody standards providing for basic prisoner rights at all Border Patrol stations and short term custody

facilities, and report quarterly on the number of individuals held in short term custody and the duration of their detention. DHS shall not increase the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators, border patrol agents, or Deputy United States Marshals unless and until it has allocated sufficient ports of entry personnel.

Uniform Complaint ProcessDHS shall establish a standardized complaint process, specifying to whom, how, and where complaints are to be filed, tracked, and resolved for all Border Patrol stations and Ports of Entry. In order to be an accessible, transparent, and consistent, and effective process, complaints should be publicly accessible records, and copies of complaints and their resolution should be permanently preserved.

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Border Policy Solutions for Immigration Reform 5

At the BorderJose Manuel Escobedo, Policy Director915-494-1191jmescobedo@bnhr.org

Border Network for Human Rights, El Paso Office2115 PiedrasEl Paso, TX 79930

In Washington, D.C.Elena Lacayo, Policy & Advocacy Coordinator202-384-5893elacayo@bnhr.org

Border Network for Human Rights, D.C. Office1120 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite 1100Washington, D.C. 20036

About Border Network for Human Rights

After 15 years of organizing communities on the border around Constitutional and human rights education, the Border Network for Human Rights has emerged as a leader on the realities and consequences of federal border policy.

In addition to consulting with people living and working in border communities, the Border Network has been working with diverse sectors who represent the total picture of border life. This includes business and religious leaders, academics, local elected officials and local law enforcement departments, and federal border agents.

Out of our years of experience, we have developed a vision for federal border policies that create a safe, free and prosperous region for those who live and work here. And we believe that the same accountability, transparency and fiscal responsibility that we demand of other government systems must also apply to the U.S. government’s largest and most costly law enforcement system — the border and immigration enforcement system. What happens at the border matters a great deal for the rest of the country.

These national solutions are informed by our success in bringing accountability to border enforcement regionally. Over the years, we have developed what we call the “El Paso Model” for border security. This model makes border residents partners in national security policy rather than the targets of it. For example, through building a relationship of understanding and respect between border communities and our local Border Patrol sector, we have reduced the number and severity of human rights abuses by federal agents in our region over the last 10 years. In fact, it was through this dialogue with Border Patrol that the El Paso Sector became the only Border Patrol Sector to currently have a non-uniformed community liaison officer. This development represented an important victory for human rights and security in the region, proving that these two priorities need not be in competition with each other. This model for bringing accountability and dialogue with local communities to border enforcement strategies can and should be replicated for all Border Patrol sectors.

Taking all of this into consideration, it becomes clear how it is no accident that El Paso, Texas, has been repeatedly ranked as the safest U.S. city for it’s size.

Once Congress finishes this year’s debate on immigration reform, we will enter a new phase of discussion and policy development on enforcement. There is no doubt that border enforcement will continue to feature prominently. Therefore these recommendations will only be more necessary and relevant as the U.S. enters a post-reform era on immigration and enforcement. ❚