United States land border security policy : the national security implications of 9/11 on the "Nation of Immigrants" and free trade in North America

• Main Author: Butikofer, Nathan R.
• Other Authors: Trinkunas, Harold
• Format: Others
• Published: Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School 2012
• Subjects: Border patrols; United States; National security; Free trade
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/866

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited === The 9/11 terrorist attacks spawned heated debates about border security roles in preventing terrorism. The United States is generally known as a "nation of immigrants," welcoming those seeking economic and religious freedom. This thesis explores the effects of three policy options (increased manpower/financial resources for border inspection agencies, technology, and private sector-government cooperation) on the prevention of terrorism within U.S. borders. It also explores the effects of those policy options on trade flows and the movement of legitimate people across international borders. Scope is limited to land border security policy from 1990-2003. Three case studies are included: (1) the Border Patrol's "prevention through deterrence" strategy, which began in 1994 and benefited from a monumental increase in manpower/financial resources to the INS; (2) an analysis of which border technology options are the most secure and inexpensive means of preventing illegal immigration, stopping the introduction of contraband into the United States, and maintaining legitimate flows of commerce/people that have increased since the passage of NAFTA; and (3) an analysis of why private sector-governmental partnerships that both increase transportation security while lowering border wait times developed on the U.S.-Canadian border but not on the U.S.-Mexican border. Implications are drawn for U.S. policy-makers. === Lieutenant, United States Navy