E.g., 04/16/2024
E.g., 04/16/2024
Border Security

Border Security

Border Enforcement
Smuggling & Trafficking
Technology & Infrastructure
CBPagent mexborder

In an era when countries are increasingly exposed to the opportunities and risks associated with the rising global movement of people, policymakers are rethinking approaches to border controls and border management. These policies and programs run the gamut—from facilitating legitimate mobility of people and trade to thwarting unauthorized movements, the latter a significant preoccupation in the post-9/11 era and as publics have become ever less accepting of unauthorized immigration. The research offered here examines the management of borders, enforcement policies and initiatives, and border security technologies.

Recent Activity

cover BadActors CouncilStatement
Reports
February 2014
Curbing the Influence of "Bad Actors" in International Migration (Transatlantic Council Statement)
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou
cover BadActors TradeOffs
Reports
January 2014
Trade-Offs in Immigration Enforcement
By  Elizabeth Collett and Will Somerville
Bad Actors Hansen PapademetriouThumb
Reports
January 2014
Securing Borders: The Intended, Unintended, and Perverse Consequences
By  Randall Hansen and Demetrios G. Papademetriou
cover BadActors Benton
Reports
January 2014
Spheres of Exploitation: Thwarting Actors Who Profit from Illegal Labor, Domestic Servitude, and Sex Work
By  Meghan Benton
cover BadActors Papademetriou Somerville
Reports
January 2014
A Strategic Framework for Creating Legality and Order in Immigration
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Will Somerville
cover lessons of IRCA
Policy Briefs
January 2014
IRCA in Retrospect: Guideposts for Today’s Immigration Reform
By  Muzaffar Chishti and Charles Kamasaki
Cover ManagingBorders
Books
December 2013
Managing Borders in an Increasingly Borderless World
_MG_2120
Multimedia
October 31, 2013
10th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

Pages

Recent Activity

Reports
February 2014

'Donkey Flights:' Illegal Immigration from the Punjab to the United Kingdom

This report, based on an undercover exposé of Punjabi visa agencies by The Sunday Times, sketches one immigration loophole into Europe: so-called “donkey flights” by which Indian migrants obtain a tourist visa for a Schengen-zone country in order to enter the United Kingdom through the back door. Thousands of visa agencies operate in the Punjab region alone, with varying degrees of legality, some having links to criminal smuggling networks across Europe.
Reports
January 2014

Trade-Offs in Immigration Enforcement

Policymakers confront significant constraints in addressing the population of unauthorized migrants, including tackling illegal migration. This report, part of a Transatlantic Council on Migration series focused on migration "bad actors," explores the trade-offs that policymakers face with respect to comprehensive enforcement efforts.
Policy Briefs
January 2014

IRCA in Retrospect: Guideposts for Today’s Immigration Reform

This policy brief traces the successes and failures of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which represented the first and most comprehensive legislation to take on the issue of illegal immigration to the United States. The brief makes the case that IRCA's major flaws were rooted in statutory design more than regulatory challenges and implementation by the administrative agencies.
Reports
January 2014

A Strategic Framework for Creating Legality and Order in Immigration

This report analyzes how governments ought to best allocate their resources to address the risks associated with migration—the "immigration harms" that undermine the positive economic and social benefits of immigration—including choosing which threats to tackle and where to prioritize enforcement efforts. Immigration policymakers can learn from other public policy regulation efforts to ensure that regulatory actions advance the public interest.
Reports
January 2014

Spheres of Exploitation: Thwarting Actors Who Profit from Illegal Labor, Domestic Servitude, and Sex Work

This report analyzes the exploitation of migrants in three spheres: the domestic care sector, the labor market, and the sex industry. It details several obstacles governments face in their efforts to weaken the "bad actors" that profit from exploitation, and shows how one of the biggest challenges facing law enforcement is that serious criminals and lawbreakers often operate on the edge of legality and exploit legal routes wherever possible.
Reports
January 2014

Securing Borders: The Intended, Unintended, and Perverse Consequences

This report outlines the security-related challenges that borders are intended to address—including terrorism, human smuggling and trafficking, illegal migration, and drug trafficking—and, in turn, the perverse consequences that tighter border enforcement can generate. As states implement extensive border controls and deterrence measures to prevent illegal migration, they indirectly push unauthorized migrants into the hands of smugglers and traffickers.
Books
December, 2013

Managing Borders in an Increasingly Borderless World

This edited volume showcases approaches toward border management in Europe, Central America, and North America, and reflects on the challenges that countries in these regions face in managing their borders. The book brings together perspectives from both sides of the Atlantic on what border security means in practice, the challenges that continue to evade policymakers, and what policies have been the most (and least) successful in achieving “secure” borders.

Video, Audio
October 31, 2013

10th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

The 10th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference featured keynotes by U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, as well as panel discussions covering a range of key immigration topics.

Pages