As the debate on comprehensive immigration reform heats up, WOLA’s experts were asked to provide expert testimony for a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the issue on February 13, 2013. Senior Associates Adam Isacson and Maureen Meyer’s written testimony makes the following recommendations:
1. Focus additional border security investments on the ports of entry.
2. Increase coordination among federal, state and local agencies by developing a comprehensive southwest border security strategy coordinated by the White House.
3. Increase efforts to protect migrants.
4. Identify migrant remains.
Please click here to read the testimony.
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Additional resources:
- Beyond the Border Buildup: Security and Migrants along the U.S.-Mexico Border: A year-long study of the current security situation on the U.S.-Mexico border and the impact of both countries’ security policies on the migrant population. The study looks at the impact of the fivefold increase in the size of the U.S. Border Patrol in the last two decades, the changing role of U.S. soldiers along the border, the impact of drones and other high-tech surveillance, and the increase in risks faced by migrants on their journey. The study’s executive summary can be found here.
- Border Security and Migration: A Report from South Texas: WOLA experts found an increase in migration flows and a doubling in migrant deaths in this area in just one year. In contrast to what has been reported in other parts of the border, this new report notes that there are fewer accusations of Border Patrol abuse in South Texas. At the same time, U.S. authorities are increasingly repatriating Mexicans through this area, often making migrants easy prey for the dangerous criminal groups that operate in these Mexican border cities.
- Border Fact Check: A frequently updated blog that separates rhetoric from reality on issues related to the U.S.-Mexico border. Our experts analyze current claims in the ongoing political debate.
- Border Security Infographics: A series of graphics that help visualize the most recent data—ranging from the number of migrants apprehended per border patrol agent over time to increasing drug seizures, migration flows, and migrant deaths, as well as other aspects of border security.
- An Uneasy Coexistence: Security and Migration along the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez Border: In this report, WOLA examines the huge security buildup in the area and finds that there is no violence spilling over into the United States and that migration is dropping while drug trafficking persists. This report also describes the multitude of state, federal, and local authorities operating in this region whose roles often overlap.
