21st Century Border Initiative

In April of 2010 the governments of Mexico and the United States issued a Declaration of the 21st Century Border. This declaration stated an understanding that: ‘’a joint and collaborative administration of their common border is critical to transforming management of the border to enhance security and efficiency.’’

The 21st Century Border Initiative of NDN/NPI has been designed to support, promote and develop this important vision for how our two countries manage our common border region. We have done this by facilitating events, papers, essays and creating a network of like minded individuals both inside and outside the beltway.

It is the core belief of this initiative that the bi-lateral relationship between the United States and Mexico is one of the United State’s most important relationships in the world. By the end of this year Mexico is set to be the United State’s second largest trading partner with more than a billion dollars in goods a day moving between our countries. The US domestic population is now 10 percent of Mexican descent, making our cultural, economic and familial ties extensive and deepening.

Through a new and better strategy, more resources and greater cooperation with our Mexican partners, the border region is much safer today. Crime is down, illegal migration has slowed, seizures of illegal drugs, guns and bulk cash has soared, all while trade and legal border crossings have increased. Despite the very real challenge of the cartel violence, the US side of the border has seen great progress in recent years. And while there has been great success in recent years in bringing about a better border region, of course much more must be done.

Below, please find some key materials and highlights from our past work on the 21st Century Border Initiative. 

NDN Backgrounder: The Border Is Safer, Immigration System Is Better For a history of our work and salient news from the current immigration debate check out our website, 21border.com. Below please find a collection of NDN resources on the release of the Senate and White House immigration proposals:

Simon's Statement - The U.S. Border Strategy Is Working

Simon outlines how the U.S. border strategy is working: Crime along the border is down,deportations of criminal aliens has increased, the flow of unauthorized immigrants has dropped as has the domestic population of undocumented immigrants in the United States.   There has been little to no spillover from the gang-related violence in Mexico into the United States, and seizures of narcotics into the country and bulk cash leaving the country have increased.As a result of this new and deeper partnership between our countries the American side of our common border is clearly safer today. 

President Barack Obama: Building A 21st Century Immigration System

In this speech, President Obama forcefully articulates the progress made in creating a 21st Century Border and connects it back to the broader struggle to reform our nations broken immigration system.

Video: Building a 21st Century Immigration System

Transcript: Remarks by the President on Comprehensive Immigration Reform in El Paso, Texas

NDN/NPI's 21st Century Border You Tube Page

For months, members of NDN/NPI's 21st Century Border Initiative have been busy cultivating a network of stakeholders throughout the Southwest and capturing their thoughts about the state of the U.S. - Mexican border region. You can watch them and other content on our new You Tube page.

Arturo Sarukhan & Alan Bersin Address on a 21st Century Border

Our inaugural 21st Century Border Project event was held over a year ago, and featured CPB Commissioner Alan Bersin and the Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan discussing the merits of the United States and Mexico working together to create a true 21st century border.

Video: Arturo Sarukhan & Alan Bersin Address NDN/NPI on a 21st Century Border

Transcript: Arturo Sarukhan & Alan Bersin Address NDN/NPI on a 21st Century Border

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano on Progress Made Along U.S. Mexican Border

NDN/NPI hosted a key note speech from Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano where she outlined the positive progress made along the Southwest Border.

Video: Napolitano Speech Details Progress Made Along US-Mexican Border

Department of Homeland Security Panel Discuss Progress on 21st Century Border

A panel of senior DHS officials discuss progress made along the 21st Century Border.

Video:  Distinguished Panel Discuss Progress on 21st Century Border

A Mayor's Perspective on the U.S. - Mexico Border

Chappell Lawson, associate professor of politics at MIT and Mayor of Nogales, AZ Arturo Garino talk about the perception, the reality and the positive gains in safety along the southwest border. 

How a 21st Century Border is Essential to Prosperity in Both the U.S. and Mexico

Maria Luisa O’Connell, Senior Advisor for Trade and Public Relations Office of the Commissioner US Customs and Border Protection, led a roundtable panel discussion on how the border between Mexico and the United States is an economic benefit for the country as whole

NDN Report: The Governments Strategy on The Border Is Working

After years of investment by the federal government along the border between the United States and Mexico there has been significant progress in creating a more harmonious region.

Key Materials:

21st Century Border Declaration by The Government Of The United States and Mexico  -  This intermestic agreement pledges to strengthen cooperation between Mexico and the United States by enhancing the economic competitiveness by expediting lawful trade, while preventing the transit of illegal merchandise between their two countries, facilitating lawful travel in a manner that also prevents the illegal movement of people between our two countries.

Comexi Report Managing the United States-Mexico Border: Cooperative Solutions to Common Challenges:  Under the auspices of the Pacific Council for International Policy (PCIP) and the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI), thirty distinguished businessmen, civic leaders, and former government officials from Mexico and the United States committed themselves to devising ways to improve management of our common border.

Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano: Making The Border More Secure":  This landmark speech by Secretary Napolitano encapsulates all of the work the Department of Homeland Security and Mexico have done on the border while also charting a path forward on what the future of the Border looks like. University of Texas at El Paso A Safe on: Secure Border Zone, Additional Steps and Reforms,  Southwest Border Results, Interior Enforcement and the Future of Border Security.

Staff

Simon Rosenberg: President, NDN/NPI

Alicia Menendez: Senior Advisor, NDN/NPI

Jake Braun: Director, 21st Century Border Initiative

Kristian Ramos: Director of Policy, 21st Century Border Initiative

Press

For all press inquiries please contact Kristian Ramos at kramos@ndn.org

For all booking inquiries please contact Alicia Menendez at alicia@ndn.org

GOP Releases National Mandatory E-Verify Legislation

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith recently introduced legislation for a national mandatory E-Verify. Today the House Sub-Committee on Immigration and Enforcement met to discuss the legislation. We will have analysis of that tomorrow, today we will look at how the introduction is playing across the country.

Faith groups have come out strongly against the legislation, citing the cost of moving forward on the legislation, quoting a Bloomberg story which says that mandatory E-Verify would cost an estimated 2.7 billion dollars a year for small businesses. Gary Martin of The Houston Chronicle  noted that according to leading experts that number could actually be as high as 17.3 billion dollars.

The Los Angeles Times released an Editorial from Raul Reyes, a lawyer living in New York, pushing back on an Op-Ed written by Congressmen Smith and Elton Gallegly.  The editorial does a good job of pushing back on the notion that the E-Verify system is accurate, by citing a report that shows that E-Verify only catches 54% of undocumented immigrants.

Business is actually split on the legislation with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorsing the legislation, and the agriculture industry firmly against it.

Below is a summary of the major components of the legislation:

  • Repeals I-9 System:  Repeals the current paper-based I-9 system and replaces it with a completely electronic work eligibility check.
  • Gradual Phase-In:  Phases-in mandatory E-Verify participation for new hires in six month increments beginning on the date of enactment.  Within six months of enactment, businesses having more than 10,000 employees are required to use E-Verify.  Within 12 months after enactment, businesses having 500 to 9,999 employees are required to use E-Verify.  Within 18 months after enactment, businesses having 20 to 499 employees must use E-Verify.  And within 24 months after enactment, businesses having 1 to 19 employees must use E-Verify.
  • Agriculture:  Requires that employees performing “agricultural labor or services” are only subject to an E-Verify check within 36 months of the date of enactment.  Under the bill, an individual engaged in seasonal agricultural employment is not considered a new hire if the individual starts work with an employer for whom they have previously worked.
  • Federal Preemption:  Preempts state laws mandating E-Verify use for employment eligibility purposes but retains the ability of states and localities to condition business licenses on the requirement that the employer use E-Verify in good faith under the federal law. 
  • Safe Harbor:  Grants employers safe harbor from prosecution if they use the E-Verify program in good faith, and through no fault of theirs, receive an incorrect eligibility confirmation.   

A copy of the bill can be found HERE.

Senator Chuck Grassly also release a Senate version which can be read HERE.

Highly Skilled Immigrants Now Outnumber Lower-Skilled Ones In The United States

The Brooking Institute has just released a report The Geography of Immigrant Skills: Educational Profiles of Metropolitan Areas, which holds some surprising data:  highly skilled immigrants now outnumber lower-skilled ones in the United States. Another big take away from the report is that nationally, more immigrants hold college degrees than lack high-school diplomas.

Tara Bahrampour, of the Washington Post has the full story here:

This shift in America’s immigration population, based on census data, is summarized in a report released Thursday by the Brookings Institution. It found that 30 percent of the country’s working-age immigrants, regardless of legal status, have at least a bachelor’s degree, while 28 percent lack a high school diploma.

The report also tells an important demographic story about the way immigrant population has changed over the last decade:

As the number of working-age immigrants in the United States has swelled, from 14.6 million in 1994 to 29.7 million in 2010, the numbers of highly skilled and lower-skilled immigrants have risen, but the highly skilled sector has risen faster, according to the report. Among the causes are the recent rise in the number of international students and of temporary H-1B visas, for which a bachelor’s degree is usually required, the report said.

One take away from this is that there has been a change in the way in which immigrant populations are moving thru the education system. As this other Washington Post article shows, the Hispanic population in general is showing higher educational attainment, with more Hispanic students finishing high school and attendance at 2-year colleges nearly doubling. These higher levels of educational attainment may also explain the rise in the skill level ratio.

Below is a graph outlining these changes:

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students in California

California has passed a local version of the DREAM Act, which has led to law suits which claim that the in state benefits clash with federal immigrations laws.

Fox News Latino has the full story here:

California will continue to allow undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates universities after the Supreme Court rejected a legal challenge to the state's policy. The justices on Monday refused to review a California Supreme Court ruling that upheld a state law allowing California high school graduates, regardless of their immigration status, to pay in-state tuition rates. The court did not comment on its action.

Little known fact, 11 States already grant similar benefits to undocumented immigrants, they are: Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.

Below is a KABC News report about the Supreme Court Decision:

AZ State Senator Russell Pearce Tells Some Half Truths On E-Verify

The Supreme Courts decision to uphold Arizona's Legal Workers Act has set off a firestorm of speculation about how Congress and other states will react to this employment verification legislation. One thing is for certain, a new debate on immigration has shifted towards businesses who employ immigrants.

Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce recently held an interview with Neal Conan on NPR' S Face The Nation. Over the course of the the interview State Senator Pearce made some questionable claims about E-Verify, an employment verification system. One of the most egregious statements State Senator Pearce made was that the program was 99.7 percent accurate:

CONAN: What does an employer have to do to comply?

State Sen. PEARCE: Very simple: You're already required under the law to have your I-9s in your file. E-Verify was designed to benefit the employer, not punish the employer. It's free. It's Web-based. It's 99.7 percent accurate, and it's there to benefit employers.

It may very well be true that E-Verify is 99.7 percent accurate, but currently only a small percentage of businesses use the program. According to the National Councel of State Legislators:

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reports that as of December 11, 2010 more than 238,000 employers have registered with the program, with 16 million inquiries in FY2010. In FY2009, there were 8.7 million inquiries, in  FY 2008, 6.6 million, and 3.27 million in FY2007. There are an estimated 7 million employers in the United States and 60 million new hires per year. The 2007 Westat evaluation estimated that 4 percent of newly hired workers are verified using the system.

Bottom line a 99.7 % effective rate for 4% business compliance, a marginal portion of the workforce is not that great of a selling point. While we are at it lets see how E-Verify has helped businesses in Arizona, which it should be noted is undergoing  an incredible economic downturn. State Senator Pearce has sold E-Verify as businesses friendly and a job grower, lets check the facts. The National Immigration Law Center has a fact sheet here:

Although E-Verify has been called a “fast and free program,” small businesses in Arizona have reported that it is difficult to use.20 Unlike large firms, they do not have human resources departments

• For example, Mike Castillo, owner of PostalMax of Scottsdale, signed up for E-Verify in 2008. When he wanted to hire a part-time worker, a technical glitch made it difficult to file the paperwork with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). “If you don’t have the luxury of a human resources staff, or large workforces to compensate for lost productivity while employees resolve errors. The start-up cost associated with technology purchases is absorbed more easily in larger companies than in small “mom and pop” operations.  E-Verify takes time away from your core business,” said Castillo.

• Data compiled by Bloomberg Government show it would have cost the nation’s employers $2.7 billion using E-Verify had been mandatory in fiscal year 2010. Small businesses would have borne the burden for
$2.6 billion of that amount.

• In a survey of employers who currently do not use E-Verify, 25 percent of small employers said that they were not enrolled due to lack of resources and 10 percent said that they lacked a computer with an Internet connection or had a slow connection.23 Nationwide, small businesses are roughly two and a half times as likely as the largest businesses to report insufficient access to high-speed Internet.

Cuellar And McCaul Release Legislation To Continue To Make Border Safer

Yesterday Congressmen Henry Cuellar (TX -28) and Michael McCaul (TX-10) sent legislation to a vote in the House Homeland Security Committee which would help continue to lower allready historically low levels of violence along the border while also increasing interagency co-operation to enhance security measures.

The legislation is named after Agent Jaime Zapata who was murdered in Mexico in pursuit of drug dealers.

The legislation is called Jaime Zapata Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) Act of 2011, H.R. 915,

Essentially what this legislation does is allocate funds to enhance uses of The BEST Unit:

BEST units may be comprised of Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Coast Guard, and other law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, tribal, local and international level. The units will have authority to investigate, apprehend and prosecute individuals engaged in drug trafficking, arms smuggling, human smuggling and trafficking, violence and kidnapping along borders.

Below is further background information on the Best Prgrogram:

  • In July 2005, ICE, in partnership with CBP, as well as other federal, state, local and foreign law enforcement officials expanded its ongoing Border Crimes Initiative by creating a multi-agency initiative called Operation Blackjack (predecessor to the BEST), to address the increased violence along the Southwest border with Mexico.
  • In 2006, DHS formally adopted the BEST initiative as a DHS task force in order to leverage federal, state, local, tribal and foreign law enforcement and intelligence resources in an effort to identify, disrupt, and dismantle organizations that seek to exploit vulnerabilities along the U.S. borders and threaten the overall safety and security of the American public.
  • The BEST Act of 2011 has been referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security, which Congressman Cuellar is a member of. He also serves as the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, which has direct jurisdiction over border security.   

America's Top Cop William Bratton On Security Improvements Along The Southwest Border

NDN was fortunate enough to be invited down to Arizona, to talk to local law enforcement officials regarding their views on what is happening along the border between Mexico and the United States.  Over the next couple of days we will be putting videos up on the blog of some of our conversations with said law enforcement officials.

The first person we were able to talk to was William Bratton, who is currently the Vice President of Kroll Security Consulting. Bratton began his law enforcement career in 1970, and has served as Los Angeles Police Department Chief, Chief of the New York City Transit Police, Boston Police Commissioner, and New York City Police Commissioner. Please feel free to watch the video below:

The Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy Estimates Positive Contribution Of Immigrants To State and Local Taxes

The Immigration Policy Center  has a great piece up on the positive economic impact that undocumented immigrants have on local and state economies. The full post can be seen here, quotes and some handy statistics and graphs below:

The Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy  (ITEP) has estimated the state and local taxes paid in 2010 by households that are headed by unauthorized immigrants. These households may include members who are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants.  Collectively, these households paid $11.2 billion in state and local taxes.  That included:

  • $1.2 billion in personal income taxes,
  • $1.6 billion in property taxes
  • $8.4 billion in sales taxes. 

The states receiving the most tax revenue from households headed by unauthorized immigrants were:

  1. California ($2.7 billion)
  2. Texas ($1.6 billion)
  3. Florida ($806.8 million)
  4. New York ($662.4 million)
  5. Illinois ($499.2 million)

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