In this article, we explore methodological difficulties related to proving racial profiling, specifically in the context of §287(g) and Secure Communities enforcement. How it is that critical immig...

Rethinking the “Gold Standard” of Racial Profiling: §287(g), Secure Communities and Racially Discrepant Police Power:

The U.S.-Mexico border has been of particular interest to the Trump administration in its ongoing efforts to restrict immigration. Though unauthorized immigrants are the purported targets of measur...

Collateral Subjects: The Normalization of Surveillance for Mexican Americans on the Border:

In this era of growing immigration and debates about the U.S.-Mexico Border, the authors tackle a question that is growing in importance as the Border is at the forefront of national debate: Do peo...

On the (Racial) Border: Expressed Race, Reflected Race, and the U.S.-Mexico Border Context:

The Trump administration wants to increase the size of the US Border Patrol by hiring 5,000 more agents beyond the approximately 20,000 current agents, in addition to filling roughly 1,500 job vacancies Congress will likely lower the hiring standards for some applicants to help reach the president’s staffing goals Reports allege that corruption and misconduct are serious personnel problems at Border Patrol, but little direct evidence is available to evaluate the extent of such problems 
However, data from the Office of Personnel Management reveal that Border Patrol agents are more likely to be terminated for discipline or performance reasons than officers in other large federal law enforcement agencies (those with 5,000 or more officers) From 2006 to 2016, Border Patrol agents were twice as likely to be terminated for disciplinary infractions or poor performance as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and 49 percent more likely than Customs and Border Protection officers who work in the Office of Field Operations Border Patrol agents were 54 percent more likely than guards at the Bureau of Prisons to be terminated for disciplinary infractions or poor performance, 6 times as likely as Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, 71 times as likely as Drug Enforcement Administration agents, and 129 times as likely as Secret Service agents

Border Patrol Termination Rates: Discipline and Performance Problems Signal Need for Reform

I analyze the effects of immigration enforcement by the U.S. Border Patrol on the sorting and commuting patterns of Hispanics. Using a regression discontinuity design based on a 100-Mile Border Zone, which permits Border Patrol agents to conduct warrantless searches within 100 air miles of the U.S. border, I find that the share of Hispanics in southwestern states increases outside the Border Zone. This sorting effect disappears, however, when focusing on within-county differences in shares of Hispanics. I also find no significant commuting effect on Hispanics at the 100-mile cutoff. On the contrary, I show that Hispanics near Border Patrol checkpoints inside the Border Zone exhibit significantly different commuting patterns, commuting at lower probabilities toward checkpoints and over shorter distances than non-Hispanics.

Border Enforcement and the Sorting and Commuting Patterns of Hispanics

This Note analyzes interior immigration checkpoints following the US Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, which upheld the use of checkpoints for the narrow purpose of conducting brief, routine questioning of persons traveling within the United States in order to verify a person’s citizenship and immigration status. The Court’s holding, however, has been broadened by Border Patrol officials to cover other law enforcement functions such as apprehending narcotics and weapons. This broader use of the checkpoints “subverts the rationale of Martinez-Fuerte and turns a legitimate administrative search into a massive violation of the [Constitution].” This Note makes several proposals that could curtail the abusive practices that have taken place at the checkpoints since the Court’s decision in Martinez-Fuerte. First, it recommends that Congress install an ombudsman with the purpose of overseeing border patrol operations at the checkpoints. The ombudsman would be primarily concerned with remedying the current lack of data surrounding activity at the checkpoint and documenting such activity in order for the information to be used to assess the checkpoints from a cost-benefit standpoint. Second, and somewhat an additional function of the ombudsman, this Note recommends that Congress and/or the Department of Homeland Security implement a readily-accessible complaint forum for individuals who suffer constitutional grievances at the checkpoints. Third, this Note recommends that border patrol adopt a monitoring system for regular travelers; namely, a mirror-like SENTRI system that requires extensive background checks and readily apparent ways for border patrol to identify trustworthy individuals at the checkpoints. Finally, this Note recommends that even if Congress or the agencies mentioned in the discussion fail to implement reformative measures to curtail abuse at the checkpoints, the United States Supreme Court should intervene in a future case involving the application of fundamental constitutional rights at the checkpoints in order to clarify whether it intended the checkpoints to effectively operate as crime checkpoints rather than immigration checkpoints. The former has resulted in millions of individuals forgoing the exercise of their constitutional rights within the United States at the mercy of the powerful arm of the government.

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The Praetorians: An Analysis of U.S. Border Patrol Checkpoints Following Martinez-Fuerte

/pdf/the-praetorians-an-analysis-of-u-s-border-patrol-checkpoints-m7y1daamvu.pdf

Jesus A. Osete

Papers

The Praetorians: An Analysis of U.S. Border Patrol Checkpoints Following Martinez-Fuerte

The Praetorians: An Analysis of U.S. Border Patrol Checkpoints Following Martinez-Fuerte