Border Environment and the Role of Agencies

Running Head: BORDER ENVIRONMENT AND THE ROLE OF AGENCIES
Border Environment and the Role of Agencies
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BORDER ENVIRONMENT AND THE ROLE OF AGENCIES 2
Question 1
The terrorist attacks and commercial interdependence are some of the key factors that
have influenced the situation of the border management. From the attacks of 9/11, and within the
framework of operation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), an
unprecedented cooperation was developed to increase the surveillance of all export merchandise
transported to the US as well like millions of people who arrive in Mexico at international
airports (Wilson, 2014). The terrorists of September 11 entered the country legally, with tourist
visas, business visas and even a student visa. Several studies highlight that this fact unleashed a
direct link between immigration and terrorism. Five days before the terrorist attacks, the
presidents of the United States and Mexico, George W. Bush and Vicente Fox, took the first
steps towards immigration reform. But the attacks froze this reform (until today) and
immigration became a matter of national security. Before 9/11, immigration matters depended
mainly on the Department of Justice, and before the Department of Labor. Initially the
immigrants were seen as a labor issue, then legal and are currently seen in terms of security. In
2002, a year after the 9/11 bombings, a new department was created in the US government in
one of the most important reorganizations of the federal administration since the Second World
War was the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) (Bachmeier, 2013).
Similarly, the US-Mexico Border Partnership Agreement was signed, also called "Smart
Border", in order to allow, with the use of high-end gamma-ray technology, the revision of all
merchandise that It crosses the border and passes through border security ports. However, as was
emphasized by members of the Border Trade Alliance in 2004, the challenge is how to become
fully involved in the management and administration of border growth (Fernandes, Fernandes,
Hillberry & Mendoza, 2017).

BORDER ENVIRONMENT AND THE ROLE OF AGENCIES 3
The binational phenomenon exceeds the border security issue and includes the facilitation
of trade, the issue of integral border development and what concerns the orderly migratory flows
(Bachmeier, 2013). In sum, the binational economic and social development, as well as the
structure and dynamics of the rules of the cooperative game, lead to focus on the relevant
agencies and institutions that face constraints to achieve growth of well-being within the security
and facilitation link of the Commerce.
In 2005, the Association for Security and Prosperity of North America (SPP) was created,
which after only one year of operation has defined concrete actions separating the prosperity or
trade part from security especially in the US and Canada. Furthermore, in the case of the USA
and Canada, concrete processes were initiated for border infrastructure, customs coordination,
trade and transport standards, in the so-called "common security / common prosperity" concept.
However, it is important to note that the Association for Security and Prosperity of North
America does not replace the successful activities of NAFTA, the smart border initiative initiated
in 2002, or the free and secure trade initiative, which precede the SPP but are not comprehensive
like this one (Richardson, 2017).
Association for Security and Prosperity of North America covers the following aspects of
trilateral policy, bilaterally and cooperatively in each country: 1) Security working groups, under
the leadership of the US Department of Homeland Security, at the highest level, and 2) Working
groups on prosperity, under the leadership of the Department of Commerce, at the highest level
(Bachmeier, 2013). For the number of items, it would seem that there is more emphasis on the
prosperity agenda, but this does not necessarily correspond to reality, since the form of
relationship or rules of the game of security serve center-periphery visions, while those of
Prosperity or trade facilitation means using institutional structures that have been proven since