Securing the US Border Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Securing the US Border - Term Paper Example A lot of other technological measures were also taken to enhance border security. On September 11, 2001, two towers fell, but a nation of millions rose as one. The aftermath of the terrorist attacks was massive. It defied the whole foundation of US border security. People were left feeling unsafe in their own homes. The terrorist attacks cut a huge swath across the US policy landscape, ranging from major military and foreign policy actions to the biggest reorganization of the federal government since shortly after the end of World War II. Since the hijackers entered the country through legally issued visas, immigration was automatically linked with terrorism and border security. As a result, the structures of the federal immigration bureaucracy and immigration policies at the borders and within the US interior have been dramatically reshaped, along with other border security measures and economic policies. 9/11 was an attack on the democracy and the open economy of the US. US and Canada share a border that stretches across 8,893 kilometers of land and three oceans, and the US and Mexico share a border that is extended for 3141 km(Universalium,2010). It is the general consensus of the American population that the Mexican-US border needs to be more secure as to stop the smuggling of drugs and illegal immigrants but Senator Lieberman, in a report emphasized that the Canadian border should be more secure as there are more extremist Islamist families living in Canada. Border patrolling dates back to as early as 1904, when mounted watchmen patrolled the border to prevent illegal Chinese immigrants. Now, border security is just not limited to patrolling watchmen, but also includes biometric scans, lasers, virtual fence, cameras, motion detectors, and sensors.