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Case Study: What Is The Fourth Amendment Exception As It Pertains To Secure The Border

Good Essays

1) Describe the challenges faced by US Customs and Border Protection agents attempting to secure the border. Be sure to include:


What is the functional equivalent of the border?
What is the Fourth amendment exception as it pertains to border searches?
How are seizure statistics used to justify the mission of border security?
There are many challenges faced by US Customs and Border Protection agents who are attempting to secure our nations border, including their range of operation and the rules and circumstances around border searches. Agents are only allowed to operate on the border or what is called the functional equivalent of the border, which is "generally the first practical detention point after a border crossing or the final port-of-entry" …show more content…

This creates a challenge for DHS with facilitating legal border crossings while maintaining secure borders. “Terrorist threats have pushed safety and security to the forefront of Government priorities” (US Customs and Border protection, 2009). Since illegal activities occur everyday at border crossings, the security is heightened. It is very challenging for agents to distinguish between suspicious activities and legitimate activities. People legally crossing at points of entry and physical borders are subject to the same routine or possibly non-routine checks that are intended to catch criminals and illegal activity. And since criminals and terrorists are always changing their ways, agents must always be adapting their security measures.
In order to deal with these challenges agencies are adapting and changing their ways of conducting operations. Using new surveillance technologies, drones, thermal imaging, and computer data software among other technologies, DHS is becoming more prepared for the task at hand. They are increasing the number of Border Patrol and CBP agents and have expanded their Air and Marine operations. But technology and manpower only can go so far when you have over 7,000 miles of land border and around 95,000 miles of shoreline to operate on and

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