Border Security: Inspections Practices, Policies, and Issues

Publication Date: October 2004

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Government

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Abstract:

The United States now has a unified inspections operation at the borders; a single inspector is charged with examining people, animals, plants, goods, and cargo upon entry to the country. The transfer of these functions to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) marks a significant policy shift for all of these functions, clarifying that -- although there are important commercial, economic, health, humanitarian, and immigration responsibilities -- ensuring the security of our borders is the top priority. The decision by DHS officials to further integrate the inspection duties so that there is "one face at the border" now means that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspectors are essentially interchangeable and responsible for all primary inspections. A range of legal, administrative, and policy issues have emerged with unified border inspections. The bills implementing the 9/11 Commission recommendations (S. 2845, H.R. 10, S. 2774/H.R. 5040 and H.R. 5024) have various provisions affecting border inspections.

CBP inspectors are charged with enforcing a host of laws. Immigration law requires the inspection of all aliens who seek entry into the United States, and every person is inspected to determine citizenship status and admissibility. All goods being imported into the United States are subject to a customs inspection, but an actual physical inspection of all goods is not required. There also are laws that subject animals and plants to border inspections. This report provides a discussion of these various laws and the procedural differences in what constitutes an "inspection."

Border inspections conducted each year number in the hundreds of millions. Prior to the creation of CBP, the Department of Justice's immigration inspectors did most passenger inspections -- peaking at 534 million in FY2000 -- since all foreign nationals seeking entry into the United States must be inspected. In terms of customs inspections, approximately 22.6% of rail containers; 5.2% of sea containers; and 15.1% of trucks entering the United States were physically inspected. Unlike customs and immigration inspections data, animal and plant health inspections data enumerate only those passengers referred to secondary inspections for the purpose of an agricultural inspection. There were 44 million animal and plant inspections in FY2002.

Border inspections are funded through a combination of federal discretionary appropriations and user fees. In FY2004, CBP was given budget authority of $2,496 million for border security, inspections, and trade facilitation at ports of entry. Historic funding data for inspections are not comparable across the "legacy" agencies as the budget data often included activities in addition to the inspection functions.

Some argue that this reorganization of border inspections has been long needed and is resulting in a more streamlined and efficient set of procedures at the border with a clear, single, chain of command. Others warn that the different types of inspections are quite complex in their own right and that the reorganization is exacerbating the conflicting priorities at the border, ultimately resulting in many more people and goods being sent to secondary inspections.