BORDER CONTROL AND SECURITY

Border control means measures adopted by a country to regulate and monitor its
borders.
 depicts a country’s physical demonstration of territorial sovereignty
 regulates the entry and exit of people, animals and goods across a country’s
border
 aims at fighting terrorism and detecting the movement of criminals across the
borders
 also regulates both legal and illegal immigration, collects excise taxes, prevents
smuggling of illegal and hazardous material such as weapons, drugs, or
endangered species, and prevents the spread of human or animal diseases
The degree of strictness at a border control varies depending upon the country and the
border concerned.

Border controls are measures taken by a country or a bloc of countries to monitor

its borders in order to regulate the movement of people, animals and goods.

Philippine Borders and Customs Security Concerns

The Philippines, being an archipelago, has no land borders with neighboring countries.
Unlike some countries in Northern Africa like Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and
Egypt, that have problems with porous borders between countries, the Philippines is
spared of that kind of border problem. However, while these North African countries
share the same stretch of coastline along the Mediterranean Sea, the length of their
individual coastlines are more manageable to protect (Morocco 1835 kms; Algeria, 1000
kms; Tunisia 1148 kms; Libya, 1770 kms; and Egypt, 2000 kms) compared with the
Philippines’ total coastline of 36,289 kms.

The Philippine Coast Guard had requested for an increase in procurement

of Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) to increase border security due to the increase in
sea-based illegal activities such as drug smuggling, human trafficking, marine animal
trade, poaching and intrusions into the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ),
which is about 200 nm from the Philippine coastline shelf. Most of these illegal activities
have been traced to mainland China, some to Taiwanese and Vietnamese fishermen,
and to Islamic forces in the south of Mindanao. About 9 Chinese drug cartels
called Triads have been involved in most illegal drug trade in the Philippines (R.
Ramirez 2016). The U.S. Department of State found out that Chinese drug cartels are
behind the trade of methamphetamine hydrochloride (crystal meth or Shabu) in the
Philippines (P. Ranada 2016).

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 The border patrols that make use of fast Offshore Patrol Vessels OPVs are very adept
at catching vessels loaded with smuggled goods entering our open waters, but the
shipments keep continuing to enter our maritime borders and in an increasing number,
as if to exasperate the border patrol agents.

Within the Bureau of Customs, there is the Enforcement Group that exercises policy
authority at all ports, taking charge of customs border control, port security and
communication, as well as inspection and monitoring of cargoes. Whenever massive
smuggling has transpired within our marine ports or airports, it is because of rampant
corruption in Customs, and what ensues after following the tracks of the smuggled
goods is a homeland security problem later. The Bureaus of Customs, Immigration,
and Investigation offices must be especially vigilant during these uncertain times
when drug trafficking and movement of humans may take place using the front door of
Customs and Immigration, rather than attempt to penetrate through porous holes in
maritime borders in the rough open seas. Inter-agency support is therefore crucial.

Having secure borders is critical and essential to economic prosperity, national

sovereignty, and homeland security. Border security is responsible for the control and
examination of what enters and leaves a country. This is quite important due to current
terrorist threats and organized crime infiltrating our country. We must protect our
borders from the illegal movement of weapons, drugs, contraband goods, and people,
while promoting lawful entry and exit.

The Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) program seeks to help partner
countries build effective national strategic trade control systems. In the Philippines,
EXBS partners with the government on improving border security capabilities,
strengthening the strategic trade management system, and improving capabilities in
preventing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Border patrol agent means an agent with Customs and Border Patrol which is a unit of
the Border and Transportation Security Directorate of the Department of Homeland
Security. The primary mission of border patrol agent is preventing the entry of terrorists
and terrorist weapons, including weapons of mass destruction to the U.S.

Borders are geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such

as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities.
Borders are established through agreements between political or social entities that
control those areas; the creation of these agreements is called boundary delimitation.

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 aspects of border control

Quarantine - Quarantine policies exist to control the spread of disease. When applied as a
component of border control, such policies focus primarily on mitigating the entry of infected individuals,
plants, or animals into a country.

Customs - Each country has its own laws and regulations for the import and export of goods into and
out of a country, which its customs authority enforces. The import or export of some goods may be
restricted or forbidden, in which case customs controls enforce such policies. Customs enforcement at
borders can also entail collecting excise tax and preventing the smuggling of dangerous or illegal goods.
A customs duty is a tariff or tax on the importation (usually) or exportation (unusually) of goods.
In many countries, border controls for arriving passengers at many international airports and some road
crossings are separated into red and green channels in order to prioritise customs enforcement. Within
the European Union’s common customs area, airports may operate additional blue channels for
passengers arriving from within that area. For such passengers, border control may focus specifically on
prohibited items and other goods that are not covered by the common policy. Luggage tags for checked
luggage travelling within the EU are green-edged so they may be identified. In most EU member states,
travellers coming from other EU countries within the Schengen Area can use the green lane, although
airports outside the Schengen Area or with frequent flights arriving from jurisdictions within Schengen but
outside the European Union may use blue channels for convenience and efficiency.

Customs area - A customs area is an area designated for storage of commercial goods that have not
cleared border controls for customs purposes. It is surrounded by a customs border. Commercial goods
not yet cleared through customs are often stored in a type of customs area known as a bonded
warehouse, until processed or re-exported. Ports authorised to handle international cargo generally
include recognised bonded warehouses.
For the purpose of customs duties, goods within the customs area are treated as being outside the
country. This allows easy transshipment to a third country without customs authorities being involved. For
this reason, customs areas are usually carefully controlled and fenced to prevent smuggling. However,
the area is still territorially part of the country, so the goods within the area are subject to other local laws
(for example drug laws and biosecurity regulations), and thus may be searched, impounded or turned
back.
The term is also sometimes used to define an area (usually composed of several countries) which form
a customs union, a customs territory, or to describe the area at airports and ports where travellers are
checked through customs.

Duty-free shops - Common at international airports and occasionally at seaports or land crossings,
duty-free shops sell products tax-free to customers who have cleared exit border controls prior to
boarding an international flight and, in some airports, to passengers arriving from overseas. Most
countries impose limits on how much of each type of duty-free goods, may be purchased by each
passenger. The airport with the most duty-free sales is Seoul Incheon Airport with US$1.85 billion in
2016. Dubai International Airport is second, recording transactions worth $1.82 billion in 2016.

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 Border security - Border security measures are border control policies adopted by
a country or group of countries to fight against unauthorised travel or trade across its
borders, to limit illegal immigration, combat transnational crime, and prevent wanted
criminals from travelling.
Protecting our borders from the illegal movement of weapons, drugs, contraband, and
people, while promoting lawful trade and travel, is essential to homeland security,
economic prosperity, and national sovereignty.

Border zones - Border zones are areas near borders that have special restrictions on movement.
Governments may forbid unauthorised entry to or exit from border zones and restrict property
ownership in the area

Immigration policy - Immigration policy is the aspect of border control concerning the transit
of people into a country, especially those that intend to stay and work in the country. Often, racial or
religious bias is tied to immigration policy. Taxation, tariff and trade rules set out what goods
immigrants may bring with them, and what services they may perform while temporarily in the
country. Investment policy sometimes permits wealthy immigrants to invest in businesses in
exchange for favourable treatment and eventual naturalisation.

Airport transit areas - The international zone in an international airport is the area where arriving
international passengers have not formally entered the country by clearing arrival customs and
immigration controls, and departing passengers have formally exited the country by clearing exit
immigration control. Transit passengers can take connecting international flights in the international
zone without clearing customs and immigration controls, and in most cases do not require
a visa. Some countries, however, require transit passengers of certain nationalities to hold a direct
airside transit visaeven when they would not need to pass through border controls.

Importance of Border Security

Border security is an essential component of national security. It is more than just

restricting territorial access through immigration reform. It also protects states against
illegal movement of drugs, weapons, and contraband. Since the formation of sovereign
nations, this has been a core action within states, and is seen as one of the most
ambitious expansion of power in modern history. According to the Department of
Homeland Security, border security is, “the act of protecting our borders from illegal
movement of weapons, drugs, contraband, and people, while promoting lawful entry
and exit, is essential to homeland security, economic prosperity, and national
sovereignty” (2015). Due to growing violence by nonstate groups and transnational
terrorism, there has been an overwhelming increase of focus on border security to
combat recent national security issues. Weak and porous borders permit easy entrance
into the US for terrorists and smugglers. While completely sealing the border is not

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 feasible at this time, the ultimate goal is to reduce the possibility of dangerous people
crossing the border (Koslowski, 2011).

Effective border security will help keep out criminal activity, terrorists, contraband, drugs
and other public safety threats. Additionally, it will allow us finally to start making real
and effective immigration system reforms. As over 800,000 cases sit in our country's
immigration court, it is obvious we are not able to effectively and efficiently grant asylum
to those who truly need it or take up cases that have waited their fair share of time to
have a chance at legally entering. The time is now, and it starts with securing our
borders.

Border Security

In an era when countries and their populations are increasingly exposed to the
opportunities and risks associated with the ever-expanding global movement of people,
policymakers are rethinking approaches to border controls and border management.
These policies and programs run the gamut—from facilitating the legitimate movement
of people and trade to thwarting the unauthorized movement of humans and
contraband, the latter a significant preoccupation in the post-9/11 era and as publics
have become ever less accepting of illegal immigration. The research offered here
examines the management of borders, enforcement policies and initiatives, and
technologies used in pursuit of border security.

Border Enforcement

Border enforcement is more than its widely perceived role of border guards patrolling
external boundaries and inspectors admitting traffic through ports of entry. While those
are key components, border enforcement represents a more holistic function,
integrating resources and information at and between all ports of entry—whether air,
land, or sea—with consular operations abroad and more. The research presented here
examines these varied facets.

Smuggling & Trafficking

Smugglers and traffickers—of human beings as well as illicit drugs and other
contraband—are among the “bad actors” who facilitate and profit from illegality. As
governments make massive investments in immigration controls, there is a growing
demand for ever more sophisticated and creative means to circumvent border controls.
The research here focuses on the roles played by trafficking and smuggling

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 organizations, the repercusssions of their activities, and the exploitation and abuse of
individual migrants and trafficked persons.

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