PAD 520 Week 4 Discussion 1 STRUCTURING THE PROBLEM

Border Security is one of the major policy issues in the United States of America. This policy issue describes the protection of the borders including land air and sea of the United States of America against the illegal movement of people, drugs, weapons and contraband while promoting lawful entry and exit. Protection of these borders will promote long-term understanding of the determinants and dynamics of immigration and foster international trade. Various stakeholders affect or are affected by the issue of border security. Those that affect border security include U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), U.S Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Other key players include federal, state and local agencies like the Department of Justice (DOJ), Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco. Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

The first step of stakeholder analysis involves the definition of the shared goal, which is also statement of the issue, concern or proposal at hand. The common goal shared by the stakeholders in border security listed above is to ensure that there is lawful entry and exit of people and goods through the borders of the United States. The stakeholders in charge of immigration and transportation security ensure that there is lawful movement of people across borders. The stakeholders that deal with customs and drug enforcement ensure that there is lawful movement of goods across borders. The department of Justice ensures that there is law enforcement and maintenance of law and order.

The second step of stakeholder analysis is the identification of stakeholders and a description of the stakeholder group. In this case, the broad stakeholder group for the goal stated above includes federal institutions or agencies involved in immigration, citizenship and customs. The stakeholders involved in these sectors are the most likely to influence the progress towards the common goal which is the achievement of border security. The next step is to analyze the relationships with each stakeholder, through analysis of their roles, interests, relative power and capacity to participate. The federal agencies concerned with immigration and citizenship such as U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will ensure that illegal immigrants do not get into the country. The agencies concerned with customs including U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will ensure there is inspection of all goods and cargo before they get into the country. These agencies work at the grassroots level to ensure border security. Therefore, their relative power and capacity to participate in ensuring border security is enormous.

The next step is to develop the engagement plan by mapping out the stakeholders in a matrix according to their interest and their level of power or influence. The agencies directly involved in customs and immigration and citizenship such as U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will rank highest in the matrix. This is because they have the greatest power and influence in this policy issue. The final step in stakeholder analysis for this policy is the assignment of actions to stakeholders based on their power and influence. In this step, there is assignment of actions to the five major stakeholders identified above for this policy issue based on the level of interest and the power of influence. The most important action goes to the most influential agency.

Worldviews, ideologies and popular myths may have shaped the issue of border security in various ways. There is a myth that increased border security would stem the flow of migrants significantly. There is an argument that enforcement of border security is not the primary determinant, rather, the social and economic factors in the home countries of the immigrants are more important. Another myth is that the people that flee into the United States of America are the poorest. It is apparent that coyotes that transport immigrants into the United States charge a lot of money and the poorest may not afford this kind of money. Those who decide to travel on their own often lose their possessions and worse, their lives as they attempt to cross the border.

References

Farah, D. (2014). Five Myths about the Border Crisis. The Washington Post.