About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (October 23, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govenfs0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional R a esearch Service Barriers Along the U.S. Border: Key Authorities and Recent Developments October 23, 2023 On October 5, 2023, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas invoked Section 102(c) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), waiving requirements under twenty-six federal statutes to expedite construction of twenty miles of barriers and related infrastructure along the U.S.-Mexico border. Secretary Mayorkas said that the waiver did not signal a new Administration policy with respect to border walls. From day one, the Secretary continued, that policy had been that a border wall is not the answer. Secretary Mayorkas's waiver determination is the latest development in border barrier construction. The Trump Administration identified more than $16 billion to construct barriers from amounts originally available to the Departments of Defense (DOD), Treasury, and Homeland Security (DHS). It also issued several Section 102(c) waivers to facilitate construction. The Biden Administration, by contrast, largely ceased barrier construction, canceling certain construction contracts while generally suspending others. Different Congresses have also placed more or less emphasis on barrier construction. Over the years, Congress specified barrier miles that the Secretary of Homeland Security (the Secretary) had to construct, and lawmakers have repeatedly modified the Secretary's discretion over the location and characteristics of those barriers. Congress has also varied how it makes appropriations for barrier construction, sometimes expressly setting aside funds for fence or barrier system construction. This Sidebar examines the Secretary's October 2023 waiver in light of the statutes that authorize and fund barrier construction. Authorization to Construct Barriers Before 1996, federal immigration statute did not expressly authorize, much less expressly require, construction of barriers to deter unlawful migration. Still, the federal government had erected barriers for this purpose, apparently relying on the Attorney General's general statutory responsibility to guard the boundaries and borders of the United States against the illegal entry of aliens. (In 2003, Congress vested this responsibility in the Secretary.) In 1996, Congress passed IIRIRA. Section 102 of the statute (classified to the U.S. Code as a note to 8 U.S.C. @ 1103) expressly instructs immigration authorities to construct barriers along the international land borders to deter unauthorized migration. Congress last amended Section 102 in 2007. The statute now expressly authorizes border barrier construction; imposes Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB11059 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most