{ "id": "RL32705", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RL32705", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 315759, "date": "2005-04-07", "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:47:43.234029", "title": "Border and Transportation Security: Overview of Congressional Issues", "summary": "Enhancing border and transportation security (BTS) are essential strategies for improving and\nmaintaining homeland security. Border security entails regulating the flow of traffic across the\nnation's borders so that dangerous and unwanted goods and people are detected and denied entry.\nThis requires a sophisticated border management system that balances the need for securing the\nnation's borders with facilitating the essential free flow of legitimate commerce, citizens, and\nauthorized visitors. Transportation security involves securing the flow of people and goods along\nthe nation's highways, railways, airways, and waterways. (For more information on the complexity\nof the BTS challenge, see CRS Report RL32839 , Border and Transportation Security: The\nComplexity of the Challenge , by Jennifer E. Lake.) While in the immediate aftermath of 9/11\nefforts\nprimarily concentrated on an expanded federal role in aviation security (in particular on the\nheightened screening of passengers and baggage), increasingly attention is being turned towards\nother modes of transportation.\n The effective implementation of border and transportation security measures requires the\nparticipation of numerous agencies. Federal responsibility for border and transportation security\nefforts is primarily contained within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS's Border\nand Transportation Security Directorate houses: the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection\n(CBP), which has responsibility for security at and between ports-of-entry along the border; the\nBureau of Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE), which has responsibility for investigating\nand enforcing the nation's customs and immigration laws; and the Transportation Security\nAdministration (TSA), which is responsible for the security of the nation's transportation systems. \nThe U.S. Coast Guard is a stand-alone agency within DHS, and has primary responsibility for the\nmaritime components of homeland security (U.S. ports, coastal and inland waterways, and territorial\nwaters). DHS's Citizenship and Immigration Services Bureau (USCIS) is charged with approving\nimmigrant petitions. In addition, the Department of State's (DOS) Bureau of Consular Affairs is\nresponsible for issuing visas; and the Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Executive Office for\nImmigration Review (EOIR) has a significant policy role through its adjudicatory decisions on\nspecific immigration cases. For more information on border agencies, see CRS Report RS21899 ,\n Border Security: Key Agencies and Their Missions , by Blas Nunez-Neto. For more\ninformation on\ncurrent BTS programs and policies, see CRS Report RL32840 , Border and Transportation\nSecurity:\nSelected Programs and Policies , by Lisa Seghetti et al.\n This report provides a summary of the roles and responsibilities of various federal agencies\nengaged in border and transportation security activities; describes selected concepts and terms\nprominent in border and transportation security debates; and discusses selected issues that might be\nof interest to the 109th Congress. For more information on BTS policy options, see CRS Report RL32841 , Border and Transportation Security: Possible New Directions and Policy\nOptions , by\nWilliam Robinson et al. This report will be updated as significant developments occur.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL32705", "sha1": "6702f82ff821a1fddf333ccbccf616ebe2bef0a7", "filename": "files/20050407_RL32705_6702f82ff821a1fddf333ccbccf616ebe2bef0a7.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL32705", "sha1": "fdfc047d06853823247be2e0a838d3f918ec9910", "filename": "files/20050407_RL32705_fdfc047d06853823247be2e0a838d3f918ec9910.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs5996/", "id": "RL32705 2004-12-17", "date": "2004-12-17", "retrieved": "2005-06-11T22:26:25", "title": "Border and Transportation Security: Overview of Congressional Issues", "summary": "This report provides a summary of selected border and transportation security (BTS) concepts and issues that may be of interest to the 109th Congress. It is the product of contributions from CRS staff in the table contained later in this report labeled Key Policy Staff: Border and Transportation Security.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20041217_RL32705_ae59eafdffbcc369e8b78400dfbe57f156f57f54.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20041217_RL32705_ae59eafdffbcc369e8b78400dfbe57f156f57f54.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "International affairs", "name": "International affairs" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Transportation - U.S. - Security measures", "name": "Transportation - U.S. - Security measures" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Boundaries - U.S. - Security measures", "name": "Boundaries - U.S. - Security measures" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Transportation", "name": "Transportation" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Intelligence and National Security" ] }