Immigration Policy And The Terrorist Threat In Canada And The United States

"In June 2007, the Fraser Institute held a conference in Toronto, Ontario, titled, "Immigration Policy, Border Controls, and the Terrorist Threat In Canada and the United States."The chapters in this volume, which arose from this conference, raise fundamental questions about weaknesses in Canada's current immigration policies and procedures." "The contributors to this volume identify serious threats and weaknesses in the immigration, asylum, and border regimes from both Canadian and American perspectives. The authors are not opposed to effectively managed immigration or allowing genuine refugees who pose no security threat to enter the country through a well-vetted system. All believe that the vast majority of immigrants pose no danger, but are simply seeking to improve their freedom and prosperity. Nevertheless given the stakes raised by terrorist attacks, the entry of even a small number of potentially dangerous individuals should warrant major attention and policy review."--BOOK JACKET.

Papers from a conference, The Security of Freedom, held at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto on Nov. 9-10, 2001.

Immigration policy in the United States, Europe, and the Commonwealth went under the microscope after the terror attacks of 9/11 and the subsequent events in London, Madrid, and elsewhere. We have since seen major changes in the bureaucracies that regulate immigration—but have those institutional dynamics led to significant changes in the way borders are controlled, the numbers of immigrants allowed to enter, or national asylum policies? This book examines a broad range of issues and cases in order to better understand if, how, and why immigration policies and practices have changed in these countries in response to the threat of terrorism. In a thorough analysis of border policies, the authors also address how an intensification of immigration politics can have severe consequences for the social and economic circumstances of national minorities of immigrant origin.

The events of 9/11 turned North American politics upside down. US policy makers focused less on how they could better integrate the economies of Mexico, Canada, and the United States and more on security and sovereignty. Security experts tend to view the events that followed within a bilateral framework. Game Changer broadens the canvas examining how America’s desire to keep its two borders closed to threats but open to trade has influenced Canada and Mexico. The contributors draw on international relations theory to examine and explain not only how post-911 security policy has transformed relations between the three countries but also how policy makers can reconcile the need for greater regional cooperation in the security realm with national autonomy in other areas of life. By adopting a truly North American, or trilateral, framework, this challenging and authoritative volume suggests new approaches to security in the post-9/11 world.

Borders are critical to the development and survival of modern states, offer security against external threats, and mark public policy and identity difference. At the same time, borders, and borderlands, are places where people, ideas, and economic goods meet and intermingle. The United States-Canada border demonstrates all of the characteristics of modern borders, and epitomises the debates that surround them. This book examines the development of the US-Canada border, provides a detailed analysis of its current operation, and concludes with an evaluation of the border’s future. The central objective is to examine how the border functions in practice, presenting a series of case studies on its operation. This book will be of interest to scholars of North American integration and border studies, and to policy practitioners, who will be particularly interested in the case studies and what they say about the impact of border reform.

The author examines the consequences of September 11 in Canada, including : an assessment of anti-terrorism measures such as the Anti-terrorism Act; the Smart Border agreement; Canadian participation in the war in Afghanistan; changes to refugee policy; the 2001 Security Budget; and the proposed Public Safety Act. He also looks at opposition the Anti-terrorism Act, warns that exceptions to legal principles made to fight terrorism may spread to attempts to combat other crimes, and suggests that Canadian law may not provide adequate protection against invasions of privacy, or discriminatory profiling of people as potential terrorists. Other topics covered include : the challenge September 11 presents for Canadian sovereignty on key components of foreign, military, and immigration policy; the possibility that Canadian Forces participated in violations of international law in Afghanistan; the threat of nuclear and biological terrorism; and aviation safety.

On both sides of the Atlantic, restrictive immigration policies have been framed as security imperatives since the 1990s. This trend accelerated in the aftermath of 9/11 and subsequent terrorist attacks in Europe. In Frontiers of Fear, Ariane Chebel d’Appollonia raises two central questions with profound consequences for national security and immigration policy: First, does the securitization of immigration issues actually contribute to the enhancement of internal security? Second, does the use of counterterrorist measures address such immigration issues as the increasing number of illegal immigrants, the resilience of ethnic tensions, and the emergence of homegrown radicalization? Chebel d’Appollonia questions the main assumptions that inform political agendas in the United States and throughout Europe, analyzing implementation and evaluating the effectiveness of policies in terms of their stated objectives. She argues that the new security-based immigration regime has proven ineffective in achieving its prescribed goals and even aggravated the problems it was supposed to solve: A security/insecurity cycle has been created that results in less security and less democracy. The excesses of securitization have harmed both immigration and counterterrorist policies and seriously damaged the delicate balance between security and respect for civil liberties.

Includes statistical tables and graphs.