Immigration Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

Immigration Law - Essay Example The effectiveness of these three key features of the 2009 Act depends on politics and in some cases implementation. It is only along these lines that these three features will have an impact on present or future life in the UK. Border Control Part I of BCIA 2009 deals with the control of the UK’s borders (Border, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, Part I). The simplification for travellers to Britain including returning residents follows from the government’s intention to provide for a â€Å"unified border force† under the auspices of the UK Border Agency (Millington and Williams 2010, p. 597). Essentially, the unified border force enables immigration officers to also assume the role of customs officers. This means that a single agency is responsible for detecting and detecting exploitation of immigration and customs laws at the UK’s ports of entry (Vine 2010, p. 3). For this present transfer of border checks to a single agency means that daily travelle rs will be spared having to report to two separate check points upon entering the UK. Traditionally, travellers had to present themselves to both immigration and customs officers in order to be cleared for entry. ... Moreover, the UK Border Agency works together with Law Enforcement and within the framework of the UK Counter Terrorism Strategy for the purpose of detecting and preventing entrants to the UK who may cause harm to the UK or its citizens (Grimwood 2009, p. 3). This degree of border security comes with a political climate where border security has grown in importance since the 11 September 2001 terror attacks in the US. This is evidenced by the tightened border security enlisted by Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 and the Borders Act 2007. Both act enhanced the authority for the control of immigration. Section 21 of the 2009 Act permits the exchange of information between the UK Border Agency and other government agencies (Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, Section 21). The degree to which the UK Border Agency is permitted to share and exchange intelligence and information on travellers with law enforcement and other agencies at home and abroad, opens up the pos sibility that returning residents and foreigners will be vulnerable to intense scrutiny and invasion of privacy. Contacts at home and abroad may also come under intense scrutiny and be subjected to invasion of privacy should a traveller or returning resident with whom they are connected come under investigation or suspicion by the UK Border Agency or one of its partners. There is also a risk of discrimination and racial profiling as political and public concerns over the threat of terrorism persist (Vine 2010, p. 3). Together with the transfer to the Border Agency of the intrusive strip, search and entry powers previously granted to customs (Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, Section 26), the risk of invasion of privacy and