HOMELAND SECURITY
Textbook Readings
- Cochran et al.: chs. 11–12
- Overview
Determining the proper way to conduct foreign policy is a difficult challenge. As you will learn, included in that debate is the question of the proper scope of Homeland Security, immigration, and other domestic problems that engage foreign policy discussions.
- Textbook Readings
- Cochran et al.: chs. 11–12
- Fischer (Presentation): “Homeland Security & Foreign Policy”
- Presentation: Homeland Security & Foreign Policy
Welcome to WEEK 7: HOMELAND SECURITY & FOREIGN POLICY
This week will focus on the confluence of homeland security and foreign policy. Obviously the two are distinct policy areas but also overlap quite a bit, and both relate to the Biblical premise that our inalienable rights should be protected. The Bible isn’t necessarily clear on the specifics about the extent which one nation should be involved in the affairs of another nation or the extent to which one nation should guard its borders. These are all complicated questions which we will discuss this week!
Module Learning Outcomes:
- Evaluate the key facets and challenges related to Homeland Security policies and foreign policy.
- Examine the key challenges related to immigration policy.
- Evaluate how these policy areas may or may not have competing goals.
- Evaluate the above with a biblical model of government and statesmanship.
Readings/Presentations:
Literature Assessment Assignment Instructions
Overview
Before a scholar can contribute to the academic literature, it is first necessary for that scholar to assess the existing literature. Ultimately, this assessment will be in the form of a thorough Literature Review, which may easily include several dozen sources.
When you write your dissertation, one full chapter will be devoted to an extensive Literature Review. At this point in your studies, you will be asked to complete a much briefer Literature Assessment. This assignment will be less comprehensive and less detailed than a full Literature Review, but it will help you begin to think a bit more broadly about a body of scholarly literature.
If you choose your literature thoughtfully, this assignment can be an important first step toward identifying and assessing literature that will be relevant to your dissertation.
Instructions
In this assignment you will assess ten or more scholarly sources relevant to a topic that you may research for your dissertation. These ten sources may include – but are not required to include – the sources you used in your Annotated Bibliography assignment. Your Literature Assessment should:
- Explore common themes, assumptions, or approaches in the sources you cover;
- Assess common weaknesses or limitations in the sources you cover;
- Identify implications of your Literature Assessment for your future research.
- Are there common sources you see cited across this literature that seem to be highly influential and worth your attention?
- Are there common conclusions in this literature about future research that might be warranted?
- Are there common errors or oversights that may need to be corrected?
Your Literature Assessment assignment should be presented in current Turabian format. It should be at least eight pages of content in length, not including your cover page.
Solution
Homeland Security and Foreign Policy
Common Themes
In 9/11, extremists demonstrated their dedication to killing American citizens and attacking the US society at every opportunity. With the government establishing new measures and policies to prevent a similar incident, the post 9/11 war on terror has presented the US with unprecedented dangers and challenges. On the other hand, it presents the US with opportunities to make the necessary changes on its national security, band together the people of good will like never before, and see a recommitment to its citizens’ basic roots as a people and culture[1]. Therefore, the protection of the American homeland against those dedicated and planning to harm remains a critical element of the war on terror. Of interest is the homeland security that helps the US come to grips with full security issues through securing its borders, making sure that those visiting the country are not or have no history of been involved in criminal and terrorist activities and following up that those who apply for visas such as students are carrying out their initial stated pursuits. Despite the costs of increased security, homeland security is essential for protecting the nation’s population and economy. Furthermore, alongside ensuring that large gatherings such as political and sports events are secure, the US must protect its national infrastructure. Through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), there has been significant progress in these areas, but the meaning of a resilient, safe and secure homeland is changing from just prevention against terrorist attacks to a homeland that protects Americans’ privacy and liberties and is prepared for cyberattacks, pandemics, disasters and other international threats[2]. However, years after 9/11, the US continues to struggle with strategies to enhance homeland security.
At first, while acknowledging the legitimate need for the US through the DHS to protect its borders and address the issue of the many unauthorized immigrants in the country and those trying to get in, there has been more immigration legislation that exclusively focuses on border security and enforcement. However, according to Johnson and Bernard, this immigration legislation has failed to approach the issue through the root causes of illegal immigration and provides inadequate opportunities for legal immigrants such as non-citizens desperate to reunite with or provide for their families[3]. There has been a continuous rejection of immigration reform proposals to avoid the laws that tear families apart or undermine human dignity and adopt laws consistent with American values such as compassion, justice and family found in the history of the US[4]. In biblical hospitality, every believer and community should have this basic virtue. Stretching out beyond friend and family, the hospitality demanded by God in the Scriptures requires individuals to eliminate the walls that separate them from needy strangers welcome them as honored guests by offering protection, food, shelter and companion. The narratives found in Genesis 18-19 and Joshua 2-16 suggests that a stranger could be God’s agent of God Himself, and there is a reward of a comfortable gift of life for life-saving hospitality. As Meissner et al. states, alongside the lack of moral attention for immigration laws and policy, the rising debate on this issue confirms that these American practices, laws and policies towards illegal immigrants and non-citizens raise ethical and moral concerns about what most of the American population feel very strongly[5]. With millions of undocumented immigrants living in the US and hundreds of thousands of immigrants trying to enter the country, some die trying to cross the border under harsh and risky conditions, and others end up in lengthy and painful separation from their families[6]. Therefore, as much as the US, through homeland security, needs to protect its borders, immigration laws remains a critical theme.
[1] Painter, W. L. “Selected issues in homeland security policy for the 115 th Congress. Congressional Research Service. Washington.” (2017).
[2] Painter, W. L. Selected issues in homeland security policy for the 115 th Congress.
[3] Johnson, Kevin R., and Bernard Trujillo. “Immigration reform, national security after September 11, and the future of North American integration.” Immigr. & Nat’lity L. Rev. 28 (2007), p. 575.
[4] Johnson, Kevin R., and Bernard Trujillo. Immigration reform, national security after September 11, and the future of North American integration, p. 575.
[5] Meissner, Doris M., Donald M. Kerwin, Muzaffar Chishti, and Claire Bergeron. Immigration enforcement in the United States: The rise of a formidable machinery. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2013.
[6] Hanson, Gordon Howard. The economics and policy of illegal immigration in the United States. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2009.McCormick, Elizabeth, and Patrick McCormick. “Hospitality: How a Biblical Virtue Could Transform United States Immigration Policy.” U. Det. Mercy L. Rev. 83 (2005): 857.