Illegal Immigration, 2023 Statistics and a Blockchain Solution
Immigration and Verification Problems
The issue of illegal immigration is front and center in today’s political discourse, however, when you think about this topic it is not new to our society. Over the past 25 years, the question of border security, the exact number of individuals in the United States illegally, and how we can control both, has been at the forefront of civil and political dialogue, even more so with the upcoming elections. In consideration of these facts, the United States is now facing the inability to track migration and migrants from one country to another. Thus, the federal government is not able to verify the identities of individuals who have entered the country illegally, thereby rendering America’s immigration policy ineffective and weak.
Ramifications of Problem
There is no official measure of how many people succeed in illegally crossing the border, however, we do know that according to the Committee on Homeland Security.
Encounters at the Southwest border (SWB) in FY2023 increased over 40% since FY2021, 4% compared to FY2022, and more than 100% compared to FY2019, making last fiscal year the worst on record under the Biden administration.
• Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported a 40% increase compared to September 2021 and 18% compared to September 2022. This monthly number also represents an 86% increase from June 2023, when the Biden administration celebrated a short-lived drop in illegal crossings following the end of Title 42.
• In FY2023, 169 individuals whose names appear on the terrorist watchlist were stopped trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border between ports of entry. 18 were apprehended in September alone.
• FY2023 represents a 72% increase from FY2022 for apprehensions of individuals on the terrorist watchlist and is the most on record.
• Of these encounters, 218,763 individuals were apprehended attempting to cross illegally between ports of entry. This is a 20% increase since the previous month. • Encounters by the Office of Field Operations (OFO) in September increased 155% compared to September 2022.
• Around 43,000 inadmissible aliens were processed by OFO with CBP One app appointments in September. Almost all these inadmissible aliens will ultimately be released into the interior, regardless of whether they are granted parole or claim asylum.
• In response to a subpoena threat, the Committee on Homeland Security has received startling information and documents regarding the expanded use of the CBP One app by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
• In FY2023, 240,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans have been granted parole under the administration’s CHNV parole process at ports of entry nationwide. FY23 SWB ENCOUNTERS 2.47 million FY22 SWB ENCOUNTERS 2.37 million FY21 SWB ENCOUNTERS 1.73 million SEP SWB FY23 ENCOUNTERS 269,735 SEP SWB FY22 ENCOUNTERS 227,547 SEP SWB FY21 ENCOUNTERS 192,001
• Since President Biden took office, there have been 7.5 million encounters nationwide and 6.2 million encounters at the Southwest border, in addition to 1.7 million known got aways who evaded the U.S. Border Patrol. • In FY2023, family unit encounters increased 46% compared to FY2022 and 71% compared to FY2021.
• At the SW border in September 2023, CBP encountered 132,017 single adults, 123,815 family unit individuals, and 13,771 unaccompanied children along the southwest border.
• In FY2023, family unit encounters increased 46% compared to FY2022 and 71% compared to FY2021.
• In FY2023, 169 individuals whose names appear on the terrorist watchlist were stopped trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border between ports of entry. 18 were apprehended in September alone.
• FY2023 represents a 72% increase from FY2022 for apprehensions of individuals on the terrorist watchlist and is the most on record.
(Statistics taken from United States Houe of Representatives – Homeland Security- Republicans: https://homeland.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/September-Startling-Stats.pdf
While these numbers are staggering to many, the larger problem is not the number of illegal immigrants crossing the border, but it is the inability to verify their identities that is the true problem.
Blockchain Solution to the Problem
One of the solutions that can be applied to track identity would be to build a distributed blockchain network that would hold within it an international database of individuals. An example of this could be based on companies like Accenture and Microsoft, which are joining nonprofit organizations in a public-private alliance called ID2020. Their mission is to help achieve the UN goal of providing a legal identity to everyone, starting with the 1.1 billion people who lack any officially recognized proof of their existence.
Once built this self-sovereign system could serve as a complete digital identity wallet that would travel with the person. Consequently, this online digital identity wallet could be used to verify one’s status and criminal history. Thereby, Customs and Immigration agents would be able to determine who to let in and who should be turned away at the border. Furthermore, this would free up the immigration courts from the overload of trying to identify individuals before they appear in court since their identities would already have been verified on an immutable blockchain database.
This sort of system would further allow for use in numerous other cross-governmental systems, such as healthcare, welfare, and much more. Blockchain technology holds a tremendous amount of potential in the fight to secure countries and shore up immigration policies, and all that needs to be done is to change our outlook towards immigration. Instead of bricks being used to build walls, we should use blocks to build blockchains.