Paper Example on Responsibilities and Powers of the Border Force Officers

In the United Kingdom, the Border Force Officers undertake their responsibilities and execute their powers under the laws set for the purpose of border and immigration controls. The officers are in the lower hierarchy, operating under the authority and leadership of the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (Boheim and Muehlberger, 2010). This paper thereby proposes a secondary study, which will endeavor to employ the already existing information in analyzing the roles and powers of the UKs Border Force Officers in executing their daily responsibilities. It will analyze their general responsibilities and powers (both immigration and customs powers) as set by the 1971 and 2009 Acts of the UK Border Force policies and regulations.

According to Albert et al. (2012), the UKs Border Force Officers are in charge of the border security, controlling the entry and exit of people and goods across the Kingdoms borders, both on land and at the seas. Through the roles and responsibilities imposed on them by the policies from the Home Office, the officers are in direct control of the movement of people and goods across the borders. They check the immigration status of individuals entering and exiting the UK (Anderson, 2015). As well, they are in charge of gathering intelligence for the unions administration through searching vehicles, cargos, as well as sea vessels for any illegal entry of illicit goods and illegal immigrants, thereby alerting the police and security departments for the interest and safety of the UK citizens and legal foreigners as well.

Under the powers conferred upon them by the 1971 Immigration Act, the border force officers are empowered to arrest any suspected illegal immigrant and forward him/her for further questioning and assessment of his/her immigrant documentation. As well, these officers have the power to seize or forcefully grab any items or goods suspected to be illegal or for ill intentions, both at airports and seaports, and across the borderlines (Vaughan-Williams, 2016). These powers are bestowed upon them policies set by the 2009 Act on Borders, Citizenship, and Immigration. In conclusion, this dissertation proposal will explore deeper on the responsibilities and powers of the UK Border Force Officers, as bestowed on them by the unions laws and policies from the Border Force Home Office.

References

Albert, M., Diez, T., and Stetter, S. et al., 2012. The European Union and border conflicts: the power of integration and association. Cambridge University Press.

Anderson, B., 2015. Migration, immigration controls and the fashioning of precarious workers. Work, Employment and Society, 24(2), pp.300-317.

Boheim, R. and Muehlberger, U., 2010. Dependent Forms of Self-employment in the UK: Identifying Workers on the Border between Employment and Self-employment. Border Force and Immigration, 45(3), 79-87.

Vaughan-Williams, N., 2016. The UK border security continuum: virtual biopolitics and the simulation of the sovereign ban. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 28(6), pp.1071-1083.