Filed Under: Immigration, Resources, Top Stories
Tagged: border patrol, Department of Homeland Security, government
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Summary
The U.S. Border Patrol, part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP), operates checkpoints on U.S. roads, mainly in the southwest border states where most illegal entries occur. As part of a three-tiered strategy to maximize detection and apprehension of illegal aliens, Border Patrol agents at checkpoints screen vehicles for illegal aliens and contraband. GAO was asked to assess (1) checkpoint performance and factors affecting performance, (2) checkpoint performance measures, (3) community impacts considered in checkpoint placement and design, and (4) the impact of checkpoint operations on nearby communities. GAO work included a review of Border Patrol data and guidance; visits to checkpoints and communities in five Border Patrol sectors across four southwest border states, selected on the basis of size, type, and volume, among other factors; and discussions with community members and Border Patrol officials in headquarters and field locations.
Checkpoints have contributed to the Border Patrol’s ability to seize illegal drugs, apprehend illegal aliens, and screen potential terrorists; however, several factors have impeded higher levels of performance. Checkpoint contributions included over one-third of the Border Patrol’s total drug seizures, according to Border Patrol data. Despite these and other contributions, Border Patrol officials said that additional staff, canine teams, and inspection technology were needed to increase checkpoint effectiveness. Border Patrol officials said they plan to increase these resources. The Border Patrol established three performance measures to report the results of checkpoint operations, and while they provide some insight into checkpoint activity, they do not indicate if checkpoints are operating efficiently and effectively. In addition, GAO found that a lack of management oversight and unclear checkpoint data collection guidance resulted in the overstatement of checkpoint performance results in fiscal year 2007 and 2008 agency performance reports, as well as inconsistent data collection practices at checkpoints. These factors hindered management’s ability to monitor the need for program improvement. Internal control standards require that agencies accurately record and report data necessary to demonstrate agency performance, and that they provide proper oversight of these activities. The Border Patrol generally followed its guidelines for considering community safety and convenience in four recent checkpoint placement and design decisions, including the proposed permanent checkpoint on Interstate 19 in Arizona. Current and projected traffic volume was a key factor in the design of the proposed Interstate 19 checkpoint, but was not considered when determining the number of inspection lanes for three recently completed checkpoints in Texas due to a lack of guidance. Having explicit guidance on using current and projected traffic volumes could help ensure that future checkpoints are appropriately sized. Individuals GAO contacted who live near checkpoints generally supported their operations but expressed concerns regarding property damage that occurs when illegal aliens and smugglers circumvent checkpoints to avoid apprehension. The Border Patrol is not yet using performance measures it has developed to examine the extent that checkpoint operations affect quality of life in surrounding communities. The Border Patrol uses patrols and technology to detect and respond to circumventions, but officials said that other priorities sometimes precluded positioning more than a minimum number of agents on checkpoint circumvention routes. The Border Patrol has not documented the number of agents needed to address circumventions at the proposed I-19 checkpoint. Given the concerns of nearby residents regarding circumventions, conducting a workforce planning needs assessment at the checkpoint design stage could help ensure that resources needed for addressing such activity are planned for and deployed.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from “In process” to “Open,” “Closed – implemented,” or “Closed – not implemented” based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To improve the reliability and accountability of checkpoint performance results to the Congress and the public, the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection should establish milestones for determining the feasibility of a checkpoint performance model that would allow the Border Patrol to compare apprehensions and seizures to the level of illegal activity passing through the checkpoint undetected.
Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Border and Transportation Security: Bureau of Customs and Border Protection
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve the reliability and accountability of checkpoint performance results to the Congress and the public, the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection should establish internal controls for management oversight of the accuracy, consistency, and completeness of checkpoint performance data.Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Border and Transportation Security: Bureau of Customs and Border Protection
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve the reliability and accountability of checkpoint performance results to the Congress and the public, the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection should implement the quality of life measures that have already been identified by the Border Patrol to evaluate the impact that checkpoints have on local communities. Implementing these measures would include identifying appropriate data sources available at the local, state, or federal level, and developing guidance for how data should be collected and used in support of these measures.Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Border and Transportation Security: Bureau of Customs and Border Protection
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve the reliability and accountability of checkpoint performance results to the Congress and the public, the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection should use the information generated from the quality of life measures in conjunction with other relevant factors to inform resource allocations and address identified impacts.Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Border and Transportation Security: Bureau of Customs and Border Protection
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To ensure that the checkpoint design process results in checkpoints that are sized and resourced to meet operational and community needs, the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection should require that current and expected traffic volumes be considered by the Border Patrol when determining the number of inspection lanes at new permanent checkpoints, that traffic studies be conducted and documented, and that these requirements be explicitly documented in Border Patrol checkpoint design guidelines and standards.Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Border and Transportation Security: Bureau of Customs and Border Protection
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To ensure that the checkpoint design process results in checkpoints that are sized and resourced to meet operational and community needs, the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection should, in connection with planning for new or upgraded checkpoints, conduct a workforce planning needs assessment for checkpoint staffing allocations to determine the resources needed to address anticipated levels of illegal activity around the checkpoint.Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Border and Transportation Security: Bureau of Customs and Border Protection
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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Knowledge is Power and this page is just the start. Hispanics/Latinos are a growing diverse force in this country. Check out some of the 54,753 items found on this site below or dig into the Site Map
Best of the Rest
- November 21, 2009
- A federal judge dismissed dozens of immigration charges Thursday against the former manager of a kosher slaughterhouse, at the request of prosecutors who had already won a conviction on multiple counts of financial fraud. – Postville news
- Meg Whitman’s Latino Outreach & the Pete Wilson Connection – CA politics
- Poetry Series Spurs Debate on the Use of an Old Slur Against Latinos – “Spic Up/Speak Out” — at El Museo del Barrio
- Marco Rubio, A Crossover Success – (good read)
- A fire destroyed 106 houses in the Ecuadorian Pacific coast city of Guayaquil and left more than 500 people homeless, as well as 14 children with symptoms of smoke inhalation.
- LatAm Immigrants Are Changing Spain, Sociologist Says
- Mexico’s top domestic security official said Friday that sectors of the general public have cooperated with drug cartels in the violent border city of Ciudad Juarez, and the government is about to launch new social programs there to combat gangs.
- Pro-Castro mob attacks spouse of top Cuban blogger – Yoani Sánchez
- Miguel H. Díaz is first Hispanic to represent U.S. at Vatican
- Efrain’s Corner: A Response to….”Puerto Ricans in New York Struggling…Still” Comment
- Puerto Ricans in New York Struggling…Still – Puerto Ricans are some of the most prominent figures in New York politics and culture, so some people are surprised when they hear that, overall, Puerto Ricans are among the poorest and least educated New Yorkers. Almost a third in New York are living in poverty.
- Lalo Alcaraz on Lou Dobbs (departure from CNN)
- November 20, 2009
- Police in Peru say gang members killed people to drain their fat for cosmetics
- Mexican authorities predict fewer Mexican immigrants will be back home for Christmas
- Interview with Aurora Anaya-Cerda, owner of La Casa Azul Bookstore – NYC
- We need an honest definition of who is a “real American”
- Immigration Reform: The Phone Call Heard Around the Country – On the call were Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.; Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y.; and Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz. Immigrant rights advocates from various parts of the country also spoke.
- Digital out-of-home (DOOH) Effectively Reaches Latinos On The Go – few marketers truly utilized digital media when reaching out to the Hispanic community.
- A week after abruptly quitting his longtime job as a CNN television news host and commentator, Lou Dobbs said on Thursday he is considering career options including possible runs for the White House or U.S. Senate.
- ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton announces 1,000 new workplace audits to hold employers accountable for their hiring practices
- In Virtual Town Hall with Immigration Reform Activists, Gutierrez Promises Bill By December
- Economic Blame Game: U.S. Unemployment is Not Caused by Immigration
- November 19, 2009
- Shakira Refuses To Do Interviews In Spanish
- BMI Foundation Announces Opening of 7th Annual peermusic Latin Scholarship Competition
- Video: Sofia Vergara’s “Modern Family” Costar Trashes her on “Chelsea Lately”
- The Cuban band Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro can legitimately claim to be inventors of salsa. But it last played in the United States when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president, and there was no telling when it might be able to return — until the very slightest hint of a thaw in cultural relations between the United States and Cuba quietly brought the band to New York early this month.
- Mexico’s Drug Violence Gives Rise To Vigilantism
- The wave of crime besetting Puerto Rico seems to be out of control with 800 murders being committed here so far this year, but the island’s top police official says the problem does not fall exclusively within his department.
- The University of Panama indefinitely suspended classes on Wednesday after confrontations between students and police during a protest against alleged U.S. involvement in plans to build new military installations.
- There are 16 million children in immigrant families in the United States
- Over the last 3 years, high schools that received the lowest marks from the city have been the ones with the highest percentages of poor, black and Hispanic students, despite an evaluation system that was meant to equalize differences among student bodies, according to an analysis by The New York Times of school grades released this week.
- Who seriously wants the Cuban trade embargo?
- A legislator from El Paso has criticized proposed history and social studies standards for public schools as being unfair to Hispanics. – Rep. Norma Chavez raised the issue Wednesday in Austin before the State Board of Education.
- Farewell to an icon: Artist who tore at racism is buried at 99 – R.I.P. José Cisneros
- November 18, 2009
- Hispanics are 9% of the Virginia’s schoolchildren, but 5% of gifted students.
- A New United Movement Stops Mexico for a Day
- Analysis reveals driving out undocumented immigrants doesn’t bode well for congressional representation
- After accidental deportation, critics say immigration officials making mistakes – After a Salvadoran man was mistakenly deported, immigration rights activists have complained about toughened enforcement by authorities.
- Governor Deval Patrick urged Massachusetts residents today to avoid getting mired in “the usual debate” over illegal immigration as he gave his cabinet 90 days to craft a plan for better integrating all foreign-born residents into the state’s daily fabric.
- More Americans are playing tennis – The biggest increases were among Hispanics, with 32% more playing the game.
Latest Essentials
- November 21, 2009
- Hispanic Caucus: ‘You Lie!’ Outburst to Blame for Senate Health Bill Provision on Illegal Immigrants
- Central American nations will demand $105 billion from industrialized countries for damages caused by global warming, the region’s representatives said on Friday.
- “They” Are “Us”: The Devastating Effects of Broken Immigration Policy on Children in Immigrant Families
- November 20, 2009
- Hispanic lawmakers say an old adversary, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, has his fingerprints all over a push to prohibit illegal immigrants from buying health insurance plans in a new market for people who don’t get insurance through their employers.
- Some U.S. Democrats see momentum building for an overhaul of immigration laws that would legalize millions of undocumented workers, but analysts say a crowded agenda and struggling economy may once again sink hopes for reform next year.
- The current global crisis will cause the number of poor people in Latin America to rise by 9 million to 189 million this year, the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean said in a report presented on Thursday.
- Do Long Island Police Ignore Hate Crimes?
- Mexican migrants are spending more money on taxes in the United States than on the remittances they send home to relatives, according to a new study by Mexico’s largest bank, BBVA Bancomer.
- Ana Maria Perez Gonzalez, said to be the oldest woman in the world, died in Mexico this week. She was 119.
- Part of a Cuban blogger’s essay that advocates lifting the ban on U.S. travel to Cuba was read aloud at a House Foreign Affairs committee hearing. – Yoani Sánchez
- November 19, 2009
- TOP Ten reasons you should watch Lopez tonight not Conan
- Migration Policy Institute (MPI) Report Finds Immigrants Hit Harder During Economic Downturn than Native-Born Workers
- After a 3 year trial of producing regionalized news for several top 10 Hispanic market stations via the Telemundo Production Center in Dallas, the network is reverting to producing local news. Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Phoenix and San Jose will once again have locally produced news.
- Nacional Records Sampler 2009 | The New Sounds Of Latin Music – 21 FREE mp3s over at Amazon – (cool!)
- Ironically, Latinos should be greatful to former CNN blowhard Lou Dobbs – commentary by Albor Ruiz
- When White Writers Do “Latino” Issues – It was chaos this week in the LA Weekly’s virtual mailroom, which received a deluge of reactionary attitude in regard to Christine Pelisek’s cover story “Chaos in the Casitas: Lawless, south of the border–style speakeasies get a grip on L.A.”
- More Than 60,000 Americans in 45 States Organize for Immigration Reform
- New Report Shines Light on Detainee Rights Violations in Minnesota
- CIS Report Attempts to Erase 100 Years of Data on Immigrants and Crime
- Video: Senator Menendez Speaks on Behalf of Hispanic Farmers’ Discrimination Lawsuit + update
- November 18, 2009
- New Report: More Than 2 Million Hispanic Households With Children Face Hunger – Hispanic households with children experiencing very low food security up almost 50%
- On November 18 at 8:00 PM Eastern time/5:00 PM Pacific, all across the country people are hosting house parties with their families, friends, neighbors, churches, classmates and anyone else who supports comprehensive immigration reform for America.
- Video report of Latina forced to give birth while in chains in Maricopa County, AZ courtesy of Sheriff Joe Arpaio (en Español)
- California’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman told a group of supporters Tuesday that she is making an unprecedented effort to attract Latinos to the Republican party – in South El Monte
- Hundreds of defendants awaiting trial for violent crimes in Dallas County have been deported by federal immigration officials and then set free in their home countries. – The practice goes back to at least 1991 and includes the release of murder, kidnapping and child rape suspects.
- Environmentalists alarmed by Puerto Rico policies – Sweeping from lush mountain rain forests to pristine beaches, a corridor of land protected by Puerto Rico’s last governor hosts dozens of rare and endangered species and was championed by celebrities who helped fight off resort proposals. – Now new Gov. Luis Fortuno has revoked the reserve as part of a drive to bring jobs and investment for the U.S. territory’s struggling economy. And activists see a broader pattern of looser protection for the island’s environment.
- Deporting undocumented students affects the chances for legal return if Congress doesn’t address it in immigration reform bill
- Eleventh-hour criticism is arising over President Obama’s nomination for United States attorney in northern Iowa of a prosecutor who had a leading role in the criminal cases against hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested in a May 2008 raid at a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. – Stephanie Rose
- From a group calling themselves Electronic Civil Disobedience comes the Transborder Immigrant Tool, a simple mobile application intended to aid and abet border-crossers from Mexico to the United States by mapping the safest routes to take. – This GPS app is built to work on the cheapest cell phones available.
- Report from America’s Voice: The New Constituents… How Latinos Will Shape Congressional Apportionmention After the 2010 Census
- November 16, 2009
- 15th annual Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza in San Antonio – more than 1,000 professional & student musicians participating – 8-day festival of mariachi competitions, workshops, presentations, serenades & concerts attracts more than 15,000 visitors annually.
- Money Trickles North as Mexicans Help Relatives – reverse remittances from Mexico
- Scarlet “A” will dominate immigration reform rhetoric – Greg Tejeda on immigration reform & Janet Napolitano’s speech
- The first Texas Hispanic legislators didn’t want to go public when they organized some 40 years ago out of fear they might be considered “un-American.” – Today, the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) is growing in influence — and raising record amounts of money — as Texas’ population turns increasingly Hispanic.
- Supporters of tough U.S. sanctions against the Cuban government have given more than $10 million to congressional campaigns over the last seven years
- Oregon universities try to recruit more Latino students – In 2007, Latinos made up nearly 12% of the 12th-grade class and less than 6% of freshmen in the university system. About 20% of first-graders that year were Latino.
- The Obama administration will insist on measures to give legal status to an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants as it pushes early next year for legislation to overhaul the immigration system, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Friday.
- Authorities say a 7-year-old boy, three women and a university professor are among 15 people who were killed in a single day (this past Friday) in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez.
- Sonia Sotomayor unwittingly adds celebrity touch to Supreme Court
- One of the Republican Party’s most respected and relied-upon consultants has serious reservations about two the party’s biggest names. – Alex Castellanos, a conservative media strategist and regular presence on CNN, raised questions of Sarah Palin’s viability for office and took major swipes at Florida Senate candidate Charlie Crist
