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Congressional Research Service (CRS)

 

Border Security: Immigration Enforcement Between Ports of Entry

Lisa Seghetti, Section Research Manager

December 18, 2014

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R42138.pdf

[full-text, 48 pages]

 

Summary

Border enforcement is a core element of the Department of Homeland Security’s effort to control

unauthorized migration, with the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) within the U.S. Customs and Border

Protection (CBP) as the lead agency along most of the border. Border enforcement has been an

ongoing subject of congressional interest since the 1970s, when illegal immigration to the United

States first registered as a serious national problem; and border security has received additional

attention in the years since the terrorist attacks of 2001.

 

Since the 1990s, migration control at the border has been guided by a strategy of “prevention

through deterrence”—the idea that the concentration of personnel, infrastructure, and surveillance

technology along heavily trafficked regions of the border will discourage unauthorized aliens

from attempting to enter the United States. Since 2005, CBP has attempted to discourage repeat

illegal migrant entries and disrupt migrant smuggling networks by imposing tougher penalties

against certain unauthorized aliens, a set of policies eventually described as “enforcement with

consequences.” Most people apprehended at the Southwest border are now subject to “high

consequence” enforcement outcomes.

 

Across a variety of indicators, the United States has substantially expanded border enforcement

resources over the last three decades. Particularly since 2001, such increases include border

security appropriations, personnel, fencing and infrastructure, and surveillance technology. In

addition to increased resources, the USBP has implemented several strategies over the past

several decades in an attempt to thwart illegal migration. Recently, the Obama Administration

announced executive actions to “fix” the immigration system. These actions address numerous

issues, including a security plan at the southern border.

 

The Border Patrol collects data on several different border enforcement outcomes; and this report

describes trends in border apprehensions, recidivism, and estimated got aways and turn backs. Yet

none of these existing data are designed to measure illegal border flows or the degree to which

the border is secured. Thus, the report also describes methods for estimating illegal border flows

based on enforcement data and migrant surveys.

 

Drawing on multiple data sources, the report suggests conclusions about the state of border

security. Robust investments at the border were not associated with reduced illegal inflows during

the 1980s and 1990s, but a range of evidence suggests a substantial drop in illegal inflows in

2007-2011, followed by a slight rise in 2012 and a more dramatic rise in 2013. Enforcement,

along with the economic downturn in the United States, likely contributed to the drop in

unauthorized migration, though the precise share of the decline attributable to enforcement is

unknown.

 

Enhanced border enforcement also may have contributed to a number of secondary costs and

benefits. To the extent that border enforcement successfully deters illegal entries, such

enforcement may reduce border-area violence and migrant deaths, protect fragile border

ecosystems, and improve the quality of life in border communities. But to the extent that aliens

are not deterred, the concentration of enforcement resources on the border may increase border

area violence and migrant deaths, encourage unauthorized migrants to find new ways to enter

illegally and to remain in the United States for longer periods of time, damage border ecosystems,

harm border-area businesses and the quality of life in border communities, and strain U.S.

relations with Mexico and Canada.

 

Contents

Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1

Border Patrol History and Strategy .................................................................................................. 2

Border Patrol Strategic Plans ..................................................................................................... 3

National Strategic Plan ........................................................................................................ 3

National Border Patrol Strategy .......................................................................................... 4

Border Patrol Strategic Plan ................................................................................................ 5

DHS Secure Border Initiative .................................................................................................... 6

CBP Consequence Delivery System .......................................................................................... 7

Southern Border Campaign Plan ............................................................................................. 12

Budget and Resources .................................................................................................................... 12

Border Security Appropriations ............................................................................................... 12

Border Patrol Personnel ........................................................................................................... 14

National Guard Troops at the Border ................................................................................ 15

Fencing and Tactical Infrastructure ......................................................................................... 16

Surveillance Assets .................................................................................................................. 18

Aerial and Marine Surveillance ......................................................................................... 19

Border Patrol Enforcement Data .................................................................................................... 20

Alien Apprehensions ............................................................................................................... 20

Southwest Border Apprehensions by Sector ..................................................................... 21

Unique Subjects and Alien Recidivism ................................................................................... 22

Estimated “Got Aways” and “Turn Backs” ............................................................................. 24

Additional Border Security Data: Migrant Surveys ....................................................................... 24

Probability of Apprehension .................................................................................................... 25

Border Deterrence ................................................................................................................... 25

Smuggling Fees ....................................................................................................................... 26

Metrics of Border Security ............................................................................................................ 27

The Residual Method for Estimating Unauthorized Residents in the United States ............... 29

CBP Metrics of Border Security .............................................................................................. 30

Operational Control of the Border .................................................................................... 30

Border Conditions Index ................................................................................................... 30

Border Patrol Effectiveness Rate ...................................................................................... 31

Estimating Illegal Flows Using Recidivism Data .................................................................... 31

How Secure is the U.S. Border? .................................................................................................... 32

Unintended and Secondary Consequences of Border Enforcement .............................................. 35

Border-Area Crime and Migrant Deaths ................................................................................. 35

Migration Flows: “Caging” Effects and Alternative Modes of Entry ..................................... 38

Environmental Impact ............................................................................................................. 39

Effects on Border Communities and Civil Rights ................................................................... 39

Effects on Regional Relations ................................................................................................. 41

Conclusion: Understanding the Costs and Benefits of Border Enforcement between Ports

of Entry ....................................................................................................................................... 41

 

Figures

Figure 1. CBP “Enforcement with Consequences,” FY2005-FY2012 .......................................... 10

Figure 2. U.S. Border Patrol Appropriations, FY1989-FY2014 .................................................... 13

Figure 3. U.S. Border Patrol Agents, Total and by Region, FY1980-FY2013 .............................. 15

Figure 4. Tactical Infrastructure Appropriations and Miles of Border Fencing, FY1996-FY2013 ........................................... 17

Figure 5. Total USBP Apprehensions of Deportable Aliens, FY1960-FY2012 ............................. 21

Figure 6. U.S. Border Patrol Apprehensions of Deportable Aliens, Southwest Border, by Selected Sectors, FY1992-FY2013 ....................... 22

Figure 7. USBP Southwest Border Unique Subjects and Recidivism Rates ................................. 23

Figure 8. Smuggling Fees Paid by Unauthorized Mexican Migrants, 1980-2010 ......................... 27

Figure 9. Total Estimated Illegal Border Inflows, by Assumed Rate of Deterrence ...................... 34

Figure 10. Known Migrant Deaths, Southwest Border, 1985-2012 .............................................. 37

 

Tables

Table 1. Consequence Delivery System Outcomes and Recidivism Rates .................................... 11

 

Appendixes

Appendix. Capture-Recapture Methodology ................................................................................. 43

Contacts

Author Contact Information........................................................................................................... 44

Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................... 44

 

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