McSally questions Border Patrol chief at hearing on securing border

U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) questioned Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan on Tuesday about his agency’s strategy to secure the border at a hearing that featured testimony from Arizona residents.

The resident’s testimony focused on the potential public safety threats they face due to Border Patrol’s defense-in-depth strategy.

“In Tucson, 48 percent of the total number of apprehensions took place more than five miles from the physical border,” McSally said. “Compare that with Yuma or Rio Grande Valley in Texas where more than 84 percent of illicit crossings are apprehended in the first five miles. Defense-in-depth and the layered approach to border security sounds good in theory, but there are real world negative impacts for the American citizens who live at and near the border.”

Dr. Elyse Golob, executive director for the National Center for Border Security and Immigration at the University of Arizona, gave testimony on the recommendations her organization produced to improve the effectiveness of border checkpoints.

“It’s ultimately to Border Patrol’s and the nation’s benefit for an objective assessment of their performance effectiveness,” Golob said. “We as the citizens need to know how well checkpoints are doing before we can decide what to do about them.”

Morgan said that his office would look into whether or not action had been taken on those recommendations.