Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said recently that illegal traffic across the southwestern border of the United States has decreased since 2014 and that the capability of government and law enforcement agencies has only increased.
“We are continuing to enhance our border security resources and capabilities, working closely with state and local counterparts,” Johnson said. “As a result of our long-term investment in border security over the past 15 years, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has greater capability to identify and interdict illegal crossings than at any time in our nation’s history. This includes the largest deployment of vehicles, aircraft, boats, and equipment along the southwest border in the 90-year history of the Border Patrol. And through the Southern Border and Approaches Campaign Plan we launched in early 2015, we are for the first time putting to use in a combined and strategic way the assets and personnel of CBP, ICE, Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Coast Guard to better protect the border.
“In response to the recent increases in migrant flows along the southwest border, CBP has deployed additional permanent border patrol agents to high-traffic areas, augmented operations in South Texas with Mobile Response Teams, and redirected support from other Border Patrol sectors including through remote interviewing technology. CBP has also increased surveillance capabilities by adding tethered aerostats (long-range radars) and other technology, along with additional aircraft. CBP will sustain these heightened border security efforts, along with the humanitarian aspects of its responsibilities, while the current migration levels persist.”
Johnson also said that while controlling the safety of the southwestern border was important, the problem of refugees from Central America will not stop until the problems in Central America are solved.
“In the meantime, DHS and the Department of State are accelerating the development of new mechanisms to process and screen Central American refugees in the region, about which we hope to make a more formal announcement soon,” Johnson said. “We will expand access to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in the region and develop more legal alternatives to the dangerous and unlawful journey many are currently taking in the hands of human smugglers.”