GAO, CBP: Additional border security needed

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), along with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), published a study this week detailing the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) efforts to curb illegal immigration into the United States.

The study stems from previous agency reports on how effectively CBP was handling border security between ports of entry and informing the identification and allocation of border security resources.

In FY 2015, DHS apprehended 331,000 illegal entrants and made more than 14,000 seizures of drugs attempting to enter the country.

The agency had been tracking the effectiveness rate for response to illegal activity across border locations to determine if the right mix of personnel and assets were being deployed in the correct manner. It also took steps to improve the data quality issues that had hindered comparing performance results across different locations.

In March 2014, GAO reported that CBP had made some progress in deploying programs under the Arizona Border Surveillance Technology Plan, but that the agency could strengthen its management and assessment of the plan’s programs.

Among the recommendations made in the report were suggestions to strengthen CBP’s management of technology plans and programs. Additional recommendations were made to establish milestones and time frames for the development of border security goals and measures.