An Overview of
Federal Drug Control Programs
on the Southwest Border
INS' Southwest Border Strategy
PHASE 1: TARGET AREAS WITH THE LARGEST NUMBER OF CROSSERS AND THE LEAST AMOUNT OF CONTROL
In February 1994, Attorney General Janet Reno and Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Commissioner Doris Meissner announced a bold, innovative, multi-year strategy to strengthen the enforcement of the nation's immigration laws and shut down the traditional corridors for the flow of illegal entrants along the Southwest border, stretching from California to Texas. The strategy was designed to reverse years of neglect that had created a porous, understaffed and ill-equipped border. The need to strengthen the border against illegal traffic was balanced with a desire to facilitate legal crossing at border ports of entry. For the first time, INS put a strategy in place for managing the border in a way that would ensure that those attempting to cross illegally would be thwarted, while those crossing legally would encounter minimal delays at ports of entry.
A key feature of the 1994 strategy was the concentration of new resources and personnel in one or two areas each year, starting with the most vulnerable, in order to bring control to the Southwest border through a well laid out multi-year strategy. Increasing the number of Border Patrol agents, providing additional infrastructure, and deploying new equipment and technology are important elements of the new comprehensive strategy, matched with the implementation of new tactics that utilize these resources to maximize results.
Increasing the physical presence of Border Patrol agents on the Southwest border to deter to illegal crossing has been an integral part of the border strategy; improving the deployment and use of the agents has made the difference.
- The number of Border Patrol agents on the Southwest border has grown dramatically between FY 1993 and the end of FY 1997 -- increasing from 3,389 to a total of 6,213 -- an 83 percent increase.
- These new agents are utilizing bold new tactics: Instead of chasing after the closest illegal alien, Border Patrol agents are placed in a deterrent position on the front-line of the border, with additional agents positioned to apprehend those who might get through. As a result, the flow of illegal immigrants has been disrupted and reduced in the targeted areas.
- This strategy establishes a pattern of increased apprehensions immediately following the influx of resources, followed by a drop in apprehensions once a level of deterrence and control has been reached.
By placing personnel and resources strategically on the border in a coordinated effort to regain and maintain control of key points on the border, INS has made significant progress. Logically, INS initially targeted the border areas with the least amount of law enforcement and the highest number of illegal crossers. San Diego accounted for 45 percent of all apprehensions nationwide, while El Paso accounted for more than 25 percent of apprehensions nationwide. To attack the problem head-on, the Border Patrol selected San Diego and El Paso for the initial infusion of resources and attention.
Operation Hold the Line
Even before the national plan had been laid out for the entire Southwest border, Border Patrol sector chiefs began to experiment with various deployment patterns. These early operations would work as the testing ground for the national plan that was to unfold. In October 1993, Chief Silvestre Reyes launched Operation Hold the Line in El Paso, which took advantage of specific crossing patterns and El Paso's flat terrain by placing agents in highly visible positions throughout the downtown area.
Agents were placed 100 feet apart across downtown El Paso in an effort to deter illegal crossers. INS detailed 54 agents to the El Paso sector in FY 1994 and an additional 50 agents in FY 1995 to help support the operation.
Since the launch of Operation Hold the Line, the flow of illegal immigrants in the El Paso area has been substantially reduced by nearly 50 percent, from a high in FY 1993 when more than 285,000 apprehensions were made, to approximately 145,000 apprehensions in FY 1996.
Operation Gatekeeper
In the San Diego area, the Southwest border strategy called for focusing immediate attention on one 14-mile stretch that accounted for more than 40 percent of the apprehensions along the entire border and more than 80 percent of the apprehensions for the entire San Diego sector. The numbers coming across the 14-mile stretch starting at the Pacific Ocean translated into more than 10,000 illegal entrants each week. To recapture this key part of the border, INS deployed an unprecedented number of Border Patrol agents, technology enhancements, and other resources to San Diego for Operation Gatekeeper, which it kicked off on October 1, 1994.
The goal of Operation Gatekeeper was to shift traffic away from the 14-mile stretch, which provided easy access to transportation northward, to areas in the mountains that were difficult to cross. Since the launch of Operation Gatekeeper, apprehensions in San Diego have dropped from 45 percent to 30 percent of the total Southwest border. At the Imperial Beach station, which covers the first four miles from the ocean eastward and was the busiest border area, apprehensions dropped from 138,185 in FY 1994 (before the start of Gatekeeper) to 25,029 in FY 1997, an 82 percent reduction.
INS anticipated that as the Border Patrol increased pressure between the ports of entry, more people would attempt to cross illegally through the port. INS increased the number of inspectors at the San Ysidro port of entry in anticipation of the shift, and in fact, the number of intercepts in November 1994 increased 40 percent over the previous year's November figure.
In addition, before Gatekeeper, most criminal and previously deported aliens who were arrested trying to re-enter the country were either not prosecuted or pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense with minimal jail time. Now, previously deported criminal aliens prosecuted in the Southern District of California for illegal reentry face a felony charge that carries a statutory federal prison sentence of 5 to 20 years. Should they unlawfully attempt to enter the United States again, they face another felony prosecution which carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years.
Operation Safeguard
Once border enhancements were made to El Paso and San Diego, INS anticipated that traffic would be pushed eastward, and in 1995 the Border Patrol launched Operation Safeguard in Arizona.
The Border Patrol used its enhanced force to deploy agents almost directly on the line along the four critical miles of the border. This operation redirected illegal border crossings away from urban areas near the Nogales port of entry to more open areas that the Border Patrol could more effectively control. Moving illegal immigrants away from urban areas, where they were able to disappear into local communities, has enabled the Border Patrol to take advantage of the new equipment and technology that has been provided along with increased manpower to make apprehensions in areas where illegal entrants are more visible.
Due to the progress made in San Diego, El Paso and Nogales, there has been a shift in the traditional traffic patterns of illegal immigration on the border. The increased control in these areas has created new challenges for INS as illegal immigrants and alien smugglers find new routes of entry.
