To determine what actions had been taken to implement the strategy along the southwest border and whether initial results expected from the strategy’s implementation have occurred, we conducted in-person interviews with officials from six of the nine Border Patrol sectors along the southwest border and telephone interviews with officials from the remaining three sectors. To carry out the priority to strengthen the border, the Border Patrol was to, among other things, (1) concentrate personnel and technology resources in a four-phased approach, starting first with the sectors with the highest level of illegal immigration activity (as measured by apprehensions) and moving to the areas with the least activity; (2) make maximum use of physical barriers to deter entry along the border; (3) increase the proportion of time Border Patrol agents spent on border control activities; and (4) identify the appropriate quantity and mix of technology and personnel needed to control the border. Implementation of the Strategy

INS has made progress in implementing the Attorney General’s strategy to deter illegal entry along the southwest border. In fiscal year 1993, the San Diego and El Paso sectors had the highest levels of apprehensions of illegal immigrants, accounting for 68 percent of all apprehensions along the southwest border. 3). 6). To handle the increased activity, Congress authorized an increase of about 800 inspectors for southwest ports of entry since 1994 (see fig. 8). Prosecutions

The strategy called for increasing prosecutions for immigration related violations. The available data suggest that some of the predicted changes have occurred. Formal Evaluation Based on Multiple Indicators Would Be Needed to Assess Effectiveness of the Attorney General’s Strategy

The Attorney General’s strategy for deterring illegal entry across the southwest border envisions three distinct but related results: fewer aliens will be able to cross the border illegally; fewer aliens will try to illegally immigrate into the United States; and, consequently, the number of illegal aliens in the United States will decrease. We recognize that the results envisioned by the strategy are complex and interrelated and that a rigorous and comprehensive approach to evaluating the results would be challenging and potentially costly. In addition, illegal aliens differ in their mode of arrival. INS has collected data and reported on some, but not all, of these indicators. We recognize that developing a formal evaluation plan and implementing a rigorous and systematic evaluation of the strategy could require a substantial investment of resources, in part because the needed data may not be presently available, thereby possibly requiring support for new data collection efforts. Attorney General’s Strategy to Deter Illegal Entry Into the United States Along the Southwest Border

In February 1994, the Attorney General and Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Commissioner announced a comprehensive five-part strategy to strengthen enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws. The new border strategy involved “prevention through deterrence.” This strategy called for concentrating new resources on the front lines at the most active points of illegal entry along the southwest border. INS will produce the cards. 4. 1. 2. 1.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Attorney General's strategy to deter illegal entry into the United States along the southwest border, focusing on: (1) what the strategy calls for; (2) actions taken to implement the strategy along the southwest border; (3) whether available data confirm the strategy's hypotheses, with respect to expected initial results from the strategy's implementation along the southwest border; and (4) the types of indicators that would be needed to evaluate the strategy.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) to carry out the priority to strengthen the detection of and deterrence to illegal entry along the border, the Attorney General's strategy called for the Border Patrol to: (a) allocate additional Border Patrol resources in a four-phased approach starting first with the areas of highest known illegal activity; (b) make maximum use of physical barriers; (c) increase the proportion of time Border Patrol agents spend on border enforcement activities; and (d) identify the appropriate mix of technology, equipment, and personnel needed for the Border Patrol; (2) since the strategy was issued in 1994, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has made progress in implementing some, but not all, aspects of the strategy; (3) at the southwest border land ports of entry, INS has added about 800 inspector positions since fiscal year 1994, increasing its on-board strength to about 1,300; (4) INS and other data indicate that some of the initial results of the strategy's implementation along the southwest border correspond with the expected results stated in the strategy; (5) however, sufficient data were not available for GAO to determine whether other expected results have occurred; (6) INS data indicated that, as a percentage of total apprehensions along the southwest border, apprehensions of illegal aliens have decreased in the two sectors that in 1993 accounted for the most apprehensions and received the first influx of new resources--San Diego and El Paso; (7) the Attorney General's strategy for deterring illegal entry across the southwest border envisions three distinct but related results: (a) fewer aliens will be able to cross the border illegally; (b) fewer aliens will try to illegally immigrate into the United States; and (c) the number of illegal aliens in the United States will decrease; (8) evaluating the overall effectiveness of the strategy for deterring illegal entry would require a formal, rigorous plan for: (a) collecting and analyzing consistent and reliable data on several different indicators related to the three expected results from the strategy; and (b) examining their interrelationships; and (9) although developing a formal evaluation plan and implementing a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation of the strategy may prove to be both difficult and potentially costly, without such an evaluation the Attorney General and Congress will have no way of knowing whether the billions of dollars invested in reducing illegal immigration have produced the intended results.