Non-owned operational roads are roads that CBP may  maintain through a license or permit, though the landowner may revoke  the license or permit at any time. Figure 2 shows an example of a CBP owned operational road providing  direct access to CBP fencing, and figure 3 shows an example of a road  owned by U.S. CBP Road Maintenance

CBP received $25 million in fiscal year 2016 for necessary repairs to  border fencing and border roads. CBP uses Comprehensive Tactical  Infrastructure Maintenance and Repair (CTIMR) contracts to address  maintenance of TI assets along the southwest border, including owned  and non-owned operational roads. CBP Has Various Authorities and Arrangements for Using and Maintaining Roads, but Documentation and Communication of Its Processes and Criteria for Distributing Maintenance Funding Are Limited

		CBP Has Authorities and Arrangements for Using and Maintaining Roads

Border Patrol generally has access to public roads to the same extent as  other users, and has certain authorities to use other federal, state, local,  tribal, and private owned roads. Private roads. CBP Has Not Consistently Documented Arrangements with Landowners or Communicated Such Arrangements with Border Patrol Sectors

CBP enters into various arrangements with federal, state, and local  agencies and with some private landowners to maintain the roads it uses  for its operations; however, it has not consistently documented its  arrangements with these landowners or shared the arrangements it has  documented with Border Patrol sector officials. A number of factors contribute to the lack of documented road  maintenance arrangements between Border Patrol and private  landowners. Developing a policy and related guidance for documenting  arrangements with landowners, as needed, and ensuring that the  documented agreements are shared with all relevant Border Patrol sector  officials could help Border Patrol work with road and land owners more  consistently to address road maintenance. Border Patrol Has Not Clearly Documented or Shared Its Processes and Criteria Used to Distribute Road Maintenance Funding to Its Sectors

Border Patrol uses any funding that remains after owned operational road  requirements are addressed to maintain non-owned operational roads;  however, Border Patrol has not clearly documented or shared the process  and criteria it uses for prioritizing maintenance of the non-owned  operational requirements with sector officials. The extent to which Border Patrol operations are negatively affected by  the poor conditions of certain public roads is unknown because,  according to CBP and Border Patrol officials, Border Patrol does not  collect or maintain data on the extent of its use of any non-owned roads,  including public roads. As CBP and Border Patrol officials said they do not have data that identify  the extent of Border Patrol’s use of non-owned roads, we gathered  examples from each of the nine southwest Border Patrol sectors of state,  county, city, and tribal public roads in poor condition that CBP is unable to  maintain and that sector officials said negatively affect their ability to  conduct operations. CBP Officials Reported That the Inability to Maintain Certain Public Roads That Are in Poor Condition May Be Impeding Border Patrol’s Relations with Local Governments and Communities

CBP’s inability to address the maintenance of certain public roads Border  Patrol regularly uses can negatively affect Border Patrol’s relations with  local governments, according to CBP officials. Assessing  the feasibility of options to ensure adequate maintenance of nonfederal  public roads, where necessary, including data needs for determining the  extent of its reliance on non-owned roads for border security operations,  could lead to a possible solution for enhancing Border Patrol’s operations  and its community relationships. By not clearly documenting and communicating the  process and criteria it uses for making decisions on funding non-owned  operational requirements, ORMD cannot reasonably ensure that sector  officials are aware of the process and criteria, and therefore cannot  ensure adequate planning for and anticipation of funding to meet sectors’  road maintenance needs requirements. DHS concurred with our third recommendation that CBP  assess the feasibility of options for addressing the maintenance of non- federal public roads, including a review of data needed to determine the  extent of its reliance on non-owned roads.
Why GAO Did This Study

To secure the southwest border between ports of entry, Border Patrol uses approximately 5,200 miles of roads, most of which are owned by other entities, both private and public. CBP estimates spending $12.5 million in fiscal year 2016 to maintain and repair roads Border Patrol uses for its operations, including roads CBP does not own.
GAO was asked to review Border Patrol's use and maintenance of roads for its border security operations. This report examines the extent to which (1) CBP has processes and authorities to access and maintain roads for its security operations and (2) CBP's operations are affected by its use of public roads it cannot maintain, and options CBP could consider to address any needed maintenance. GAO selected three southwest border sectors to visit based on the sectors' total mileage of non-owned roads and number of apprehensions of illegal border crossers. GAO interviewed officials from Border Patrol, and from selected federal, state, local, tribal, and private and community organizations. The information collected from these entities is not generalizable, but provides valuable insights.

What GAO Found

U.S. Border Patrol, within the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), generally has access to public roads and has certain processes and authorities to use other federal, state, local, tribal, and private owned roads for its operations. CBP may enter into arrangements or agreements to address maintenance of certain federal, state, local, and private roads, but CBP has not consistently documented these arrangements, or shared them with all relevant Border Patrol sector officials. This could hinder maintenance efforts and, therefore, Border Patrol's access to the roads. Six of the nine southwest Border Patrol sectors reported that they do not document all road maintenance arrangements and agreements. Developing a policy and guidance for documenting maintenance arrangements and agreements, as needed, could help all sectors more consistently work with landowners to address road maintenance. CBP has two categories for the roads it maintains: (1) roads that CBP owns and has a right to maintain (owned operational roads) and (2) roads that CBP does not own, but may maintain through a license or permit (non-owned operational roads). Border Patrol has established a process for prioritizing maintenance of owned operational roads, but it has not clearly documented the process and criteria for non-owned operational roads, or shared this information with sector officials. Moreover, no sector official GAO spoke with reported being aware of the process and criteria. By clearly documenting and communicating the process and criteria it uses to prioritize non-owned operational roads, Border Patrol could enable sectors to more adequately plan for and better anticipate funding to meet road maintenance needs.
Border Patrol sector officials reported negative effects from using public roads in poor condition that they cannot maintain, such as limited road access and poor relations with local governments and border communities that attribute the poor road conditions to Border Patrol's regular use. However, the full extent of these effects is unknown due to lack of data on Border Patrol's use of non-owned roads. While CBP officials discussed options for addressing maintenance of non-federal public roads, including a specific appropriation or a grant program, it has not assessed the feasibility of these or other options. Assessing the feasibility of options, including a review of data needed to show Border Patrol's reliance on non-owned roads, including public roads, could lead to a possible solution for enhancing Border Patrol's operations and its community relationships.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that CBP develop policy and guidance for documenting arrangements with landowners, as needed, and share the arrangements with its sectors; document and communicate the process and criteria for prioritizing funding of non-owned operational roads; and assess the feasibility of options, including data needs, for addressing the maintenance of non-federal public roads. DHS concurred with the recommendations.