Crisis at the Border: Walls Work
WASHINGTON In the past, Congress has requested, and the Department of Homeland Security has delivered, a detailed plan of how we can secure the southwest border. Authorizers and appropriators have all seen it. Agents and operators who hold the line every day have contributed to it. It points to a border wall system as a best practice to secure the border.
Walls work to deter, impede, and deny illicit activity
- Border Patrol conducts a capability gap analysis of what resources they need to gain operational control of our southwest border, ranking the top priorities for new, replacement, and secondary wall system.
- In 1992, the Border Patrol initiated a strategy of impeding and denying illicit activity along key areas of the southwest border, including a significant increase in the use of physical barriers.
- Sections of the border where fencing and walls have been built have seen a decrease in illegal traffic:
- San Diego (built in 1992): Illegal traffic dropped 92% over the past 23 years;
- El Paso (built in 1993): Illegal traffic dropped 72% in one year and 95% over 22 years;
- Tucson (built in 2000): Illegal traffic dropped 90% over 15 years;
- Yuma (build in 2005): Illegal traffic dropped 95% over 9 years.
Border Wall System is an all-of-the-above approach to border security
Border Wall System is a combination of various types of physical barrier and infrastructure that includes wall or fence, all-weather patrol and access roads, lighting, enforcement cameras, sensors that incorporate anti-tunnel detection, and other 21st-century technology.
- Physical barriers: these are walls or fencing that provide Border Patrol Agents with impedance and denial capability, allowing time for agents to arrive on scene and make an apprehension in the event of a breach. They also act as a deterrent to illegal crossings.
- All-weather patrol and access roads: these roads allow Border Patrol Agents to patrol our border and respond to breaches faster.
- 21st Century Technology: persistent surveillance and mobile and relocatable technologies serve as an effective force-multiplier by allowing CBP to continuously detect, identify, classify, and track border breaches. These include cameras, sensors, drones, and anti-tunnel detection.
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Contact: Nicole Hager
202-226-8417
