Secure and Manage Our Borders

The Department of Homeland Security secures the nation's air, land, and sea borders to prevent illegal activity while facilitating lawful travel and trade. The Department's border security and management efforts focus on three interrelated goals:

1. Effectively secure U.S. air, land, and sea points of entry;
2. Safeguard and streamline lawful trade and travel; and
3. Disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal and terrorist organizations.

On This Page:

• Southwest Border
• Northern Border
• Trusted Traveler, Pre-Clearance, and International Partnerships

Learn More:

• Border Security Activities & Programs
• Other Department Responsibilities

Southwest Border

Personnel

• Since 2004, the number of civilian “boots on the ground” along the Southwest border has increased by nearly 85% to more than 17,700 Border Patrol Agents today.

• ICE has increased the number of federal agents deployed on the Southwest border with a quarter of all its personnel in the Southwest border region – the most ever.

• ICE has doubled the number of personnel assigned to Border Enforcement Security Task Forces - multi-agency teams which collaborate to identify, disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations which pose significant threats to border security.

• ICE has quintupled deployments of Border Liaison Officers, who facilitate cooperation between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement authorities on investigations and enforcement operations.

• ICE has increased the number of intelligence analysts along the Southwest border focused on cartel violence.

• An additional 1,200 National Guard troops have been deployed along the Southwest border as a bridge to longer-term enhancements in border protection, and law enforcement personnel from DHS to target illicit networks' trafficking in people, drugs, illegal weapons, money, and the violence associated with these illegal activities.

Technology, Infrastructure and Aerial Assets

• Under the Southwest Border Initiative, DHS began screening 100% of southbound rail shipments for the first time ever.

• Through the Pedestrian Biometric Program, CBP can biometrically verify the identity of aliens entering the United States through pedestrian lanes across the Southwest border.

• DHS has deployed thousands of technology assets – including mobile surveillance units, thermal imaging systems, and large-and small-scale non-intrusive inspection equipment – along the Southwest Border and currently has 124 aircraft and four Unmanned Aircraft Systems operating along the southwest border.

• For the first time, DHS unmanned aerial capabilities now cover the Southwest border all the way from California to Texas—providing critical aerial surveillance assistance to personnel on the ground.

• DHS has completed 650 miles of fencing, including 299 miles of vehicle barriers and 350 miles of pedestrian fence.

• The passage and signing of Southwest border security supplemental legislation is providing DHS additional capabilities to secure the Southwest border at and between our ports of entry and reduce the illicit trafficking of people, drugs, currency and weapons.

Apprehensions and Seizures

• Nationwide Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal aliens decreased from nearly 724,000 in FY 2008 to approximately 463,000 in FY 2010, a 36% reduction, indicating that fewer people are attempting to illegally cross the border.

• From 2009 to mid-2011, DHS seized 75% more currency, 31% more drugs, and 64% more weapons along the Southwest border, as compared to previous last two and a half years during the previous Administration.
  
• In FY 2009 and FY 2010, ICE made over 20,507 criminal investigative arrests along the Southwest border, an increase of approximately 14% compared to the two previous years. Over 13,039 of these arrests were of drug smugglers and over 2,968 of these arrests were of human smugglers.

State and Local Engagement

• DHS works closely with law enforcement along the Southwest border, including prosecutors, sheriffs and chiefs of police, serving together on task forces, conducting joint operations, providing the latest intelligence and coordinating operational priorities.

• In 2009 and 2010, DHS provided $123 million in Operation Stonegarden funding to Southwest border law enforcement agencies - a record amount.

• Based on risk, cross-border traffic and border-related threat intelligence, 82 percent of 2009 and 2010 Operation Stonegarden funds went to Southwest border states, up from 59 percent in 2008.

Crime and Safety

• According to FBI Crime Index Statistics, the top four big cities in America with the lowest rates of violent crime are all in Border States – San Diego, Phoenix, El Paso and Austin.

• According to 2009 FBI crime reports, violent crimes in Southwest border counties have dropped by more than 30 percent in the last two decades and are currently among the lowest in the nation per capita.

• Crime rates in Nogales, Douglas, Yuma and other Arizona border towns have remained essentially flat for the past decade, even as drug-related violence has dramatically increased in Mexico.

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Northern Border

• The Department has made critical security improvements along the Northern border, investing in additional Border Patrol agents, technology, and infrastructure.
  • More than 2,200 agents on the Northern border, a 500 percent increase since 9/11.
  • Almost 3,700 CBP Officers managing the flow of people and goods across ports of entry and crossings.
• The Department continues to deploy additional technology, including thermal camera systems, Mobile Surveillance Systems, and a Remote Video Surveillance System to the Northern border.
• More than 35 land ports of entry are being modernized to meet the security and operational standards of our post-9/11 world. The Department is using Recovery Act funds for this effort.
• In February 2011, President Obama and Prime Minister Harper of Canada signed the "Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness." The "Shared Vision" emphasizes shared responsibility for the safety, security, and resilience of the United States and Canada by addressing threats at the earliest point possible; facilitating trade, economic growth, and jobs; collaborating on integrated cross-border law enforcement; and partnering to secure and strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure and cybersecurity.
• Through the Shiprider agreement, the Department is bolstering cross-border security operations with Canada to cross-train, share resources and personnel, and utilize each others' vessels. Those involved in this activity include:
  • The Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  • U.S. Coast Guard,
  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and
  • U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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Trusted Traveler, Pre-Clearance and International Partnerships

• U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) currently manages three Trusted Traveler Programs for the passenger environment: NEXUS, the Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection, and Global Entry, and plans to offer a single application for all modes of travel in the near future. These programs expedite travel for members who voluntarily apply, pay a fee, provide biometric identification, pass a rigorous background check, and undergo recurrent security checks.
  • In order to facilitate legitimate travel and effectively deploy screening and security resources, CBP has increased enrollment in its trusted traveler programs from approximately 80,000 members in 2003 to over one million in 2011.
• In 2010, the Department implemented the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) for land and sea travel to the U.S., increasing border security while facilitating legitimate travel and trade by requiring that U.S. and Canadian citizens present a passport or other secure travel document that denotes identity and citizenship when crossing the border.
• Secretary Napolitano and Mexican Secretary of the Interior Francisco Blake Mora signed an agreement to develop an international trusted traveler program pilot between the United States and Mexico.
• To date, the Department has implemented preclearance agreements in five countries, allowing us to inspect travelers and cargo before departure through the same process a traveler would undergo upon arrival at a U.S. port of entry.
• Customs and Border Protection began enforcement of the Importer Security Filing and Additional Carrier Requirements interim final rule – commonly known as "10+2" in reference to the data required under the rule – which requires importers to provide specific information on their cargo prior to arrival in the United States, significantly increasing the scope and accuracy of information gathered on shipments of cargo arriving by sea into the United States and bolstering the Department's layered enforcement strategy.
• Since 2009, the Department has signed Memoranda of Agreement with six tribes to develop Enhanced Tribal Cards (ETC) – Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) compliant documents that formally recognize tribal membership and U.S. citizenship for the purpose of entering the United States through a land or sea port of entry.

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