The Border Patrol has developed interim measures to assess progress in securing the nation’s land borders between ports of entry but has not established more comprehensive performance metrics, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says in a report released this week.
Apprehensions of illegal immigrants along the southwest border between the ports of entry, which is the Border Patrol’s interim performance goal and measure for border security, have decreased between FY ’06 and FY ’11 notes the report, Border Patrol: Key Elements of New Strategic Plan Not Yet in Place to Inform Border Security Status and Resource Needs (GAO-13-25). While this interim performance measure informs illegal immigrant activity levels, it doesn’t “inform program results or resource identification and allocation decisions,” GAO says.
Under the strategic plan, which was released last year and covers 2012 to 2016, the Border Patrol was supposed to have its performance goals and measures developed in 2012.
Border Patrol officials say they are in the process of identifying performance goals and measures for border security but that they haven’t established milestones for doing so because timeframes for implementing key parts of the new strategic plan are subject to change.
“However,” GAO says, “milestones and time frames for the development of performance goals and measures could help ensure that goals and measures are completed in a timely manner. Moreover, milestones and time frames could better position CBP (Customs and Border Protection) to monitor progress in developing and implementing goals and measures, which would provide DHS (Department of Homeland Security) and Congress with information on the results of CBP efforts to secure the border between POEs and the extent to which existing resources and capabilities are appropriate and sufficient.”
In its response to the GAO report, DHS says that the estimated completion date for the performance goals and measures is Nov. 30.