HSE430: Border-Transportation Security

The United States Border Patrol (USBP) has a long and storied history as our nation’s first line of defense against unauthorized migration. The USBP’s primary mission is to detect and prevent the entry of terrorists, weapons of mass destruction, and illegal aliens into the country, and to interdict drug smugglers and other criminals along the border. This article explores the background, organization and composition of the USBP. It also examines border security issues particular to both the northern and southern U.S. borders, as well as border patrol issues important for U.S. government consideration.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)enforces federal customs and immigration laws at or near the international border and at U.S. ports of entry. Congress has established a comprehensive framework enabling CBP officers to inspect, search, and detain individuals to ensure their entry and any goods they import conform to these governing laws. That authority is not absolute. While the government has broader latitude to conduct searches at the border than in the interior of the United States, these searches must still satisfy Fourth Amendment requirements. This Legal Sidebar briefly explains CBP’s customs and immigration enforcement powers and the constitutional limitations to that authority.

This report presents the results of a collaborative process that produced recommendations for increasing the security of the surface transportation system. The study identified a set of 10 issue areas to examine, obtained input from surface transportation sector stakeholders, and analyzed the responses to reach a consensus set of priorities and recommendations. Four themes guided this effort 1 enhancing security and reducing risk 2 improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the Federal mission, organization, and program 3 strengthening interactive stakeholder partnerships and 4 employing a systems management approach to surface transportation security.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created in the wake of 9/11 to strengthen the security of the nation’s transportation systems while ensuring the freedom of movement for people and commerce. TSA screens 100 percent of all passengers into, out of, and within the United States through TSA’s Secure Flight program. U.S. transportation security encompasses: Aviation Security, Cargo Screening, Traveler Redress Inquiry, Trusted Traveler and Visa Waiver programs, and Maritime Security.

A safety risk assessment matrix provides a structured approach for addressing these requirements by helping to: • Assess the likelihood and severity of the consequences of identified hazards; Determine if the safety risk is acceptable with existing mitigations, or if additional action is needed; and Prioritize hazards based on the safety risk of their potential consequences.

This annex describes policies, roles and responsibilities, and the concept of operations for assessing, prioritizing, protecting, and restoring critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR) of the United States and its territories and possessions during actual or potential domestic incidents. The annex details processes to ensure coordination and integration of CIKR-related activities among a wide array of public and private incident managers and CIKR security partners within immediate incident areas as well as at the regional and national levels.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has called for using risk-informed approaches to help prioritize its investments, develop plans, and allocate resources in a way that balances security and commerce. Within DHS, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is responsible for making risk-informed investments to secure the transportation system. GAO evaluated to what extent TSA (1) implemented a risk management approach to inform the allocation of resources across the transportation sector and (2) followed internal control standards in its efforts to implement and use a risk management approach to inform resource allocation.