Official website of the Department of Homeland Security
Border Security
Protecting the nation’s borders—land, air, and sea—from the illegal entry of people, weapons, drugs, and contraband is vital to our homeland security, as well as economic prosperity. DHS has deployed unprecedented levels of personnel, technology, and resources and has made critical security improvements to secure and manage our borders. The following are reports related to Border Security.
Border Security Metrics Report
The Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act directs the Department of Homeland Security “to develop metrics … to measure the effectiveness of security between ports of entry, at ports of entry, in the maritime environment and to measure the effectiveness of the aviation assets and operations of Air and Marine Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.” This report meets this direction by providing the most comprehensive, rigorous set of border security metrics ever produced by the Department, along with a thorough discussion of the strengths and limitations of the Department’s available methodological approaches.
Efforts by DHS to Estimate Southwest Border Security between Ports of Entry
Securing the southwest land border against illegal immigration, smuggling of drugs and other contraband, and terrorist activities is a key part of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) mission, and a top priority for the White House, Congress, and the American public. On January 25, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order on “Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements,” reflecting these concerns.