Congressman Henry Cuellar presented a summary of a U.S. Coast Guard threat assessment of the Rio Grande border this week during a Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security hearing.

The assessment, in its entirety titled Rio Grande Mission Requirements Analysis – 2011 Report to Congress, concluded that the Rio Grande border-area has low-to-moderate threat levels based on the Coast Guard’s four-point scale.

“The Coast Guard’s analysis provides concrete, factual information that indicates that our communities north of the Rio Grande border are safe,” said Congressman Cuellar. “We must continue working with law enforcement agencies at every level of government to make sure that our communities continue to enjoy these safety levels and at the same time, ensure that our men and women in law enforcement are trained and equipped to continue doing the invaluable work they do to keep our borders safe.”

“I commend the Coast Guard for working diligently to complete this assessment and for the invaluable service they provide to our country,” said Congressman Cuellar.  

The congressman had authored a provision in the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010, now public law, that directed the Coast Guard to prepare a mission requirement analysis for the navigable portions of the Rio Grande.

The Coast Guard’s four-point scale used in the study ranges from “low, moderate, significant and high.” The assessment concluded that Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations present a moderate threat of violence to persons on the U.S.-side of the border. It also concluded that there is a low Search and Rescue case load and that there is a relatively low level of migrant activity along the Rio Grande border area. Based on these results, the Guard determined that the current use of it’s assets and personnel that are already operating along the Rio Grande is sufficient.