DHS Responds to Congressman, Governor about Budget Cuts

The Department of Homeland Security is releasing new information about why they cut surveillance hours from the Department of Defense.

DHS cited improvements in their border security, specifically a campaign that was launched early last year.

The federal government responded to Congressman Henry Cuellar and Governor Greg Abbott.

Cuellar’s office forwarded CHANNEL 5 NEWS DHS’s response:

“DHS is committed to securing our borders and investing resources in the most effective and efficient way possible. Over the last decade, the Department of Defense (DoD) has provided significant personnel and equipment capability and capacity to assist DHS in securing our nation’s Southwest land border, as part of operations including Operation Jump Start (June 2006 to July 2008) and Operation Phalanx (July 2010 to present).  DoD has spent over $1B on this support during this period.

During this same period, DHS has made improvements in how we approach border security. These include the Southern Border and Approaches Campaign Plan, which DHS launched in early 2015 and for the first time is putting to use in a combined and strategic way the assets and personnel of the Department to better protect the border, and the stand-up of three new DHS Joint Task Forces to collaboratively plan and execute multi-component DHS operations.  For Calendar Year 2016, DHS determined that the existing level of support from DoD that had been renewed year-to-year was no longer necessary.  Instead, for 2016, DHS requested, and DoD agreed to provide, support along the Southwest border that will include 3,850 hours of persistent aerial detection, situational awareness and monitoring capability. This year and going forward, as part of our broader DHS force management and requirements processes, DHS will assess its yearly capability needs to accomplish our border security objectives and when necessary, request from DoD the support necessary to augment our own capabilities.

The nation’s long-term investment in border security continued to produce significant and positive results in FY 2015. Illegal migration continued to decline compared to the peak in FY 2000, when the Border Patrol reported 1.6 million apprehensions. In FY 2015, the Border Patrol reported 337,117 apprehensions nationwide, compared to 486,651 in the previous fiscal year. This represents a 30 percent decline since the previous year and an almost 80 percent decline since the peak of apprehensions in FY 2000. Today, the Border Patrol consists of over 20,000 Border Patrol Agents, and the largest-ever level of technology and equipment. DHS continues to focus on and invest in technology, surveillance equipment, and a risk-based strategy towards border security.”