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Deployment Analysis
Key Issues/Constraints:
• Unincorporated rural area
o Population of El Calaboz/El Ranchito, Texas: 2,100.
o Population of La Brigada, Tamaulipas, Mexico: small rural community
unknown population
• Routes of ingress into La Brigada, Tamaulipas, Mexico from Matamoros, Mexico
to the interior of the U.S. are well established and heavily used.
• Homes and businesses in El Calaboz/El Ranchito, Texas are within a few feet of
the border.
• Homes and businesses in La Brigada, Tamaulipas are located within a few miles
of the U.S. border.
• Unimproved farm roads on the Mexican side and paved streets in the U.S. side
facilitate lateral movement of the criminal element.
• Illegal entrants can mix in with the general population in El Ranchito, Texas due
to its close proximity to the U.S./Mexico border.
• (b) (7)(E)
The areas south of the proposed fence are primarily farmland, dense brush and
vegetation. Fencing is needed due to the proximity of the communities of El Calaboz and
El Ranchito to the Rio Grande River. The balance between Border Patrol’s response time
and the illegal entrant’s vulnerable time is greatly in favor of the illegal entrants. This
situation creates enforcement vulnerability for agents charged with gaining operational
control of the border. The proposed fence would deter an attempted illegal entrant by
creating a significant mental and physical obstacle.
• Despite the fact that agents are able to detect entries, the number of entrants and
their ability to assimilate into the general population, has a dissipating impact on
enforcement efforts.
• (b) (7)(E)
Alternatives Analysis:
• Baseline – (b) (7)(E)
• Sensors – Provide the capability for agents to detect and tract entries (via seismic
activity). Rural areas permit the deployment of standard ground sensors. (b) (7)
(E)
o Although the initial cost for the fence would be somewhat higher, the
fence would provide the required persistent impedance necessary to deter
and/or apprehend illegal entrants, while sensors would only provide
detection and tracking capabilities. The quick access to residences and
routes of egress by illegal entrants allows little response time for Border
Patrol Agents.
• Cameras – Cameras will provide the initial visual detection of persons entering
the United States. (b) (7)(E)
• Border Patrol Agents – Border Patrol Agents are capable of detecting entries,
identifying and classifying the threat, and responding to intrusions. In numbers,
Border Patrol Agents would have a deterring effect for potential entrants.
o (b) (7)(E)
• Vehicle Fence –The design of the vehicle fence is an effective way of keeping
vehicles out of a designated area. The vehicle fence is primarily designed for
areas where “drive-throughs” occur on a regular basis.
o The U.S./Mexico border in Texas has the Rio Grande River to serve as a
natural, vehicular barrier between both countries. Vehicle fence, as a
result, is not a requirement for this section of the border. Even under
drought conditions, the Rio Grande River is deep enough to prevent most
vehicles from driving through. The current bollard design provides
effective vehicle deterrence as well as pedestrian deterrence.
o Should this area have required this type of physical barrier, the initial and
three year cost for the 2.45 mile segment of vehicle fence would have been
$7,007,000. The initial cost and operational costs for a three year period
for the 2.45 mile segment of pedestrian fence would be $11,843,000.
o Water levels in the Rio Grande River tend to vary and are not always
consistent, thus not allowing boats to be utilized daily or from one end of
the segment to the other end.
o Hydrilla, an invasive, non-native weed that plagues the Rio Grande River.
The weed grows from the river bottom to the surface forming sprawling
dense mats that prevents and/or impedes the effective the navigation of
marine vessels.
o Marine vessel deployments can have a very effective deterrent effect on
most potential entrants, but the front line of defense would have to
collapse when an entrant or group of entrants decide to risk crossing over
the boundary. These vessels would then be required to respond to the
threat, thereby weakening the front line strength of their deployment
formation.
o Marine operations are limited in severe weather.
• Weir Dam – The Weir Dam Project (proposal) is an attempt to create a water
reservoir along the Rio Grande River in Brownsville, located in southern tip
of Texas. The dam would essentially create a backlog of water upstream from
the structure’s actual location. The effects would be as far as 40 miles
upstream.
o During periods of normal water flow, the downriver side of the
structure would create a very dangerous situation where the water
would essentially flow over the lip of the dam and create “whitewater”
effect. This whitewater effect actually turns into a continuously
spinning cycle, causing anything that gets caught in it to potentially
stay underwater for extended periods of time.
o During periods of drought, the Weir Dam would essentially provide a
clear, smooth, flat and easily identified pathway that would connect
the Mexican riverbank to the United States riverbank.
o The initial costs of the Weir Dam Project would be approximately
$40,000,000 (2004 estimates).
o The Weir Dam would not provide anymore deterrence effect than the
Rio Grande River currently provides.
• The fiscal cost of such a deployment is close to $51,600,000 per year (salaries,
benefits and personal equipment).
• The initial cost and operational costs for a three year period for the 2.45 mile
segment of pedestrian fence would be $11,843,000.
• The community relations cost of such a deployment is a perception by the local
residents and businesses that we have become an “occupation army”, standing
shoulder to shoulder along the border, pursuing illegal activity up streets, through
backyards, and into businesses.
• The operational cost of the total number of agents deployed to gain and maintain
control of the area precludes any significant deployment of agents to address
shifts in smuggling activity to the rural flanks of El Calaboz/El Ranchito, Texas.
• The terrain features (river) will make it difficult for illegal entrants to use aids like
ladders to overcome the physical structure (fence). Those who are fit enough to
overcome the fence or get assistance by accomplices on the south side of the
fence will find they are unable to easily escape back into Mexico once on the U.S.
side of the border.
• The installation of the technology, as a stand alone alternative, would increase
detection and tracking abilities, but would not provide the required level of
deterrence or enhance agent time-distance response.
Recommended Solution:
• Deploy pedestrian fencing to deter and to significantly slow those who are fit
enough to navigate the fence. Fencing can deter a large number of illegal entrants
from crossing. This reduces the number of agents needed to respond within a
segment area.
• Deploy a sensor system on the fence to alert agent when a person or person is
attempting to climb, or tampering with, the fence.
• Deploy cameras providing overlapping view sheds of the fence to provide
enhanced surveillance and compliment detection capabilities.
• Deploy visual deterrence systems (lights that may be activated by camera
operators) for nighttime deterrence, and audio systems (speakers that allow
operators to “talk” to potential illegal entrants to let them know they have been
detected and will face arrest if they continue into the US.
• Deploy agents in a mobile capacity, patrolling the fence and responding when the
technology systems detect an illegal entry.
Projected Results:
• Fewer illegal entries directly into the El Calaboz/El Ranchito, Texas area.