SAN DIEGO —With border crossings at a 40-year low, the U.S. Border Patrol announced a new strategy Tuesday targeting repeat crossers that tries to find out why they keep coming.
For nearly two decades, the Border Patrol has relied on a strategy that blanketed heavily trafficked corridors for illegal immigrants with agents, pushing migrants to more remote areas where they would presumably be easier to capture and discouraged from trying again.
“The jury, for me at least, is out on whether that’s a solid strategy,” Chief Mike Fisher said.
The new approach is more nuanced. Outlined in a 32-page document that took more than two years to develop, agents will now draw on intelligence to identify repeat crossers and others perceived as security threats, said Fisher.
During testimony before a House Homeland Security subcommittee Tuesday, Fisher was asked why the new strategy didn’t include any specific “metrics” that could help Congress and the public better understand if the border is secure. Fisher said the strategy will help agents use the resources at the border to better understand what is really happening.
The new strategy moves to halt a revolving-door policy of sending migrants back to Mexico without any punishment.
