Summary
In 1993, the Chief of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, El Paso Sector, first implemented an enforcement strategy that used strategically placed agents to direct migrants to specific areas. Their goal was to prevent migrants from crossing through the downtown El Paso port of entry. The show of force in and around downtown El Paso led migrants to cross in rural areas at the edge of the city that were easier for agents to monitor.
This strategy changed how federal authorities policed the border. Instead of apprehending migrants after they crossed the border, authorities now sought to deter migrant crossings. Prevention Through Deterrence became a national program in 1994. Major entry ports in Southern California, Arizona, and South Texas implemented the plan throughout the 1990s.
By increasing enforcement resources along major entry corridors, federal authorities essentially funneled migrants into increasingly dangerous crossings. Remote areas and the natural environment along the border, such as the Sonoran Desert, became part of the federal government’s enforcement strategy. Federal authorities reasoned that these desolate and dangerous routes would serve as a deterrent to potential border crossers.
Source
Excerpt from the U.S. Border Patrol Strategic Plan 1994 and Beyond:
Environment
The border environment is diverse. Mountains, deserts, lakes, rivers and valleys form natural barriers to passage. Temperatures ranging from sub-zero along the northern border to the searing heat of the southern border effect illegal entry traffic as well as enforcement efforts. Illegal entrants crossing through remote, uninhabited expanses of land and sea along the border can find themselves in mortal danger…
Concept
The Border Patrol will improve control of the border by implementing a strategy of “prevention through deterrence.” The Border Patrol will achieve the goals of its strategy by bringing a decisive number of enforcement resources to bear in each major entry corridor… Although a 100 percent apprehension rate is an unrealistic, we believe we can achieve a rate of apprehensions sufficiently high to raise the risk of apprehension to the point that many will consider it futile to continue to attempt illegal entry…
The prediction is that with traditional entry and smuggling routes disrupted, illegal traffic will be deterred, or forced over more hostile terrain, l~s suited for crossing and more suited for enforcement. Mobility of enforcement resources will be essential in tracking illegal traffic to prevent local “hot spots” from becoming long-term problem areas.”
Graph from the Pima County, Arizona Office of the Medical Examiner displaying data on causes of death for undocumented border crossers (exposure = death caused by harsh environmental conditions)
