Along the U.S.-Mexico border, fortification has reached an all-time peak, says the San Diego Union-Tribune. The ranks of Border Patrol agents top 17,600. Nearly 650 miles of additional fencing is up. Four unmanned drones patrol. Twelve hundred National Guard soldiers are on the ground. Camera systems numbering 467 sweep the perimeter and 10,800 ground sensors lie in wait.
Given this unprecedented expansion in resources during the past decade, U.S. government officials said the southwest border is the tightest it has ever been. Skeptics and “border security first” supporters are convinced it is still not enough. Congressional Republicans are drafting legislation to further bolster border security — add more customs officers, anti-narcotics teams and surveillance equipment. “No one has described what a secure border looks like. We have no baseline and we have no target,” said David Shirk of the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego. “It's a great example of a moving standard and for the last 20 years, that standard has been moving up with no targets in sight.”