Case Studies 3 and 8: From Arizona Border Surveillance Technology Plan, GAO-14-368, March 3, 2014

In recent years, nearly half of all annual apprehensions of illegal U.S. entrants along the southwest border have occurred along the Arizona border. Under the Secure Border Initiative Network (SBInet), the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Custom and Border Protection (CBP) deployed surveillance systems along 53 of the 387 miles of the Arizona border with Mexico. After DHS canceled further SBInet procurements, CBP developed the Arizona Border Surveillance Technology Plan, which includes a mix of radars, sensors, and cameras to help provide security for the remainder of Arizona’s border. GAO was asked to review the status of DHS’s efforts to implement the Plan. Our report addressed the extent to which CBP developed schedules and life-cycle cost estimates for the Plan in accordance with best practices; followed aspects of DHS’s acquisition management guidance in managing the Plan’s programs; and identified mission benefits and developed performance measures for deploying surveillance technologies under the Plan.

We obtained program schedules as of March 2013 that were current at the time of our review for the three highest-cost programs—Integrated Fixed Towers, Remote Video Surveillance System, and Mobile Surveillance Capability—and we compared the schedules with best practices for developing schedules outlined in an exposure draft of GAO’s Schedule Assessment Guide. We also interviewed cognizant officials in CBP’s Office of Technology Innovation and Acquisition (OTIA) and program offices. By assessing the schedules against best practices, we identified CBP’s schedule challenges in testing, procuring, deploying, and operating technologies under the Plan. We interviewed CBP officials to determine reasons for the schedule challenges and steps that CBP had taken or was taking to address them.