Border & Immigration

Report: Border Patrol Checkpoints Useful But Data Flawed

By Amy Isackson / Border Reporter

Published August 31, 2009 at 1:58 PM PDT

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

Report: Border Patrol Checkpoints Useful But Data Flawed

A new government report dings the US Border Patrol for overstating the effectiveness of highway checkpoints. Nevertheless, the Government Accountability Office concludes the checkpoints are an important line of defense for illegal immigrants and drugs.

A new government report dings the US Border Patrol for overstating the effectiveness of highway checkpoints. Nevertheless, the Government Accountability Office concludes the checkpoints are an important line of defense for illegal immigrants and drugs.

The GAO studied Border Patrol checkpoints near the southwest border. That includes those in San Diego on I-5, I-8 and I-5 freeways and on State Route 94.

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The report finds that the Border Patrol needs to improve how it collects data at the checkpoints. The report said the federal agency needs to make sure data is gathered more consistently and rigorously.

Richard Stana helped write the report, and he said despite the discrepancies, checkpoints do serve a purpose. "For 4 percent of Border Patrol resources, they seize about a third of the drugs and other contraband that the Border Patrol seizes."

Stana recommends the federal government establish mechanisms to oversee the accuracy of information collected at checkpoints.

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Border & Immigration Drug War Immigration

Amy Isackson

Amy Isackson was the border reporter at KPBS from 2004 to 2011. She covered breaking news and feature stories on California-Mexico border issues and immigration, for local and national broadcast. Amy got her start in public radio by pitching a series of stories about rural New Zealand - horse dentistry and sheep sheering - to Radio New Zealand's "Country Life" program. She then worked with Peabody Award-winning radio producers Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson, to help create the Sonic Memorial, a series of stories on the World Trade Center before, during and after 9/11. Amy's work has been recognized with awards from the Associated Press Television-Radio Association of California and Nevada, the California Chicano News Media Association, and the San Diego Press Club. She won the Sol Price Prize for Responsible Journalism in 2009 from the Society of Professional Journalists for her story about high school students smuggling people and drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Prior to venturing into the wonderful world of public radio, Amy worked for Yahoo! Inc. for nearly five years as an editorial surfer, associate producer and broadcast communications manager. She majored in Latin American History at Williams College. She grew up in San Diego and made frequent trips south of the border.

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