ch to gain the large concentration of agents on the border. Another aspect of Gatekeeper was the sectional deployment of agents on the border. There was a “tier system” set up staging agents at three distinct locations on the border. The first tier was deployed in fixed positions on the border and had “prevention, apprehension, and observation” responsibilities. The second tier of agents - located further north in corridors heavily traveled by aliens - had more freedom of movement in containing and apprehending illegal traffic that made it past the first line of defense. The third tier was charged with apprehending any traffic that penetrated the first two lines of defense (www.usdoj.gov). Gatekeeper received unprecedented resources in the form of manpower, fencing, infrared, sensors, identification systems and vehicles. On average the number of resources increased around 145%. Don’t forget these agents using these resources are armed too. Basically immigrants would have to “run the gauntlet” in order to get into the US. While under the old system apprehension numbers provided a ready measure of an agent's skill and work ethic, under the new system the abstract concept of deterrence governed. Agents who were previously free to decide how and where they would work and what illegal traffic they would pursue were now told where to work (often in a fairly constrained area), what traffic they could pursue and how far, and were accountable for their whereabouts at all times. Many agents disliked these new methods (www.usdoj.gov). Five years after the inauguration of Operation Gatekeeper the number of undocumented immigrants arrested while trying to cross the US-Mexican border has been cut by only 1 percent, while the death toll for immigrant workers attempting to cross the heavily guarded frontier has increased six-fold. The official death toll since Operation Gatekeeper began is 405. US ...
