This late 2017 report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has invested billions of dollars to prevent illegal drugs, immigration, weapons, and currency from transiting across the U.S.-Mexico border. DHS has not created a sufficient standardized method to measure whether an investment in a security measure is cost-effective when combining assets. To take it one step further, DHS has not created a model that combines cost-effectiveness of a security asset while simultaneously determining how it will contribute to achieving operational control of the border.
This study provides an in-depth look into the current risk-based model DHS uses, the administrative and physical infrastructure of U.S.-Mexico border security, and a critical view of DHS' annual budget. A decision model is presented that will give policymakers a process to choose a combination of border security investments that will achieve operational control of the border while remaining within budgeting constraints. A lot of work needs to be done for DHS to determine the correct security assets to be placed at the U.S.-Mexico Border to maintain operational control and cost-effectiveness. This study does not determine which security assets need to be put into place, but it provides a decision process that will be an asset for policymakers to save federal time and money assigned to border security investments.

I. INTRODUCTION * A. RESEARCH QUESTION * B. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH QUESTION * C. LITERATURE REVIEW * 1. Current Demand of Decision Model for Border Defense * 2. Opportunity Cost of Homeland Security and Defense Spending * 3. Measuring ROI for DHS' Border Security Expenditures * 4. Current ROI Model Deficiencies * 5. ROI in the Public Sector * 6. Game Theory and Social Sciences * D. POTENTIAL EXPLANATIONS AND HYPOTHESES * E. RESEARCH DESIGN AND THESIS OVERVIEW * II. EVOLUTION OF U.S.-MEXICO BORDER SECURITY LEGAL AND PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE * A. INTRODUCTION * B. U.S.-MEXICO BORDER * C. DEVELOPMENT OF PRESENT DAY BORDER SECURITY INFRASTRUCTURE * D. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION (CBP) * 1. Office of Air and Marine (OAM) * E. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT (ICE) * F. DHS OFFICE OF INTELLIGENCE AND ANALYSIS (I&A) * G. INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY AND BORDER DEFENSE * H. STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT * I. TECHNOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL BORDER SECURITY INVESTMENT * J. CONCLUSION * III. U.S.-MEXICO BORDER BUDGETING AND ENFORCEMENT DATA * A. INTRODUCTION * B. DHS BUDGETING AND INVESTMENTS * 1. CBP * 2. ICE and DHS I&A * C. SIGNIFICANT CBP BORDER SECURITY INVESTMENTS * D. BORDER SECURITY ACCOMPLISHMENTS * E. CONCLUSION * IV. U.S.-MEXICO BORDER SECURITY DECISION MODEL * A. STEP ONE: DETERMINE THE OBJECTIVE OF A BORDER SECURITY MEASURE * B. STEP TWO: LIST ALL POSSIBLE BORDER SECURITY MEASURES THAT WILL HELP ACHIEVE OPERATIONAL CONTROL * C. STEP THREE: EVALUATE COSTS OF SECURITY MEASURES * D. STEP FOUR: EVALUATE EFFECTIVENESS OF SECURITY MEASURES * E. CHOOSING A COMBINATION OF SECURITY MEASURES * F. LIMITATIONS TO THE DECISION MODEL * G. CONCLUSION * V. DHS, U.S.-MEXICO BORDER, AND THE ROAD AHEAD * A. U.S.-MEXICO BORDER WALL * B. INTERIOR ENFORCEMENT * C. LOOKING AHEAD AT OPERATIONAL CONTROL OF U.S.MEXICO BORDER * D. CONCLUSION