Assessment of the Department of Homeland Security’s Border Security Improvement Plan

GAO found the information in Fiscal Year 2019-2020 Border Security Improvement Plan to be incomplete when compared to the elements required by the DHS Appropriations Act, 2018, as referenced by the 2019 and 2020 appropriations acts. In particular, GAO identified 10 of the 11 elements for which the 2019-2020 plan provided incomplete information.

DHS’s 2019-2020 plan includes a goal, objectives, and activities; identifies capabilities across four strategic initiatives; and describes mission benefits and outcomes for each initiative; among other things. However, the plan does not include many of the other required elements, such as a detailed implementation schedule linked to services, program management capabilities, or life cycle cost estimates; and an estimate of planned obligation of funds for fiscal years 2019-2027. The plan also does not identify staffing requirements for any of the initiatives identified in the plan.