Survey of INS's Anti-Smuggling Units
Report Number I-2001-003
March 2001
Generally, we found that responses to our survey did not differ significantly between Border Patrol sector Anti-smuggling Units (ASUs) and district office ASUs. Therefore, we were able to identify a number of issues that were common among all ASUs. However, we also found several instances where sector and district responses differed sharply from one another, suggesting that ASU views and experiences should not be generalized in every case. Examples of these differences include:
Question 6: There is agreement between you and your sector chief/district director over what the mission of your ASU should be.
- 14.3% of the Sectors answered either "strongly disagree" or "disagree"
- 38.1% of the Districts answered either "strongly disagree" or "disagree"
Question 14: Overall, how would you rate the level of coordination that exists between your ASU and the local U.S. Attorney's Office?
- 0% of the Sectors answered either "fair" or "poor"
- 19.1% of the Districts answered either "fair" or "poor"
Question 23: To what extent has your ASU received the resources necessary for performing its mission?
- 7.1% of the Sectors answered "not at all"
- 28.6% of the Districts answered "not at all"
Question 26: To what extent do the agents in your ASU perform non-investigative tasks, such as patrolling the border or transporting aliens to detention facilities?
- 7.2% of the Sectors answered either "to a moderate extent" or "to a great extent"
- 33.3% of the Districts answered either "to a moderate extent" or "to a great extent"