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Operation Jump Start

On 15 May 2006, President Bush addressed the nation regarding border security and immigration reform. As an immediate step to support CBP Border Patrol's efforts, the President called for up to 6,000 National Guard members to assist with surveillance, installing fences and vehicle barriers, as well as provide training. This support mission, Operation Jump Start, will provide significant assistance to securing the southern U.S. border during the next two years.

CBP Border Patrol and the National Guard coordinated with the state governors and adjutants general to deploy National Guard troops in support of Border Patrol operations. This unprecedented cooperative effort has resulted in the deployment of 6,000 National Guard personnel to California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Deployment numbers are based on operational need and threat. This two-year deployment supplemented and supported current efforts while CBP hired and trained 6,000 additional Border Patrol agents and implements the Secure Border Initiative and SBInet.

National Guard units assisted CBP by executing logistical and administrative support, operating detection systems, providing mobile communications, augmenting border-related intelligence analysis efforts, and building and installing border security infrastructure. Operation Jump Start relieves Border Patrol agents from non-law enforcement duties, allowing them to focus on border security. More than 350 Border Patrol agents had been able to return to traditional frontline duties due to the presence of the Guard.

National Guard members working in Del Rio Sector rescued a Central American woman who was drowning in the Rio Grande River on August 1. Two Texas guard members working in an entry identification capacity nearby responded to the call for assistance. Disregarding their own safety, the guardsmen jumped into the water to save the drowning woman, pulling her from the depths of the muddy Rio Grande River.

National Guard members assigned to operate a remote video surveillance system worked with Border Patrol agents to seize more than 287 pounds of cocaine Aug. 9. A guard member operating the cameras was able to identify two individuals transporting four large military-style duffle bags across the Rio Grande in a boat and shortly after, a sport utility vehicle entered the area where the boat made landfall. Border Patrol agents responded and located the vehicle and seized four duffle bags of cocaine weighing over 287 pounds, valued at $9.2 million.

National Guard members assisting in the Yuma, Ariz. sector alerted Border Patrol agents that there were two individuals on a trail along the Colorado River. Once apprehended, the pair revealed that there were three others in the vicinity that were suffering from heat exhaustion. An air search located the three, finding two to be severely dehydrated. One was airlifted to the hospital and another transported by ambulance. All survived and were charged with immigration violations.

Operation Jump Start (OJS) (June 2006-July 2008) cost $1.2 billion over 2 years, of which $84 million was spent for aviation support, according to National Guard officials. OJS involved volunteers from the border states, and volunteers from outside the border states; mission included aviation, engineering, entry identification teams (EIT), among others, according to National Guard officials.

Costs

1. Personnel costs (federal pay). OJS deployed up to 6,000 Guardsmen (more than 30,000 Guardsmen participated during the mission).
2. Operation & maintenance costs estimated at $120 per person per day.
3. Transportation costs were “significant” due to use of out-of-state units, according to National Guard officials.
4. Equipment operating costs included aviation assets.

CBP officials reported that during the 2-year operation, the National Guard assisted in the apprehension of 186,814 undocumented aliens, and the seizure of 316,364 pounds of marijuana, among other categories of assistance such as rescues and the seizure of illicit currency. Based on these reported figures, the National Guard assisted in 11.7% of all undocumented alien apprehensions and 9.4% of all marijuana seized on the southwest border.

The official start date for OJS was June 15, 2006, and the official end date was July 15, 2008. CBP’s data is reported monthly, and as the beginning and end dates of OJS fell in the middle of the calendar month, for the purposes of this analysis, the 24-month period analyzed was July 2006 (the first full month of the mission) through June 2008 (the last full month of the mission).