Operation Gatekeeper - was a Clinton-era measure aimed to halt immigration at the United States–Mexico border near San Diego, California. According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the goal of Gatekeeper was "to restore integrity and safety to the nation's busiest border." Operation Gatekeeper was announced in Los Angeles on September 17, 1994 by U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, and was launched two weeks later on October 1. In the United States Congress, additional funds were allocated to the United States Border Patrol and other agencies. By 1997, the budget of the Immigration and Naturalization Service had doubled to 800 million dollars, the number of Border Patrol agents had nearly doubled, the amount of fencing or other barriers more than doubled, and the number of underground sensors nearly tripled. The merits of Operation Gatekeeper have been debated extensively, including during Congressional hearings. The Department of Justice, the INS and the Border Patrol have maintained that Operation Gatekeeper is a success. However, various Congressmen and newspaper articles have sharply criticized the program and declared it a failure.
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