The 'United States Border Patrol (USBP)', a
federal police force, is the mobile uniformed law enforcement arm of
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a bureau of the
Department of Homeland Security.
Mounted watchmen of the U.S. Immigration Service patrolled the border in an effort to prevent illegal crossings as early as
1904, but their efforts were irregular and undertaken only when resources permitted. The inspectors, usually called Mounted Guards, operated out of El Paso, Texas. Though they never totaled more than seventy-five, they patrolled as far west as California trying to restrict the flow of illegal Chinese immigration.
In March 1915, Congress authorized a separate group of Mounted Guards, often referred to as Mounted Inspectors. Most rode on horseback, but a few operated automobiles and boats. Although these inspectors had broader arrest authority, they still largely pursued Chinese immigrants trying to avoid the
National Origins Act and
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. These patrolmen were Immigrant Inspectors, assigned to inspection stations, and could not watch the border at all times. Military troops along the southwest border performed intermittent border patrolling, but this was secondary to "the more serious work of military training." Aliens encountered illegally in the U.S. by the military were directed to the immigration inspection stations.
Texas Rangers were also sporadically assigned to patrol duties by the state, and their efforts were noted as "singularly effective."
The Border Patrol was founded on
May 28,
1924 as an agency of the
United States Department of Labor. Prior to
2003, the Border Patrol was part of the
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), an agency that was within the
U.S. Department of Justice, now disbanded as of March 2003.
The priority mission of the Patrol, as a result of the
9/11 attacks and its merging into DHS, is to prevent
terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the
United States of America. However, the Border Patrol's traditional mission remains as the deterrence, detection and apprehension of
illegal immigrants and individuals involved in the
illegal drug trade who generally enter the United States other than through designated
ports of entry.
Currently, the U.S. Border Patrol employs over 11,000 agents, and is responsible for patrolling 19,000
miles of land and sea borders. The Border Patrol personnel are deployed primarily at the
U.S.-Mexico border, where they are assigned to control drug trafficking and illegal immigration.
Strategy
1986 - Employer Sanctions and Interior Enforcement
Border Patrol Agents patrol for illegal entry into U.S.
The Border Patrol's priorities have changed over the years. In 1986, the
Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) placed renewed emphasis on controlling illegal immigration by going after the employers that hire illegal aliens. The belief was that jobs were the magnet that attracted most illegal aliens to come to the United States. The Border Patrol increased interior enforcement and Form I-9 audits of businesses through an inspection program known as ''Employer Sanctions''. Several agents were assigned to interior stations such as within the
Livermore Sector in Northern California.
Employer Sanctions never became the effective tool it was expected to be by Congress. Illegal immigration continued to swell after the 1986 amnesty despite employer sanctions. By 1993, Californians passed
Proposition 187, denying benefits to illegal aliens and criminalizing illegal aliens in possession of phony green cards, I.D. cards and Social Security Numbers. It also authorized police officers to question aliens as to their immigration status and required police and sheriff departments to cooperate and report illegal aliens to the
INS. Proposition 187 drew nation-wide attention to the problem of illegal immigration.
Deterrence becomes the new strategy
In response to illegal immigration in 1994, the Border Patrol came up with a new strategy for addressing illegal aliens. In 1992, "over half of all southwest border apprehensions occurred along only 18 of the 1,600
border miles—13 miles along the border between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, and 5 miles along the border between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico."
[1]
In 1991,
Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) commissioned
Sandia National Laboratory to study more effective ways of stopping the flow of aliens and drugs into the United States. The "Sandia Study" concluded that the Border Patrol's traditional method of apprehension was ineffective. The Sandia Study recommended deterrence and the use of technology (cameras) and infrastructure (fences and other barriers) to control illegal immigration and drug smuggling.
[2]
El Paso Sector's Operation Hold the Line
Retired
El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent
Silvestre Reyes started a program called "Operation Hold the Line". In this program, Border Patrol Agents would no longer react to illegal alien entries resulting in apprehensions, but would instead be forward deployed to the border, immediately detecting any attempted entries or deterring illegal aliens to cross at a more remote location. The idea was that it would be easier to capture illegal aliens in the wide open deserts than through the urban alleyways. Chief Reyes deployed his agents along the Rio Grande River, within eyesight of other agents. The program significantly reduced illegal alien entries in the urban part of El Paso, however, the operation merely shifted the illegal aliens to other areas.
San Diego Sector's Operation Gatekeeper
San Diego Sector tried
Sylvestre Reyes' approach of forward deploying agents to deter illegal entries into the country. Congress authorized the hiring of thousands of new agents, and many were sent to San Diego Sector. In addition, Congressman
Duncan Hunter obtained surplus military landing mats to use as a border fence. Stadium lighting, ground sensors and infra-red cameras were also placed in the area. Apprehensions decreased dramatically in that area as the aliens crossed in different regions.
Tucson Sector's Operation Safeguard
California was no longer the hotbed of illegal alien activity and the traffic shifted to Arizona, primarily in
Nogales and
Douglas. The Border Patrol instituted the same deterrent strategy it used in San Diego to Arizona.
Border Patrol moves away from Interior Enforcement
In the 1990s Congress mandated that the Border Patrol shift agents away from the interior and focus them on the borders.
Post September 11 the Department of Homeland Security also created two immigration enforcement bureaus out of the defunct
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). These two new bureaus were
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). ICE was tasked with investigations, detention and removal of illegal aliens, and interior enforcement. CBP was tasked with inspections at our ports of entry and with illegal entries between the port of entry, transportation check, and entries on our coastal borders. DHS management decided to align the Border Patrol with CBP.
In July 2004 the Livermore Sector of the United States Border Patrol was closed. Livermore Sector served Northern California and included stations at
Dublin (
Parks Reserve Forces Training Area),
Sacramento,
Stockton,
Fresno and
Bakersfield. The Border Patrol also closed other stations in the interior of the United States including
Roseburg, Oregon and
Little Rock, Arkansas. The Border Patrol functions in these areas consisted largely of local jail and transportation terminal checks for illegal aliens. These functions were turned over to
Immigration & Customs Enforcement.
The New Border Patrol Strategy
Cameras add "Smart Border" surveillance.
In November 2005 the U.S. Border Patrol published an updated national strategy
[3]. The strategy has 5 main objectives, which are:
#Establish substantial probability of apprehending terrorists and their weapons as they attempt to enter illegally between the ports of entry;
#Deter illegal entries through improved enforcement;
#Detect, apprehend, and deter smugglers of humans, drugs, and other contraband;
#Leverage “Smart Border” technology to multiply the effect of enforcement personnel; and
#Reduce crime in border communities and consequently improve quality of life and economic vitality of targeted are unpredictable.
Expansion of the agency
Attrition in the Border Patrol was normally at 5%. From 1995-2001 attrition spiked to above 10%, which was a period when the Border Patrol was doing massive hiring. In 2002 the attrition rate climbed to 18%. The 18% attrition was largely due to agents transferring to the
Federal Air Marshal's after
9/11. Since that time the attrition problem has decreased significantly and Congress has increased journeyman Border Patrol Agent pay from GS-9 to GS-11 in the
General Schedule in 2002. In 2005, Border Patrol attrition dropped to 4%.
[3]
The
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 signed by President Bush on
December 17,
2004 authorized hiring an additional 10,000 Agents, "subject to appropriation". This authorization, if fully implemented, would nearly double the Border Patrol manpower from 11,000 to 21,000 Agents by 2010.
In July 2005, Congress signed the
Emergency Supplemental Spending Act for military operations in Iraq/Afghanistan and other operations. The act also appropriated funding to increase Border Patrol manpower by 500 Agents. In October 2005, President Bush also signed the DHS FY06 Appropriation bill, funding an additional 1,000 Agents.
In November of 2005, President George W. Bush made a trip to southern Arizona to discuss more options that would decrease illegal crossings at the U.S. and Mexican border. In President Bush's proposed Fiscal Year 2007 Budget he has requested an additional 1,500 Border Patrol agents.
Specialized Units
A Border Patrol SRT Team searches room-by-room a hotel in New Orleans in response to
Hurricane Katrina.
The Border Patrol has a variety of specialized units and details.
Tactical Teams
The Border Patrol has a variety of tactical teams, which are trained in special tactics, to respond to unusual occurrences of a high risk nature.
'BORTAC' ('Bor'der Patrol 'Tac'tical Team) is the official tactical unit of the Border Patrol for high risk enforcement similar to a
SWAT team, some BORTAC members have even been sent to Iraq to be advisors to Iraqi Security Forces near the border.
Border Patrol Sectors (Sectors are operational regions of the Border Patrol, typically composed of 5 - 8 stations) have Special Response Teams ('SRT') or in San Diego Sector - REACT. SRT is deployed at the Sector level to high risk incidents or to specific missions.
Search and Rescue
'BORSTAR' ('Bor'der 'S'earch 'T'rauma 'A'nd 'R'escue) - This group is very active in the Arizona desert, striving to rescue illegal aliens in distress.
Search and RescueThe U.S. Border Patrol has launched specialized efforts to save the lives of agents, illegal aliens, and the public since the mid-1980s. The Border Patrol's first rescue and response teams were developed during this time in the Yuma, Tucson, and El Paso Border Patrol Sectors. At that time, there was no formal academy for providing rescue training within the Border Patrol. Since then, the concept of the Border Patrol's rescue teams has been revised and expanded.
Major Events in BORSTAR History
April 1998: In the San Diego Sector, a request for permission to develop a BORSTAR Team was submitted because of the number of agents injured in the San Diego Sector border area who required complicated extractions and medical treatment. At that time, the Border Patrol lacked the means to conduct rapid technical extractions and had to rely upon civilian rescue entities. These entities often had extended response times because of the remote areas that agents patrolled and the medical support was often not nearby.
June 1998: The Border Patrol launches the BSI, a comprehensive and aggressive binational strategy designed to reduce injuries and prevent fatalities while making the border region safer for migrants, agents, and border residents.
July 1998: The first members of the San Diego Sector BORSTAR Team are assembled, responding to rescues and initiate a training curriculum.
October 1998: The first BORSTAR Academy, consisting of 29 participants from selected stations, is conducted in the San Diego Sector.
November 1998: The Tucson Sector, noting the success of the San Diego BORSTAR Team, the growing number of rescue situations encountered in the Tucson area, and the lack of emergency resources in the remote desert, initiate the creation of a BORSTAR Team for their area.
April 1999: The first members of the Tucson Sector BORSTAR Team are assembled, and the first BORSTAR Academy in Tucson is conducted, graduating 30 members.
End of 2000: The San Diego and Tucson Sectors have conducted two Academies and are planning their third Academies.
January 2001: While BORSTAR operations increase, other ideas to assist in search and rescue are explored. One of these ideas was the creation of the BORSTAR Canine Program. Two members of the San Diego Sector are certified by National Canine Facility as the first Border Patrol search and rescue canine handlers. Other sectors along the southwest border prepare to implement BORSTAR Canine Programs as well.
May 2001: The first BORSTAR national workgroup is assembled in El Paso, Texas, with the assistance of the BSI. Representatives from each of nine southwest border sectors assemble to discuss a curriculum for a national BORSTAR program.
June 2001: The Tucson Sector BORSTAR Team, in conjunction with KINO Hospital, initiates an intravenous (IV) therapy program. This program enables BORSTAR Basic Emergency Medical Technicians in the Tucson Sector's area of responsibility to administer IVs in a prehospital setting. This program is developed because of the vast number of severely dehydrated patients encountered in the remote desert areas.
July 2001: The San Diego Sector hosts a third Academy for the El Centro, Tucson, Yuma, Marfa, and Del Rio Sectors with 27 members. The U.S. Attorney General attends the graduation ceremony, promotes the nationalization of BORSTAR, and congratulates graduates on their accomplishments.
August 2001: The El Centro, Yuma, Marfa, and Del Rio Sectors all initiate BORSTAR Teams. The El Centro Sector's program has 17 BORSTAR agents; the Yuma Sector's program, 10 agents; and the Marfa and Del Rio Sectors' programs, 1 agent each.
September 2001: The Tucson Sector hosts its third Academy, including agents from the Tucson and Yuma Sectors. The Tucson Sector graduates 11 BORSTAR agents, and the Yuma Sector graduates 3 agents.
October 2001: The INS Central Region hosts an Academy in Artesia, New Mexico. BORSTAR instructors work with El Paso Search, Trauma, and Rescue Team and graduate 24 BORSTAR agents from various sectors.
BORSTAR agents from the San Diego and El Centro Sectors are certified as interagency Swiftwater Rescue Instructors. Because of the number of deaths in the local canals, the El Centro Sector implements a swiftwater rescue program, including training and the use of BORSTAR Hovercraft. Currently efforts are being made to conduct swiftwater rescue training in all areas.
June 2002: The Yuma Sector initiates an IV therapy program.
Other Units
★
Horse Patrol
★
ATV Patrol
★ Bike Patrol
★
Snowmobile Unit
★ Scope Unit
★
K9 Units
★
Intelligence
★ Anti-
Smuggling Investigations/DISRUPT
★ BORCAP (Border Criminal Alien Program)
★
Air Mobile Unit
Newton-Azrak Award for Heroism
The Border Patrol's highest honor is the Newton-Azrak Award for Heroism. This Award is bestowed to Border Patrol agents killed in the line of duty. It is also presented to agents for extraordinary contributions, service, or accomplishments reflecting unusual courage or bravery in the line of duty, or an extraordinarily heroic or humane act committed during times of extreme stress or in an emergency.
This award is named for Border Patrol Inspectors Newton
[5] and Azrak
[6], who were murdered by two drug smugglers in San Diego County in 1967.
Allegations of Border Patrol abuse
There are allegations of abuse by the United States Border Patrol such as the ones reported by Jesus A. Trevino, that concludes in an article published in the ''Houston Journal of International Law'' (2006) with a request to create an independent review commission to oversee the actions of the Border Patrol, and that creating such review board will make the American public aware of the "serious problem of abuse that exists at the border by making this review process public" and that "illegal immigrants deserve the same constitutionally-mandated humane treatment of citizens and legal residents".
[4]
In
1998,
Amnesty International investigated allegations of ill-treatment and brutality by officers of the
Immigration and Naturalization Service, and particularly the
Border Patrol. Their report said they found indications of
human rights violations during
1996,
1997 and early
1998.
[5]
An article by Journal article by Michael Huspek, Leticia Jimenez, Roberto Martinez (1998) cites that in December 1997, John Case, head of the INS Office of Internal Audit (OIA), announced at a press conference that public complaints to the INS had risen 29% from 1996, with the "vast majority" of complaints emanating from the southwest border region, but that of the 2,300 cases, the 243 cases of serious allegations of abuse were down in 1997. These serious cases are considered to be distinct from less serious complaints, such as "verbal abuse, discrimination, extended detention without cause."
[6]
See also
★
Border control
★
Ignacio Ramos
★
Illegal immigration
★
H.R. 4437
★
Minuteman Project
★
MQ-9 Reaper
★
No More Deaths
★
Office of CBP Air
★
United States Mexico barrier
★
United States-Canadian Border
References and footnotes
1. Government Accounting Office (GAO), 1995, Border Control: Revised Strategy Is Showing Some Positive Results, Page 11,[1]
2. Government Accounting Office (GAO), 1995, Border Control: Revised Strategy Is Showing Some Positive Results, Page 12,[2], Page 12, Sandia Study Recommended Changing Border Control Tactics From Apprehending Aliens to Preventing Illegal Entry: The Border Patrol’s traditional tactic of discouraging illegal entry has been to apprehend aliens once they have entered the United States. According to the Sandia study’s authors, this tactic was inefficient and diminished the Border Patrol’s ability to control the border. In addition, the authors said the only good border control strategy is one that prevents people from crossing the border. The study concluded that the way to prevent illegal entry is to impose “effective barriers on the free flow of traffic.” The study noted that where it is not possible or practical to keep drugs and illegal aliens from entering the United States, they should be stopped at the earliest opportunity. In addition, the Sandia study concluded that “control of the illegal alien and drug traffic can be gained” and recommended that the Border Patrol change its tactics from apprehending illegal aliens after they have entered the United States to preventing illegal entry into the United States.
3. Nunez-Neto, Blas, Border Security: The Role of the U.S. Border Patrol, Congressional Research Service, Updated January 25 2006, [4], Page 35
4. Border Violence against Illegal Immigrants and the Need to Change the Border Patrol's Current Complaint Review Process (Volume 21, No. 1)
5. [Amnesty International] (1998):Human rights concerns in the border region with mexico
6. Huspek, Michael, Jimenez, Leticia, Martinez, Roberto ''Violations of Human and Civil Rights on the U.S.-Mexico Border, 1995 to 1997: A Report'', Social Justice, Vol. 25, 1998. "The data compiled in this report suggest that law enforcement in the southwest region of the United States may be verging on lawlessness. This statement receives fuller support from announcements emanating from the INS. In December 1997, John Chase, head of the INS Office of Internal Audit (OIA), announced at a press conference that public complaints to the INS had risen 29% from 1996, with the "vast majority" of complaints emanating from the southwest border region. Over 2,300 complaints were filed in 1997 as opposed to the 1,813 complaints filed in 1996. Another 400 reports of "minor misconduct" were placed in a new category. Chase was quick to emphasize, however, that the 243 "serious" allegations of abuse and use of excessive force that could warrant criminal prosecution were down in 1997, as compared with the 328 in 1996. These "serious" cases are considered to be distinct from less serious complaints, such as "verbal abuse, discrimination, extended detention without cause."
External links
★
Official US Border Patrol website
★
★
US Border Patrol history
★
★
Detroit Border Patrol Sector
★
Border Patrol Agents killed in the line of duty
★
Large Border Patrol site
★
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding the U.S. Border Patrol
★
Border Patrol hiring forums and information for potential agents
GAO and OIG Reports
★
GAO Report: Border Patrol - Southwest Border Enforcement Affected by Mission Expansion and Budget August 1992
★
GAO Report: Border Control - Revised Strategy is Showing Some Positive Results December 1994
★
GAO Report: Border Patrol - Staffing and Enforcement Activities March 1996
★
GAO Report: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION - Southwest Border Strategy Results Inconclusive; More Evaluation Needed December 1997
★
USDOJ OIG Report: Operation Gatekeeper July 1998
★
GAO Report: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION - Status of Southwest Border Strategy Implementation 1999
★
GAO Report: Border Patrol Hiring December 1999
★
GAO Report: Southwest Border Strategy - Resource and Impact Issues Remain After Seven Years August 2001
★
National Border Patrol Strategy March 2005
★
GAO Report: Effectiveness of Border Patrol Checkpoints July 2005
★
DHS OIG Report: An Assessment of the Proposal to Merge Customs and Border Protection with Immigration and Customs Enforcement November 2005
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