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Many people believe the U.S. Border Patrol to be a militaristic organization, using a great deal of force and aggression to drive aliens back to their countries. While it is true that Border Patrol agents are armed and at times must use deadly force, the border patrol is a law enforcement agency rather than a part of the military, and Americans might be surprised at the care and caution that officers use when handling aliens.
On May 28, 1924, congress passed the Department of Labor Appropriation Act, which provided funding for the establishment of a Border Patrol on the border of Mexico. The first border Patrol was made up of 450 men. There were no uniforms for the first few years and training was inadequate. Officers wore their own civilian clothes and, for the most part, used their own guns. Immediately the Border patrol identified the three main problems, which are still the same today: smuggled drugs, weapons, and humans.
Today’s Border Patrol is also active on the Canadian border. While the problems of drugs and weapons on that border are almost laughable when compared to the Mexican border, vigilance is still essential. Illegal aliens do try to gain entry to the U.S. through this border, and there is always the possibility that some of these aliens could be terrorists.
Many Americans also do not realize that the Gulf Coast and the coast of Florida are considered by the Government to be a border. Cubans, Haitians, and other Caribbeans are often caught trying to enter the U.S. on rafts or boats. Agents do what they can to discourage the crafts from landing on U.S. soil, and once they do, the law is complicated. Cubans, for example, are almost always granted political asylum, because Cuba is a communist country. Haitians and others are not so lucky.
When most Americans think of the Border Patrol, however, they think of the border of Mexico, and indeed, this border holds the greatest concentration of agents. Officers patrol up to 25 miles north of the border, looking for aliens who slipped through. There are also stations in cities with large illegal populations, such as Dallas and San Antonio. The Border patrol is also called upon to identify illegal aliens who are working on farms or in factories, or are being held in local jails.
In 1965, the number of aliens caught at the border was 110,000. By 1996, that number had risen to 1,650,000, and is sure to keep rising because of the increases in both Mexicans being smuggled and the number of Border Patrol agents trained and hired. It is believed that for every illegal captured by the Border Patrol, two or three get past them. With odds like these, aliens are not going to give up any time soon. One of every twenty illegals caught on the Mexican border is non-Mexican; South Americans or Middle Easterners are common.
The Mexican border is approximately 8,000 miles long, and agents patrol by car, truck, van, plane, boat and afoot. Until recently, the Border Patrol focused on catching aliens who had already gained access to the U.S. Now they concentrate on never letting them in in the first place. A perfect example of this is the many agents who patrol the Rio Grande. The aliens try to wade across, their clothes in bundles held over their heads, and agents on foot ward them off. There is a stand off, and the aliens decide whether they want to wait it out at that spot, or try another area.
95% of those apprehended on the Mexican Border are subject to “voluntary departure” procedures. The U.S. Government does not have to absorb the cost of deportation, and the alien is returned to Mexico. In most cases, it is not even necessary to use handcuffs. In fact, until recently, the Border Patrol didn’t even fingerprint illegals; however electronic fingerprinting technology has changed that. Now they know how many repeat offenders there are, and that most of these people simply keep trying until they enter the U.S. successfully.
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