5.3 Border Patrol

WHO? US Border Patrol.

WHAT? Secure the border with Mexico and Canada, and up to 100-miles inland.

WHEN? Border Patrol agents are active all the time, year round.

WHERE? They operate within one of 21 defined sectors encompassing the US and Puerto Rico.

WHY? To keep criminal elements and contraband from freely entering the US.

As we said in 5.1, the US shares 1,933 miles of border with Mexico, and 3,987 miles with Canada, with 167 land ports of entry to facilitate tourism and trade between the three countries. Keeping watch over this 6,000-mile border are 20,000 agents of the US Border Patrol. That may sound like a lot, but when you figure in administrative overhead, port-of-entry assignments, and 24-hour shift coverage, it works out to about one agent every two miles. The Border Patrol operates within 21 sectors mapped out across the US. The border with Canada has 8 sectors, the border with Mexico has 9, and the remaining 4 sectors are contiguous to water. Title 8 Section 287 USC allows Border agents to operate up to 100 miles inland from the border. This authority allows Border Patrol agents not just to watch the border, but also patrol nearby areas where illegal immigrants might hide, and setup checkpoints along roads leading to and from the border. To impede the flow of illegal aliens and contraband along the southern border, the US began building a fence in 1994. The fence stretches some 1,954 across parts of California, Texas, and Arizona. The fence is not a single continuous structure. Instead, it is comprised of a series of segments of various construction that stretch about only two-thirds the way across the southern border with Mexico. The 2006 Secure Fence Act passed by Congress and signed by President Bush authorized a fence across the entire length of the southern border. The project ran way over budget and was terminated in 2011 after only 654 miles were completed. Much of the cost overruns were associated with an attempt to build a “virtual fence” across remote areas of Arizona. The Boeing Company was contracted to build a network of electronic sensors that would alert Border Patrol agents and direct them to intercept illegal crossings. Unfortunately, the sensors had a hard time distinguishing between human movement and the activity of wild animals and even the weather, resulting in too many false alarms. Although Boeing worked hard to try and iron out the kinks, with only 53 miles of progress to show after 5 years and $1 billion, DHS decided to pull the plug on the program in 2011. Unlike our border with Mexico, there is no fence to speak of along the US border with Canada. The main reason for the difference is that the US doesn’t have immigration and drug smuggling problems with Canada like it does with Mexico. Of the estimated 11.3 million illegal immigrants living in the US, about 52% come from Mexico. Less than 5% come from Europe and Canada combined. In 2017, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl killed nearly 30,000 Americans. Mexican cartels profit from illicit drug traffic and have correspondingly increased heroin production to meet demand. In October 2017, Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency to address the opioid crisis. About 140 Americans were dying from drug overdoses daily, 91 of them from opioids. In response to this crisis President Trump in April 2018 ordered 4,000 National Guard troops to the southern border to support and assist the Border Patrol. Title 18, Section 1385, the Posse Comitatus Act, prohibits the use of Federal US military to conduct law enforcement. When acting under the direction of their State Governors, National Guard forces are exempt from Posse Comitatus, which is why they are often called upon to supplement Border Patrol. The National Guard often assume administrative roles to allow more Border agents to go on patrol. What happens if you’re caught by Border Patrol? Title 8 Section 235.3 authorizes expedited removal of illegal aliens caught by Border Patrol. Those so caught do not have a right to counsel or a hearing before an immigration judge. Depending where they’re caught, they may be sent to one of 106 detention facilities to await deportation by ICE. On average, these facilities hold 25,000 detainees a day. That about does it for Border Patrol. Join us next time when we take a closer look at immigrations.