Border patrols
Border patrols are a critical aspect of national security and immigration management in the United States, primarily overseen by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), part of the Department of Homeland Security. Established in 1924 and significantly expanded since then, the CBP is responsible for monitoring and controlling the entry of people and goods across the U.S. borders, which stretch over 8,000 miles, including land and coastal areas. The agency employs nearly ten thousand agents who work around the clock in various terrains and weather conditions. The focus of border patrols has evolved to address not only undocumented immigration but also the interception of illegal drugs and potential terrorist threats, especially following the events of September 11, 2001.
Throughout the years, border patrol operations have implemented advanced technologies and strategies to reduce unauthorized crossings, particularly along the U.S.-Mexico border, where a significant portion of apprehensions occurs. These efforts have sometimes sparked controversies, particularly regarding the treatment of immigrants and the humanitarian implications of strict enforcement policies. Initiatives like the Border Safety Initiative aim to mitigate risks associated with dangerous crossings by promoting rescue efforts and public awareness. Ongoing debates about immigration policies reflect the complexities of balancing national security with humanitarian concerns, highlighting the diverse perspectives on enforcement and reform in the immigration system.
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Border patrols
SIGNIFICANCE: As a federal law-enforcement body under the aegis of the Department of Homeland Security, the US Customs and Border Protection agency is responsible for controlling the entry of both people and substances into the United States.
The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is one of the busiest law-enforcement agencies in the United States. On March 1, 2003, the Department of Homeland Security unified border personnel working in the immigration, customs, agriculture, and border patrol divisions under one agency. Formerly known as the US Border Patrol under the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the border patrol was originally founded in 1924 after Congress passed strict limitations on legal immigration. With only several hundred agents on horseback, there were challenges in patrolling all the areas between inspection stations in the United States. Over the next eighty years, the border patrols evolved into a technologically advanced and increasingly sophisticated workforce with nearly ten thousand uniformed agents.
During the early twenty-first century, the CBP still maintained its primary mission to prevent the undocumented entry of immigrants and the illegal entry of goods into the United States. This duty, undertaken in cooperation with numerous other local and state law-enforcement agencies across the United States, resulted in approximately twelve million arrests between 1994 and 2004. This monumental task requires scrutiny from the land, air, and sea of more than 6,000 miles of international boundaries with Canada and Mexico and another 2,000 miles of coastal waters. Agents from twenty-one sectors across the United States work in all weather conditions and terrains, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.
Twenty-first Century Priorities
During the 1980s and 1990s, Congress reacted to the increased flow of undocumented immigrants and illegal drugs across US borders by providing for a significant increase in the number of agents and better technology. Drug seizures then became a major focus, with more than 18,500 pounds of cocaine and 1.1 million pounds of marijuana seized in 2001 alone by border patrol agents. Resources of equipment and personnel have typically been concentrated across the US-Mexico border, where the majority of undocumented entries have occurred. These initiatives in areas such as San Diego, California, resulted in undocumented crossings decreasing by more than 70 percent during the late 1990s. Similar strategic plans to concentrate resources have been implemented in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas under the National Border Patrol Strategy. These activities to curb undocumented immigration have not occurred without controversy, as pro-immigration advocates and human rights groups have protested the arrest and return of detainees to their home countries.
In reaction to criticism of the border patrol’s inability to render aid to undocumented immigrants in remote and isolated areas, the CBP began the Border Safety Initiative in 1998, in joint cooperation with Mexican authorities. This plan seeks to reduce injuries and deaths along the border between the United States and Mexico by sharing intelligence, conducting joint search-and-rescue training, and posting signs that warn of the dangers of unauthorized border crossings. By reducing dangerous crossings, rescuing undocumented immigrants in trouble, identifying casualties, and tracking and recording data collected from this initiative, the CBP aims to make national borders safer and to reduce fatalities.
Immigration policies continue to be a considerable source of debate nationally, as some undocumented immigrants are given asylum while others are deported back to their home countries. Laws passed by several presidential administrations have allowed for undocumented immigrants to attain American citizenship. These laws have been applauded by advocates of various immigrant populations and denounced by others who back strict enforcement of immigration laws across the United States.
The most serious concern of the modern CBP since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, involves intercepting terrorists who may be attempting to enter the United States, possibly with weapons of mass destruction. With the increased focus on homeland security, border defense and law enforcement again became a hot topic on Capital Hill. The use of advanced military equipment such as the unmanned drone aircraft in mid-2004 in the American Southwest and other developments offered the CBP new tools to stop the flow of undocumented persons and illegal goods into the United States. Increased funding and enforcement proposals were likely to continue as terrorism prevention and the protection of its borders were considered a vital link in the safety of the United States.
According to the Congressional Research Service’s April 2016 report “Border Security: Immigration Enforcement Between Ports of Entry,” in 2014 the administration of President Barack Obama introduced executive actions to improve the immigration system. These measures included a revised security plan at the southern border of the United States.
The administration of President Donald Trump became the target of controversy in April 2018 after announcing a "zero tolerance" policy towards unauthorized immigration that allowed law enforcement agencies to separate children from parents who were found entering the US without documents through the southern border. President Trump then issued an executive order in June of that year halting the separations, although the policy remained in place until President Joe Biden's administration officially ended it in January 2021.
In 2023, official data revealed that the CBP conducted approximately 2.3 million arrests related to unlawful crossings of the US-Mexico border that year. This was down from the 2.4 million arrests in 2022.
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