Oscar
Charleston, SC
Male, 31
Spent a bit over four years (2006-2010) serving as a Border Patrol Agent in Tucson Sector, AZ: the busiest sector in the country. Worked numerous positions, and spent the last year and a half operating/instructing ground radar installations. Duties included: field patrols, transport, processing, control room duties, transportation check, checkpoint operations, static watch duties, etc.
Depends on the weapon. Agents are issued a service handgun (currently an HK P2000 in .40 S&W). Shotguns and carbines (M4/M4A1's) are checked out during shift if you think you'll need one.
Special units may be issued "take home" carbines/shotguns and even secondary handguns (for clandestine/undercover tasks). So, carbines/shotguns are kept in the armory (our station did not have nearly enough for everyone to have an issued longarm.).
You keep your handgun at all times. It is your assigned firearm.
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The U.S./Mexico international border is extremely porous. While on paper the entire border is monitored, the reality is that our capacity to deter/intercept all of the illegal traffic is mediocre at best. Judging by the traffic patterns I saw, I would estimate my station/sector's capability at perhaps 30% of the overall traffic is intercepted effectively.
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From an official standpoint, obviously the Border Patrol does not endorse or condone "vigilante" style groups like the Minutemen. That being said, I don't mind them. We were required to report them and confront them if we found them operating in our AOR. This was rare though, as our sector was far too busy. We had a lot of people who would call in and help us (even had a lady who erected a watchtower in her backyard).
I never viewed the Minutemen as a "lunatic fringe" group. Most of the people are farmers/landowners or friends/relatives of them...people who are suffering at the hands of the border problem.
The stories of American citizens being forced to leave or sell their homes and land because of the flow of illegals/cartel members etc. is heartbreaking. So, officialy -no we don't support them, but on a personal level none of us really cared. We never had any citizens arrests etc.
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We have a lot of the border under surveillance, but it's never enough. Also the desert is an extremely diverse environment. Dense brush, cliffs, outcroppings, washes (dry creekbeds), etc. make it very difficult to observe all of it.
Places with open expanses do rely on large networks of cameras. All along the border we also have sensors or various types (magnetic, seismic etc.) to detect groups and vehicles. However these don't always work, and are often set off by cattle or locals, or even BP Agents etc.
I worked for a bit over a year and a half in radar trucks which are fantastic. However these are expensive, and we never had enough of them. They were placed in high traffic areas. They were extremely effective - moreso than any other tactic we used.
Also, it's very common for BP Agents to detect, sight, or even chase a group and not catch it. So our detection numbers may be high, but actual apprehension numbers much lower. It would not be uncommon to have more groups on my radar screen than I had assets to pursue. You'd simply prioritize and catch as many as you could.
So, the theory is sound - but in practice is extremely difficult to monitor the entire border as it stands now. Also, groups/cartel guys learn where the cameras are, and simply avoid them. You do see more tunnels in areas which feature heavy camera presence.
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I wish I could give you a concise and accurate answer. There are numerous terrorist organizations who have been located in Mexico, dealing or working with the cartels. Simply put the cartels are the masters of infiltrating the U.S., using their expertise.
A week after 9/11 a dozen Chechens were caught coming across the Southern border. Hezbollah militants have been spotted in Mexico. I do believe the cartels know full well this could bring a lot of heat if something horrible can be traced back to them. However, unfortunately, we had a saying in the Patrol "we only catch the dumb ones". It's very simple to catch trucks driving through the desert carrying dope, or catching large groups of illegals walking blatantly across the border.
But small, secret tunnels, small nearly-undetectable ultralight aircraft, etc. are much harder to locate. I suspect any genuine terrorist activity is kept well below our radar. Imagine the funds available to Al Qaeda, Hezbollah etc. I'm sure they can make it financially worthwhile to the cartels to assist them.
I think it deserves some serious attention - and we have intelligence agencies pursuing this exact possibility. I wish I knew more about it to answer more appropriately.
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There is no release of information from a station or sector level. An illegal immigrant is only kept in custody at a station for less than 24 hours (often not more than 12). As a safety precaution we do not release information/names/locations of individuals in custody.
A person can contact the Mexican/Other consulate within 24-36 hours and they should keep a record of people returned to their country. In the event that an illegal immigrant is sent to jail or prosecuted they will eventually get a chance to make a phone call/contact relatives etc. (like a normal incarcerated/prosecuted person).
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There was a lot of tension between the local indian tribal police and ourselves. The Tohono O'Odham indian police were often very shady (and caught doing rather suspicious things). The entire reservation was corrupt/dirty so these police often had family members who were into illegal stuff as well.
You'd occasionally catch the police driving at night in the desert, lights out - well beyond their patrol areas. They'd invent some story about what they were doing etc. Likewise they would attempt to pull over BP vehicles when we were tailing suspicious vehicles etc. It was always an interesting time with them.
The only issues we had with local deputies or police was simply due to manpower. They'd get mad at us when we didn't have enough agents to respond to their immigration issues, and we'd get mad when they wouldn't come pick up warrants because we were too far away from them etc. It was never harsh, just frustrating from both ends.
Sheriff Joe (Maricopa County Sheriff) was always a cool cat. I actually liked that he openly berated DHS etc. for not doing our job better. He would bring news cameras etc. with him when he turned over tons of illegal immigrants to the local I.C.E. office who didn't want to process them etc. He really gets stuff done, and doesn't take nonsense from anyone.
There is so much criminal traffic out in AZ that all LEO's pretty much gel together when the proverbial feces hit the wind oscillator. You'd always stop to back up local PD, DPS guys, or Sheriff's Deputies etc. They would likewise stop and check on you.
I was involved in a 120-mile pursuit one time which involved: BP Agents from two stations, indian police, sheriff's deputies, sheriff's drug task force, DPS, and two local police departments. It got downright confusing, but we got the vehicle. In short, we never had the silly TV show drama.
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