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.
It's about 95% politics. No party nor politician wants to be responsible for losing the Latin-American vote or ruffling the feathers of Mexico's government. It would actually save us a lot of money in the long-run, given how much we spend on border security.
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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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I was pretty impressed with the caliber of people in the Border Patrol. The academy, while not extremely tough was tough enough to weed out the idiots. There was a huge range of people in the Patrol. A large portion of ex-military folks (ranging from simple 4-year in/outs up to PJ's, some older SF types, USMC Corpsmen etc.).
A smaller number of prior law enforcement types, and then the rest were normal people like myself with no particularly advantageous background (college grads and non-college grads).
The overwhelming amount of political correctness and red tape means that in most cases the Border Patrol is a bit "too fair". Sometimes you need to cut the nonsense and get the job done, something that the agency itself hinders very often. It's a very politcal job as you can imagine. You'd be amazed how often we were subtly told to do our job...less well.
Like any job, and profession you do have a small number of idiots. There seems to be a flawed public perception that all law enforcement agents/officers should be angellic beings of good who dole out divine justice etc. Nope. Agents were normal people too. With overy 16,000 agents you definitely would have some bad apples.
There was a website active when I was serving called "Trust Betrayed" or something to that effect. It was a website run by the agency highlighting agents and customs folks who had become criminals or had been caught breaking the law etc. It happens. Not often, but it's simple reality. So, on the off chance that you run into that one dirtbag, your experience may be different than most.
As a whole, yes, the agency is competent and fair.
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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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You never end up dehumanizing people. That being said, business is business, work is work, and the law is the law. Our job isn't to hug and nurture people, it's to apprehend them and secure the border as best as possible.
In that regard you become like most seasoned EMT's and nurses...you're doing your job. The emotional baggage is best left behind. Anyone in a line of service (EMT's, firefighters, paramedics, cops etc.) definitely gets very accustomed to "crap". You run into enough tragedies, evil, wickedness, violence, abuse etc. that you become quite accustomed to it. You just accept it and move along with your job.
The people we apprehended were dealt with quickly, efficiently and professionally. We don't coddle people, but we don't beat them or treat them like animals etc.
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We could do with a lot more Sheriff Joes in this world. He is a dying breed. For someone that people complain about a lot, he's been in office now for what 15-20 years and keeps getting re-elected? He's doing his job (a difficult one at that). The modern world seems to hate people with real work ethic or real opinions/values.
I applaud the guy. He has way too many enemies...that, if anyting, proves he's doing a hell of a job.
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I have no idea. The exam is made for people who have no prior Border Patrol experience, so I am not sure you'd have a big advantage.
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