Border Patrol

We first visited the Tucson Border Patrol Station. This is one of eight stations of the Tucson sector, the most assaulted Border Patrol sector. At this specific station there are seventy agents. The facility seems very sterile. This is the only Border Patrol station with an immigration court on site. Is this a violation of separation of powers? The Border Patrol agents are outfitted in green and are EMT-certified. BORSTAR (Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue), which is a different unit altogether, have tan and red uniforms. These agents are all certified paramedics, with search dogs and cadaver dogs.

The agent who spoke with us and gave us a tour of the facility has been working there for fourteen years. He explained to us how he became a Border Patrol agent out of necessity; he applied to several places and Border Patrol was the only organization that got back to him. Border Patrol’s number one goal is anti-terrorism and conspiracy crime. How many terrorists have they actually caught? None. The agent showed us statistics of their station up to that day, June 1, 2010, and compared them to the statistics on June 1, 2009. Although apprehensions of Mexicans and OTMs (Other Than Mexicans, which are usually Central Americans and Chinese) had increased, the quantity of marijuana found had decreased. But this decrease doesn’t necessarily mean that drug trafficking has decreased; border patrol may just be catching less. The agent reiterated what we had learned from reading Devil’s Highway: the trails to cross the border in Mexico are owned by smuggling families. Thus, immigrants have to pay the smugglers money to cross. What he failed to mention is that people who are too poor to pay the fee often times carry drugs in their packs in order to be allowed to cross; they aren’t members of the drug smuggling groups. The drug smugglers also assign guides to the people crossing the desert. This accounts for why at least two people in each group apprehended by Border Patrol carry drugs. But then how do you differentiate between the innocents crossing the border in search of work and the drug smugglers? Even the agent himself told us about how he struggled with this cognitive dissonance.

After giving us background information, the agent showed us a video on the MSS truck. It showed the truck being driven in the desert. Similar to car commercials, it showed the truck in the wild, out in the open. This concept seems to tap into the American ideal of being out in the wild, living on the frontier. The entire video seemed aimed at the purpose of recruitment. The video showed all of the cool gadgets the truck had, accompanied by “badass” music and a rough voice. This recruitment mentality continued as the Border Patrol agent brought out all of the “cool” weapons they have. He passed around pepper ball guns, the pepper pelts themselves, and a shotgun. I didn’t like holding weapons that had ever been aimed at people, especially those coming to our country in search of a means to provide for their families. The agent explained how the pepper ball guns were similar to paint ball guns, except they used a lot more force. He explained how in order to be allowed to use it he had to get shot by it; the same in order to carry pepper spray. However, he personally does not carry a taser because it follows similar protocol; he’s afraid of being tased because it will hurt too much. Oh the irony…

However, this visit certainly humanized Border Patrol agents in my eyes. They work long hours, ten-hour shifts to be precise, eight of which are spent out in the desert by themselves. Whatever they encounter out there, they have to go and check it out, without necessarily knowing how outnumbered they are or what weapons their opponents carry. The desert itself seems creepy enough, but defending yourself against the unknown is even more daunting.