Border Patrol Agent

Border Patrol Agent

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.

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Last Answer on November 08, 2016

Best Rated

FOLLOWING THE QUESTION BEFORE: affects me, do border patrol provide a dictionary for those who do not understand english?

Asked by Jose M. about 13 years ago

There is not a dictionary that I am aware of.  A candidate must be fluent in English in order to be a BPA.  Most of the trainees in my class who failed out of the academy had poor English skills and were unable to pass the classes and law tests.  The law classes require excellent English as there is a lot of legal language which is extremely important to comprehend.

Is it easy to start with Border Patrol and go over to ICE or FBI? Or are there better approaches to becoming a federal criminal investigator?

Asked by josh about 13 years ago

It would make a transition to ICE much easier, but the FBI is never easy to get into.  They recruit very specific people from very specific fields.  It can't hurt your chances, but I would not join the BP planning on simply switching over to the FBI.  The FBI posts what they're looking for on their website.  You'd be better off getting a degree that they're interested in. 

I am a Navy veteran and would like to join the BP.
While I was in the military it was prohibited for us to go to Mexico for vacation without approval of a superior, is it the same with BPA?

Asked by Jonathan about 13 years ago

It's not forbidden...just stupid.  A BPA going into Mexico does so at his own risk.  Considering you'll be catching and apprehending thousands of illegal Mexicans, it's not exactly the smartest place to go.  But there is not a policy against it.

You said that Al Qaeda is looking to leverage the cartels' intel and such -- are the cartels thought to be friendly to such requests? Do they care at all as long as they get paid? Or would that guarantee to bring a ton of heat on them from the US?

Asked by baconops over 13 years ago

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.

What happens to the people when they cross the border illegally?

Asked by Ryleigh over 13 years ago

This has been answered in the questions above.

Does it disqualify you from the Border Patrol if you have a tattoo?
Also, did it used to?

Asked by Russ over 12 years ago

It does not currently, and I doubt it did previously.  If it's an offensive tattoo in an obvious location - possibly.  No face tattoos or stupid nonsense on your knuckles/neck/etc.

Oh, and did you see someone tried to blow up Sheriff Joe last week?? I'd imagine he has a lot of enemies by now!

Asked by brig4 over 13 years ago

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.