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

But sir if the guy told u the wrong address, again and again ,and how you can get real address in any country by his picture and if his country refuse his entry in his country then u send him prison ?

Asked by jai over 12 years ago

Jai,

This website exists for occupational questions, not debates on police procedure.  If you have questions or concerns regarding immigrations laws and procedures, you need to contact a consulate or a sector headquarters, perhaps even an ICE field office.  I'll simply say this, in four years and thousands of people apprehended, we never had a person who was wrongfully imprisoned or caught.  If a person is caught lying to a federal agent, you've now committed a crime worse than illegal entry.

If a person lies about his country of origina successfully and gets sent to another country, well he'll have to deal with their immigration service or federal police.  Feel free to take your chances.  I've met Guatemalan and Mexicon federal police - not the guys you probably want to screw around with.

Those ultralight aircraft are pretty crazy! Are we that far away from cartels using unmanned drones?

Asked by penang.rui over 12 years ago

Remember ultralights are little flimsy aircraft run by lawn-mower motors etc.  I don't know how soon we'll be seeing unmanned drones from the cartels.  Now, cheap little camera-helicopters you can fly from your iPhone?  Maybe.  Maybe even some of the smaller, cheaper propeller driven ones eventually (the kind you can deploy as a single person, and control with a little control box from a backpack).  But genuine, long-distance, heavy duty drones with sophisticated cameras/weapons?  I wouldn't worry about that anytime soon.

I live in Tucson, AZ and own a Polaris RZR (ATV), frequently take it down El Camino del Diablo trail from Ajo to Yuma. Along the route, I notice big border fence gaps. Is it illegal under US/MX law for me to cross and drive south into MX from here?

Asked by Rob over 12 years ago

Yes.  Well technically not for you to leave the country, but if you come back into the US (even as a US citizen) it is illegal to enter without crossing through a designated Port of Entry.  Likewise you have no protection if you are apprehended by Mexican authorities (though they rarely watch their border).

Can you still join the Border Patrol if you have tattoos or is it not allowed?Thank you for your time!

Asked by Sam over 12 years ago

Tattoos are not a concern, unless you have obscenities or graphic content displayed on your neck/face/hands etc.  If you have "normal" tattoos which are reasonable it is not a problem.

How does official US Border Patrol feel about the private Minuteman militia who "safeguard" the border? Are they a welcome teammate, or a lunatic fringe group who does more harm than good?

Asked by Jax almost 13 years ago

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.

Just how porous is the U.S. / Mexico border? What percentage of it would you estimate is monitored in some capacity for illegal aliens?

Asked by dan79 almost 13 years ago

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.

If I know someone was caught entering the border but cant find them on the ICE locator what do I do. If he was killed how do I find his body?

Asked by karen over 12 years ago

I've never even heard of an ICE locator, but as ICE deals with internal immigration handling, if they have a locator it will only contain illegals who are serving jail time for other crimes.  The BP does not keep an active record of people in custody since most illegals are returned within 24 hours.

If someone is killed along the border (bandits, cartel etc.) the body will be handled by the local police department as with any other homicide.  If the person has no identification or records then they'll be buried without identity.  This is pretty common, as many people who die in the desert are consumed by wildlife within 24-36 hours, so identification becomes nearly impossible unless identification is carried by the person.

If a citizen of another country is found dead, and identified then the police department will likely contact their country of origin an attempt to locate relatives.