Ask a Border Patrol Agent anything

385 Questions

Last Answer on November 08, 2016

if someone is caught passing people over the border and got fingerprints and a ticket for 5000 dollars is that consider any type of felony or arrest

Asked by Paola over 11 years ago

Yes.

I saw a program on TV about border issues and they said that when people pick up drugs dropped in the US to be dispersed, the perps use stolen vehicles to transport them. Doesn't that make it harder for them to do so successfully?

Asked by C L Smith almost 12 years ago

Not at all. Stolen vehicles are cheap and disposable. We used to capture dozens of stolen vehicles per week. It's also why car insurance is incredibly high in the South West compared to other parts of the country (especially if you own a full size pickup truck). They are also very fond of using rental cars (obviously with no intention to return them).

If they get chased, they'll just get away if they can and then bail out. It's far too expensive/time consuming to use properly purchased vehicles. The vehicles we're talking about are used for delivering large amounts of weed being shipped to local stash houses. When they are talking about dispersal, they're not talking about normal street dealers. These vehicles would be loaded with 1500-2000 lbs. of weed each.

Sometimes they even drive these vehicles in pairs or trios. There are tons of small-time cartel lackeys in Phoenix, Tucson etc. who's job is solely to steal vehicles and bring them down to the border, stash them in the desert for use by drivers.

1255 Votes

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 almost 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.

1254 Votes

is there any way to know about a family member that was cought crosing the border ?

Asked by brittany12 about 12 years ago

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).

1252 Votes

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Even if a Wall is infeasible, wouldn't cameras and motion sensors the entire length of the Mexican border be much easier and at least raise the rate of interceptions?

Asked by Bucknell about 12 years ago

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.

1251 Votes

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 about 12 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.

1247 Votes

Is the opposition to building a giant wall the length of the border mostly economical ("we can't afford it"), pragmatic ("it wouldn't work") or political ("a wall is an antagonistic symbol of exclusion")?

Asked by Bucknell about 12 years ago

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.

1243 Votes

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Border Patrol Agent

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

if someone is caught passing people over the border and got fingerprints and a ticket for 5000 dollars is that consider any type of felony or arrest

I saw a program on TV about border issues and they said that when people pick up drugs dropped in the US to be dispersed, the perps use stolen vehicles to transport them. Doesn't that make it harder for them to do so successfully?

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 ?

is there any way to know about a family member that was cought crosing the border ?

Also on Jobstr...

Even if a Wall is infeasible, wouldn't cameras and motion sensors the entire length of the Mexican border be much easier and at least raise the rate of interceptions?

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?

Is the opposition to building a giant wall the length of the border mostly economical ("we can't afford it"), pragmatic ("it wouldn't work") or political ("a wall is an antagonistic symbol of exclusion")?

Border Patrol Agent

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

if someone is caught passing people over the border and got fingerprints and a ticket for 5000 dollars is that consider any type of felony or arrest

I saw a program on TV about border issues and they said that when people pick up drugs dropped in the US to be dispersed, the perps use stolen vehicles to transport them. Doesn't that make it harder for them to do so successfully?

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 ?

is there any way to know about a family member that was cought crosing the border ?

Also on Jobstr...

Even if a Wall is infeasible, wouldn't cameras and motion sensors the entire length of the Mexican border be much easier and at least raise the rate of interceptions?

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?

Is the opposition to building a giant wall the length of the border mostly economical ("we can't afford it"), pragmatic ("it wouldn't work") or political ("a wall is an antagonistic symbol of exclusion")?

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