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.
I have no experience on the Northern border so I can't really answer this question. I also don't understand what you mean by "for CBP to hassle...". If by hassle you mean they inspect you etc. when you come across - that's simply normal. I can't speak for what your definition of hassle is. As a LEO, I have seen plenty of people who get outrageously upset when we're simply doing our job.
Speaking from a Southern border perspective, sure everyone who enters the U.S. legally through a POE is recorded in some fashion.
For the record USCIS no longer exists. The new layout is now DHS (Department of Homeland Security), subset CBP (Customs and Border Protection), and then USBP (United States Border Patrol). DHS also controls I.C.E., etc. The old USCIS under the Department of Justice is no more.
I am sorry I can't give you a better answer - I don't know what "hassles" you're going through or why. From a general perspective 9/11 and the huge illegal immigrant problem will undoubtedly put more restrictions, hassles, and policies through which will make it much more aggravating/difficult for people who are doing it right and legally. This is similar to many other things in law enforcement. The bad apples (criminals) ruin it for normal people on a daily basis.
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While I never encountered this (personally), the response would be the same. They would be apprehended, and a whole mess of phone calls would be made. I imagine some other agencies may get involved, etc.
However, if it was with good intentions and by accident, I believe the Mexican official would be apprehended, and offered a very quick Voluntary Return as most illegals get. Of course, he may get his ass chewed when he goes back South!
In some areas along the border, it's so mountainous and rugged that USBP or Mexican may have a darn hard time determining where the border actually is. As mentioned in another answer above we have had some "issues" with Mexican law enforcement and their military. But, again, if it was a simple mistake, it would not be a huge deal. Now, if, during the apprehension the officer decided to put up a fight or get into a gunfight with agents - then that's his decision and appropriate actions would be taken as with any other subject.
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Pretty much zero chance. He will likely be flown back to Albania on an ICE flight.
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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.
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Geek Squad Agent/Supervisor
What's the biggest scene a customer's ever made in the store?
Chick-fil-A General Manager
How often do you have to fire someone, and does it ever get ugly?
Mailman (City Letter Carrier)
Are postal workers more disgruntled than other workers?
All of the above. While it depends a lot on terrain and your local conditions, you have a large array of operations.
In our area we had a few "X"s...these are static locations watching a particular point of interest. You then had patroling units, which would actively be cutting for sign (footprints, debris, trash, spoor) which would indicate a recent group or vehicles. You also had static ground-sweeping radar. You had bike units which would operate further in from the border. You also had occasional aviation units when we could spare them.
In addition to this you have a large number of magnetic and seismic sensors which would register back at the station. During the day, we also had a Horse Patrol unit which specialized in rougher terrain (they were quite good up in the more mountainous regions).
Now, in some places like Nogales (nicknamed "Nogadishu" for the level of violence about a decade ago) it's an entirely different situation, as the USBP there is operating inside a city etc. Likewise, some stations operate solely in the mountains and operate heavily by airlifting agents around in helicopters etc.
It varies immensely by station.
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While it's tough to really narrow down the variety of amusing/weird stuff that happened...it was pretty commonplace to find yourself thinking "What in the world?".
We caught a 17 year old kid after a 110 mile long pursuit...only to find out he was high on meth, wearing rainbow coloured socks (the type with the individual toes) professing "I don't even love that boy!". I've caught grown men wearing shirts in English that they don't understand (What is a girl like me doing in a place like this?) etc.
Stories with the local Indians are obnoxious and too...vile to post up here on a public website. I've seen a grown man run full speed into a gigantic sajuaro cactus. I've had stray dogs lead me to groups of illegals because the dogs knew they'd get food (free K-9's!). We had a couple of white trash fellows shooting a handgun at an IED. When detonated by the bomb squad, the IED was big enough to blow up a truck, so I feel those guys were lucky.
Every day just had really...odd things that would happen. These become pretty normal though, so they don't seem weird until you sit back and think about them for a while.
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Very often, but this depended very much on the season - needless to say, summer months were the worst. I could not give you a percentage, but my station would find perhaps 50+ bodies a year. Add another 100+ in serious physical distress.
Many of the causes of death could not be determined by a simple glance. In AZ a body will be taken down to bones in less than 72 hours. When encountering a dead body we would refer it to the local Indian Police who would call their detectives etc. We were not trained in that stuff, so we'd simply secure the scene.
With all the crime in the desert it was anybody's guess how these people died. Many of the ones reported to us by other illegals would be located, and had died of dehydration (or some other form of sickness). We also did a lot of life-flights out of the desert when someone was in a bad way.
When a person gets dehydrated that badly, even if you life-flight them out and they make it to a hospital they will likely die. We were responsible for hospital watches, where we'd be stationed in a room with a person in custody. A dehydrated person would make a recovery within a day or two - but often their kidneys and other organs had already gone bad, and they would then pass a day or two later.
Some illegals were shot by bandits or cartel guys, or other illegals. Again, when you come across a pile of pink bones in the desert, it's hard to judge.
For these reasons, we are all very competent at search and rescue. We had a large number of EMT's and other first responders amongst the normal agents. When something very serious popped up we could call on BORSTAR (Border Special Tactics and Rescue) who are a specially trained unit of paramedics and rescue specialists.
With the size of the desert, we'd do everything we could to find people who were left, or in distress - but you can only spend so many man-hours on someone.
Many more illegals died at the hands of their smugglers (commonly called "coyotes"). These were often the result of horrific vehicle accidents. The smugglers would crash a truck carrying 30-40 people standing up in the bed. You can do the math I'm sure. These were the really serious incidents, where you'd have a dozen illegals killed and a dozen or more sent to hospital for serious surgeries, some paralyzed etc.
I, myself, only came across a handful of dead bodies in my time with the Patrol. I did respond to a couple of crime scenes, a homicide etc. I partook in search and rescue efforts a handful of times, and did find a number of stranded people. All in all, a dangerous place. I only ever really felt sorry for the kids. Some groups would leave behind 8-12 year old kids who couldn't keep up with the group. That angered me. No one should put a kid through that, or leave them behind to die.
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