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.
Yep, very depressing and stressful. Living in AZ it's more than obvious we're not making much of a difference. From Phoenix to the border the state has been flooded with illegal immigrants. You'd see hundreds daily just on the drive in to work. So, short answer - no I did not feel like we were making much of a difference.
It was also very obvious from the agency perspective that there was no genuine desire to effect real change. The USBP is about 50% just a dog and pony show. But we all knew that. We busted our butts, worked hard - but at the end of the day we knew the government etc. was not genuinely serious about "closing the border".
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It's quite easy actually. During the interview/processing, it is very easy to establish whether someone is a citizen or not. This is also why we process everyone we catch. Once you're caught crossing the border (which, by the way, is illegal for U.S. citizens as well - you're required to cross at a designated Port of Entry, through customs etc.) you're processed into the immigration database.
O.T.M's frequently would travel with no documents, trying to masquerade as Mexicans (because it was easier to pretend to be a Mexican, and be returned to the border...as opposed to being flown back to their native country). A simple interview would reveal their false claims very simply. This is part of your training, basic interrogration techniques.
There was never a case during my time in the Patrol where we had an issue revealing someone's true origin/identity. Proper names etc. were another story. I'd say perhaps 50-70% of illegals had a number of aliases/false names/identities, stolen or forged social security numbers etc. In this instance, a person's identity in the U.S. legal system is that name/identity under which they originally were processed.
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It depends on where you are. I'd say our area was easily 80% Mexican, 15% OTM's from central and South America, and perhaps 5% from other countries. In California though you can run into large groups of orientals. I'm not sure what the overall percentages are. I believe this would probably be published somewhere - perhaps simply google it.
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MJ,
Not sure where Tubac is. Nogales is of course reasonable, and very busy. It would be "Border Patrol" though, as we're not pirates! And yes, you would visit other stations or sector headquarters to attend training or special classes. During days in which you are on the schedule for training you would be fine wearing your uniform out to lunch/dinner in the process. You're still on duty and should something silly happen you would respond and work as normal.
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The IT Guy
What's the the stupidest IT question you've every gotten?
Police Officer
Have you ever been shot or seriously injured on the job?
Flight Attendant
What kinds of passengers annoy you the most?
Not sure, as I have never worked a proper Port of Entry (POE). Perhaps you can find a customs guy on Jobstr who will have more experience with passport information.
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Not unless they have re-introduced the OR or "Own recognizance" statute. This was the ridiculously flawed and useless process used in the late 80's and early 90's whereby an illegal immigrant would sign a document stating he would return at a specific date to be processed and deported (due to lack of holding facilities). Needless to say...NONE of these people ever showed back up to be deported, and the immigration services had no way of tracking them down. So, back in the day? Yes. Currently? Not that I've heard of. Now, perhaps local police departments or Sheriff's offices do something like this - but normally they simply call up the local ICE or CBP office and turn them over.
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Contact your consulate and have them contact CBP.
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