US Border Patrol

USBP: United States Border Patrol is a law enforcement agency under CBP. One of the body’s primary responsibilities is to protect the US borders, including protecting the American people and help in enhancing the nation’s economy.

According to reports from 2019, over 19,000 officers were a part of the agency, which is considered the largest in the United States.

History of US Border Patrol

The idea of establishing border control began in the 19th century when there were no officers or legal professionals to guard American borders. It was unrestricted, and there was no systematic recordkeeping for all the immigration. In 1904, US Department of Commerce and Labor members protected the border by preventing the illegal entry of immigrants. The mounted guards mainly operated out of Texas, reaching their stretch to the west of California to prevent the illegal entry of Chinese immigrants.

In 1915, an official body called mounted inspectors was authorized by Congresses with officials on horses, boats, and motorcycles to prevent the entry of immigrants into America. In 1924, an official border patrol group was announced under the Labor Appropriation Act to prevent illegal entries in the Canada-US and Mexico-US borders. According to reports from 2016, at least 50% of the members in the patrol were Latinos, and most were minorities.

Strategies and responsibilities of border patrol

In 2005, the US border Patrol updated its objectives and the goal for border patrol, which mainly comprises five main objectives:

• Improve the quality of life of people inside the country
• Implement smart border technology to detect any illegal activities across the US border
• Detect and apprehend human smugglers, contraband, and drugs
• Implement improved enforcement to detect illegal entries
• Apprehend all the illegal weapons and terrorist entries across the border

Capabilities of the US Border Patrol

The United States Border Patrol is extended across deserts, mountains, rivers, and canyons. In recent times, the agency has implemented modern technologies and weapons like strategic location trackers, electronic sensors, and other instruments to rightly detect area’s illegal transportation of humans, weapons, and goods. They have also included the use of video monitors and night vision cameras to detect aircraft, boats, and other vehicles, illegally entering the US border from any direction.

As mentioned above, the primary activity of the patrol agency is line watch, which includes apprehension, prevention, and detection of terrorists and illegal activities in and around the cover position. They also include monitoring administrative intelligence, anti-smuggling activities, traffic observation, transportation check, city patrolling, and many others.

Marine patrol troops are located on the coastal waterways, mainly around the Caribbean, Pacific coast, Puerto Rico, and the tip of Florida. They have 130 marine crafts of different sizes, which help detect illegal activities across the US coast.

The United States Border Patrol is a movable, armed element of the Department of Homeland Security responsible for guarding American borders between ports of entry. Agents of the Border Patrol guard Americans against terrorists and their weapons, as well as smugglers of drugs and unauthorized foreign nationals.

History of United States Border Patrol

Historically, the US Border Patrol has proudly served the country. The fundamental principles that helped mold the Patrol in its early years—professionalism, honor, honesty, a sense of humanity, and a cooperative effort—have endured despite significant changes that have impacted practically every element of its operations since its inception.

People from all over the world tried unlawful admission because of the numerical restrictions when attempts to enter lawfully failed. As a result, the U.S. Government gave additional importance to the Border Patrol’s mission. The U.S. Border Patrol was created with the passage of the Labor Appropriation Act of 1924 by Congress on May 28, 1924. Its mission was to protect the borders among inspection stations.

The vision of the US Border Patrol is to improve the security of the country via innovation, intelligence, teamwork, and trust. Their mission is to ensure the welfare of the American people, the security of our borders, and the growth of the economy.

Daily Tasks

Coastal waterways between ports of entry and international land borders are the sole focus of Border Patrol agents around-the-clock. They protect the American people against terrorists and their weaponry, drug traffickers, and unauthorized foreigners entering the country.

They truly represent honesty, alertness, and dedication to the country’s basic values of Customs and Border Protection. Their chief assignments or tasks include:

• communicating with and/or giving verbal orders to smugglers and undocumented foreign nationals who know Spanish.
• carrying out line-watch responsibilities, traffic check activities, city patrols, transportation inspections, and other law enforcement responsibilities as assigned.
• responding to remote places’ electronic sensor alarms
• analyzing and tracking the physical traces left by illegal aliens, smugglers, and other criminals
• continuous covert surveillance in order to identify, stop, and capture illegal immigrants, their smugglers, and their sources of drugs
• During nighttime operations, utilizing cutting-edge technologies such as infrared scopes

Border Patrol of the present

The U.S. Border Patrol is still working to keep the country’s borders under control. Technology is predicted to advance dramatically in the twenty-first century, which will be useful for border control. As fresh generations of agents find creative methods to incorporate current technology into operations, the Patrol’s modernization progresses at an astounding rate.

The Border Patrol is developing cutting-edge, specialized technology that has the potential to help agents carry out the Patrol’s mission. Coordination with neighboring nations also improves border security and law enforcement initiatives. The U.S. Border Patrol’s future looks to be every bit as thrilling and fascinating as its past, and it will remain committed to living up to the credo that its agents have espoused since 1924.

The United States Border Patrol is called USBP short and is recognized as the largest federal law enforcement agency. As the name suggests, it is one of the higher authorities responsible for maintaining peace and harmony within the borders. The three principal missions of border patrol are:

• To ensure the safety of Americans
• To safeguard the US borders
• To enhance economic stability and prosperity

As of 2019, the agency comprises 19,648 agents who were actively involved in serving the country.

History of US Border Patrol

In the 19th century, US borders were open and unrestricted for anyone to pass, and there was no systematic control to stop anyone from trespassing. Mounted guards of the US department of labor and commerce took this opportunity to patrol the border in 1904. However, due to the irregularity in their services, a troop of 75 had to be hired to patrol California and prevent Chinese immigrants from entering the border.

Around 1915, special forces called “mounted inspectors” were hired, which in the long run proved their incompetency, and US army soldiers occasionally took the place to patrol along the borders. However, in 1932, the official border patrol groups were divided into two offices

• Mexican office, which was directed from El Paso, Texas
• Canadian office, which was directed from Detroit, Michigan

However, after the attacks on the border in 2001, the entire border patrol was under the Home Security Department, whose primary goal was to prevent the entry of terrorists and weapons into the United States. As of 2019, the border patrol officers are also responsible for controlling illegal drugs, drug trafficking, and illegal immigration along the border.

Goals and objectives of border patrol

In addition to the responsibilities mentioned above, by 2025, the Border patrol department plans on achieving the following goals and objectives:

Goal 1: Reduce Air Pollution

• Objective1: Install and establish air monitoring networks to access data on air quality.
• Objective 2: Receive data from emission inventories from different governments across the border, including Afro-Mexican and Indigenous communities.
• Objective 3: Monitor vehicles that do not follow the emission standards and reduce the number of cars, thus reducing vehicle emission
• Objective 4: Improve public health along the border by improvising technologies to reduce atmospheric pollutants.

Goal 2: Enhance water quality

• Objective 1: Address the problems related to water management and find necessary solutions along the Tijuana river.
• Objective 2: Improve the infrastructure for water treatment and provide clean drinking water, certified by the NADB board.
• Objective 3: Enhance and promote the use of re-treated wastewater to save and conserve energy and water.

Goal 3: Promote sustainable waste management techniques

• Objective 1:Ehnace waste management resource practices along the borders and also with local and state institutions
• Objective 2:Improve government knowledge at all levels to employ sustainable waste management strategies.
• Objective 3: Take care of the marine environment to prevent and reduce marine pollution