US Border Patrol Works To Keep Us Safe

Sometimes we take our safety for granted, but after taking a four hour tour, given by our Federal Border Patrol Agents, I respect their hard work in keeping us safe.  The goals of the Border Patrol are to secure America's borders, and to strengthen the border patrol.  How they do this is constantly evolving.

Our tour began in the classroom, with a power point presentation, teaching us about the history of immigration  in the early 1920's.  At that time we wanted to ban Chinese from this country.  We brought them here to build the railroads, then didn't want anymore Chinese here after their work was completed.  Many other immigration bills have been introduced and passed over the past 100 years, and it's a hot topic today.  Some things never change.  After 9/11 the Customs and Border Protection was established to protect our country.  At the moment there are about 21,300 agents nationally.  Compare this to New York City, which has 35,000 police officers.  The federal agents have a daunting task.  They are spread so thin.  Their strategy for protecting us is constantly changing, as the ways in which illegals try to enter is constantly changing.

Our tour, by van, focused on drug trafficking between Mexico and the United States.  We rode along the border from Chula Vista all the way to the Pacific Ocean.  The two countries are separated by two fences, one with double barbed wire on the top.  Getting over the fence is nearly impossible, so illegals cut holes in the lower part of the fence and try to enter.  The fence is patched every few feet, where humans have tried to enter.  The drug cartels have paid millions of dollars to build tunnels.  We saw several of them.  These are sophisticated tunnels for carrying narcotics from Mexico to the U.S.  When the tunnels are discovered, they are filled with concrete.  To date there have been 56 tunnels discovered in the San Diego area.

Newer methods of entry are always being tried.  Recently immigrants try to enter by sea.  Open water is more difficult to patrol.  You may have heard of small fishing boats carrying illegals being found near Del Mar or Carlsbad.  Now they are traveling further, all the way to Monterey, California, in hopes of landing and entering the U.S. without being caught.

Federal agents train for 5 1/2 months in New Mexico to  prepare for their job.  They have excellent gun skills, but must also have people skills.  They have a liason  program to educate the public.  Each agent has hundreds of miles of territory for which he is responsible, and their tactics are constantly changing.  This tour, arranged by Judy for a group of women in North County, was informative and enlightening.  I'm so glad I had the opportunity to see the difficult tasks our border agents have.  Thanks to all of them for their hard work.  If you see suspicious activity, like a fishing boat offshore at midnight, or sketchy people hanging around an area where they do not live, we were told to call 9-1-1.