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Securing America's Borders - U.S. Border Patrol protects
nation's boundaries
by Caroline Basile, editor-in-chief
Editor's note: This is the first in a
series of articles highlighting the United States Border
Patrol. A writer and photographer for the Plainsman Press
visited with the Border Patrol on Aug. 21-23 in Marfa
MARFA -- The sun sets over the Davis Mountains outside of
Marfa as the town starts to quiet down for the night.
Dan Harris, assistant chief patrol agent for the Marfa
Sector of the United States Border Patrol, drives his
midnight blue Chevrolet Tahoe along the 35-mile stretch of
highway leading to nearby towns Van Horn and Valentine.
"Hm…," Harris says as he drives past a white 4x4 pick-up
truck parked on the shoulder of the highway, hazard lights
blinking into the darkening night.
Harris turns his Tahoe around and heads back to the truck.
He begins talking with the driver, a very nervous Hispanic
man. The man stutters with each of his
answers, saying he was in Odessa and then on his way to see
his mother in “the town up there.” Harris tries to
determine whether the man is nervous from just being scared
or whether he's a smuggler waiting to intercept a load of
drugs or illegal aliens. Meanwhile, the man's cell phone
rings non-stop. Ironically, a police siren is his ringtone.
The man tells Harris that he was "headed to the town up
there" but still could not name the town.
The vehicle is not registered to the driver, who also does
not have a driver’s license.
"This might be the only action we see all night," Harris said. "A
night is never typical. It can be 90 percent boredom and 10
percent terror."
While Agent Harris questions the man in the truck and
requests his info, the sun sets and other Border Patrol
agents prepare for work in the dark. Night surveillance
begins as soon as the sun is down far enough. The agents use
infra-red and night-vision technology to monitor fields and
roads for movement.
The man watches as Agent Harris searches his truck. Harris
finds nothing but calls for the K-9 unit to see if there
could be
 anything that he cannot see. Agent Jaime Montes
arrives with a dog to search the vehicle and finds nothing.
A sheriff’s deputy, who had
helped the man change a flat
tire earlier in the day, arrives to arrest him on an invalid
driver's license charge. Caught in his web of lies, the man
is taken to jail. It was unknown whether or not the man was
waiting to intercept either narcotics or people.
After the man is taken away with the sheriff’s deputy, Agent
Harris drives out to check with the other agents working
with the night-vision and infra-red technology. Agent
Carlos Castro takes over the FRED system, which is an
infra-red camera, loaded on a truck, that can see for miles
into the
 distance, letting agents cover larger areas of land
at one time. The agents look around for any signs of
activity on the small five-inch screen.
That morning, the agents at the Marfa 13 illegal aliens who were headed to
Kentucky. The group was monitored for several hours after
someone in the group
activated a "bug," a sensor implanted in the
ground. Agents then responded to the area where the
sensor
was and followed their footprints until the group was
located and captured.
"The first thing we try to get is their demographic
information,"
Agent Castro said. "Who they are, where
they are going, and who they are with."
Castro went on to say that it is critical to find out this
information to help identify the trends of those attempting
to cross the border illegally.
"Trends change,
and we adjust to follow them," Castro
said.
Once caught illegally entering the United States, a person
must wait five years before he or she will be permitted to
re-enter after being sent back to their country. The first
offense for illegal entry is a maximum sentence of six
months, usually 30-90 days. The illegal
aliens are then sent to El Paso and formally deported.
"Immigration is complicated, but the main goal is safety at
this port," Agent Humberto
Hernandez said. "Everyone is welcome.
You just have to go to the Port of Entry and ask for
permission.
We're almost like animals. Once we're
there looking for you, we won't let up until we find you."
Photos by Britni Palomino/Plainsman
Press
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