It is important to look at the history of border patrol before judgment. Border patrol has been around since the early 1900s. Their motto of professionalism, honor, and integrity for human life has been a motivation for them through the years. It initiated when mounted watchmen were set up, to prevent illegal immigrants for entering, for the U.S. Immigration Service. Over several decades they gained funds, strategy, coordination and most importantly organization. After the 18th Amendment prohibited the import and export of alcohol, the watchmen had bigger goals and higher expectations. Many limitations were brought also brought upon by the Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924. The first border patrol academy opened in 1934. In 1940 Immigration service became part of the Department of Justice. Later, Border Patrol Agents gained permission to search illegal immigrants anywhere in the United States. This was very significant because it made immigrants subject to arrest for the first time in history. They could, however, only b...
War creates all kinds of hardships on everyone involved whether it is overseas on the front line or right in our own backyard. During World War II one hardship faced in the United States was the lack of laborers to work the land and other taxing jobs here in the United States. The solution, bring migrant workers from Mexico to complete the work; otherwise known as the Bracero Program. What is the American and Mexican history leading up to the Bracero program? Were these workers paid fair, were they treated fair, and did they benefit in the long term?
The Border Patrol is a strategic group of specially trained people who prevent terrorists and terrorist’s weapons, including weapons of mass destruction, from entering the United States. The Border Patrol is specifically responsible for patrolling nearly 6,000 miles of Mexican and Canadian international land borders and over 2,000 miles of coastal waters surrounding the Florida Peninsula and the island of Puerto Rico. Agents work around the clock on assignments, in all types of terrain and weather conditions. Agents also work in many isolated communities throughout the United States.
Ever since the beginning of the creation of the United States of America, immigration has taken place. Nevertheless, the first major immigration influx that took place across the Mexico-U.S. border began in 1943, with the “’importation of agricultural workers’” made possible by the Bracero Program (FAIR). After the program ended, immigrants continued to cross the border, only this time it apparently became illegal. According to Citizens for Law.org, to secure this border from a massive wave of illegal immigrants, the U.S. government established the Border Patrol in 1924. ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agency came into play and they enforce immigration laws through deportation and detention in prisons (ACLU.org). After implementing armed security that would roam the border, the U.S. legislation approved the construction of the current 2,000-mile-long fence stretching across the edges of the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Texas(CILE). Other policies concerning immigration happened to pass in 1986 and then in 1996. As suggested by FAIR (Federation for Immigration Reform), the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 in part helped legalize certain illegal immigrants who met the qualifications and prohibited businesses/employers to hire or recruit illegals. Then, in 1996, President Clinton and Congress’s U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform helped in the creation of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA). The IIRAIRA added more than 5,000 border patrol agents by 2001, “’barred’” legal entrance of deported illegal aliens for up to 20 years, and allowed the construction of a 14-mile-long triple fence at San Diego, California among other establishe...
The United States Border Patrol is a branch of the Department of Homeland Security that was established in 1924 by Congress to prevent illegal immigrants, who could pose a threat to the safety of United States citizens, from coming into our country. Even as early as 1904, groups of men would patrol the borders in hopes of preventing illegal persons from crossing the border. These men were understaffed which made it difficult to have any type of control over the situation. In 1924, Congress decided to create the United States Border Patrol. It started with a relatively small group of men and has grown to what we now view as a strong defense mechanism in the protection of United States citizens (Border Patrol History, 2010).
“Together with other law enforcement officers, the Border Patrol helps maintain borders that work—facilitating the flow of legal immigration and goods while preventing the illegal trafficking of people and contraband” (Overview). Or so their official website states, but evidence would suggest that they are part of a corrupt and violent system; they have dehumanized themselves due to their existence as an extension of government regulations; they have been placed at the border to guard it from the illegals who try to break through to the American side and some abuse that power. The government pays extremely generous sums for their operations, but their effectiveness and moral practices have been questionable. The victims—those apprehended during their journey across the border and the families of those killed by the officers (among many others)—claim that the BP exists outside of the law, but it is also true that not all officers violate human rights, not all go rogue. What determines who becomes the conductor of power is the hiring process as well as the honesty and diligence of the administrative personnel. The qualifications to become a border patrol officer (as listed on the official PB website) are
Metz, Leon C. "United States Border Patrol." The Handbook of Texas Online. <www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/UU/ncujh.html> [Accessed Wed Apr 21 21:30:08 US/Central 2004]
The problem is so comprehensive that the border patrol can’t handle it. Therefore a group of, mainly, senior citizens have gathered to help the border patrol. The seniors are often former police officers or soldiers.
Many years before the 1970s and 1980s, the Bra cero program was end up by the Congress. This program purpose was to hire Mexico to work in agricultural farm in the United States of America during World War II. These Mexico immigrations would impact the economy of the United States of America. However, immigration of Asian, European, and Latin American would be also part of our interest.
Romero, Mary. 2008. “Crossing the immigration and race border: A critical race theory approach to immigration studies.” Contemporary Justice Review 11(1):23-37.
We have all been through border patrol inspections and searches, yet how much of it is legal? What is too much? When are border patrol agents abusing their power? What are they legally allowed to do? When does their jurisdiction start and when does it end? These might be lots of questions you may have thought about before yet never actually did the research to answer your questions. I will be conducting the research to answer these questions and more that you might have about what border patrol agents are and what is in their actual job description.
In promoting the idea that all Latinos are all dark skinned and undocumented, government agents are either consciously or subconsciously invoking a historical stereotype. This historical stereotype depicts all Latinos as being poor, dark skinned, and criminal. Historically people have perceived a correlation between dark skin and criminality. One of the earliest depictions of Latinos was as bandidos (bandits). In fact, t...
For many of these border patrol officers the people in hopes for a better living who try and cross the borders are nonetheless but enemies. Many of the people who are said to help these immigrants cross the border who are referred to as “coyotes” only want the money and simply do not care about the life of these immigrants or if their life is in danger. There have been numerous of cases where Urrea explains that there have been findings of “toxic materials appear in jugs that look like drinking water. Humane Borders’ water stations are vandalized, the three-hundred-gallon tanks broken open so they run dry. Small groups of Mexicans are found tied and shot in the head” (Page 214). This book goes in great depth and truly gives the reader a clear understanding on what an undocumented immigrant goes through, although this is something we can only imagine but will never know what they actually go through as it is something one has to personally experience it in order to truly
In both the movie, La Misma Luna, and the newspaper series, Enrique’s Journey, migrants are faced with many issues. The most deadly and scarring issues all relate back to bandits, judicial police, and la migra or Mexican immigration officers. The problems that arise are serious to the point of rape, robbing, and beating. It is not easy crossing the border illegally and secretly, but the successful ones have an interesting or even traumatic story about how it worked for them.
Migra! is dedicated to the history of the U.S. Border Patrol, its practices and ideology from its formation in 1924 to the late twentieth century.