Preview

Border Patrol

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
768 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Border Patrol
Border Patrol Reform
“Smugglers today are more determined and potentially more violent and destructive than ever. They’ll do almost anything to protect their contraband, avoid being apprehended, and maintain ‘control’ of their trails out of, and back into, Mexico. They’re outwardly hostile toward all U.S. law enforcement and authority, as well as rival ‘gangs’ vying for the routes and contracts with cartels, and anyone else that might ‘get in their way.’ Those of us that live and work in remote smuggling corridors are the most vulnerable. We are confronted with threats, damage & destruction of our property, theft, break-ins, and serious disruption of our necessary ranch work almost daily. Costs to ranch within 50 miles of the U.S./Mexico border are double and sometimes triple what it costs to operate elsewhere. We’re being driven out of business and away from our homesteads. Lethal violence is a daily menace we’re forced to live with, and the senseless murders of our neighbors go unsolved. U.S. federal policies, regulations, and border enforcement strategies are accomplices, while the lost peace, security and freedoms of ranchers and rural residents in the area seem to be ‘written-off’ as ‘collateral damage.’” Gary Thrasher.
Many people have virtually no knowledge of the dire situation these citizens face on a day to day basis. Although it won’t be seen on CNN or even MSNBC, stories and testimonies such as the one told by Mr. Thrasher are not uncommon for this area of the country. Numerous ranching families located on the south Texas border live in a war zone where they are defenseless against the cartels, must deal with border patrol agents being unfamiliar with the territory, and now with stricter gun laws soon to be passed through congress, they have become increasingly more vulnerable. Imagine driving through pastures checking water lines and fence the same as every day before and stumbling across an illegal immigrant transporting drugs and drug

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea, an award winning work of investigative journalism, is a multifaceted look on the issue Mexican migration and the factors involved; be it the border patrol, the United States and Mexican governments and their policies, and the Coyotes, a criminal organization known for human smuggling. Urrea’s text tells the story of a group of illegal Mexican immigrants known as the Welton 26, and their Coyote guide: Mendez, who cross the border and enter the perilous region known as the Devil’s Highway, a barren desert known for its inhospitable, often deadly, environment. In this text, the Welton 26, the border patrol, the courts, and the prosecutor's all seek someone to blame. But who is truly at fault for this?…

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the early 1900’s Mexican migrants were free to enter and leave the U.S. whenever they felt like it. The primary concern of the border patrol was to keep the Chinese migrants out. For the most part every person who tried to get into the U.S. and looked hispanic was allowed and never questioned. Today Mexicans or people who look hispanic are being chased after by the border patrol and are being kept out. Since the U.S. is denying entry to these illegal immigrants they are going through extreme measures to get in. Most of them end up severely injured or dead. The book The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail by Oscar Martinez talks about the experiences of these migrants which aren’t easy. Martinez goes to Mexico…

    • 1301 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Devils Highway

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Have you ever wonder why they built borders? Or who built them? Or who prevents and controls illegals from crossing, and what they do to accomplish them from crossing? In the book, The Devils Highway, by Luis Alberto Urrea defines the effects the desert has to offer for the immigrant’s entrance. The Devils High Way is a measureless desert past Mexico and Sonora, which is one of the most isolated and driest deserts in the U.S. This is a desert which few people confront to cross through, some barley make it out alive. In the year of 2001 and the month of May, a group of undocumented Mexican walkers were left for death, stuck in the Devils Highway after walking for days in the wrong path, through the deserts and mountains, with only a few quantity of water.…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea, the Mexican illegal immigrants are automatically portrayed as villains once they cross the border. When it comes to immigration, the United States government focuses on border control due to the abundance of illegal immigrants who enter and reside in the United States.Many think that Mexicans who cross the border illegally choose their suffering and pain. However, as demonstrated in the true story, many tragic factors such as the Mexican Government, the United States Government, and the Coyotes and gangsters contribute to the illegal immigration from Mexico to the United States.…

    • 1815 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Drug Cartel Violence is seen nationwide on a daily basis. The gorilla like warfare has had some spill over into the United States. Due to the high demand of illicit drugs by Americans and immigrants living in America the cartels will continue to make money and do whatever it takes to get their drugs into the US. Americans will continue to suffer financially as policies are created by administrations to allow immigrants to stay. America has been founded on a principal as a land of opportunity to all. This philosophy has not changed when it comes to immigrants entering the country from Mexico. America will continue to see violence begin to spill over at alarming rates as cartels move their operations slowly into the United States.…

    • 3561 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyday many illegal immigrants come to this country. According to the article Cargo, “700,000 new illegals enter and stay each year” (www.cairco.org). Many wonder how is that they come. Well the answer is that many immigrants pay coyotes to come to the U.S. They come in train, by boat, cars, semi-trucks, cross the desert, swim the rivers, and rent a green card/U.S. passport. “For undocumented immigrants entering the U.S. in South Texas, the multiday trek is the most perilous leg of a journey that starts with a payment (often $5,000 to $10,000, according to authorities) to coyotes in their home countries, who stash their clients at squalid border safe houses and shepherd them across the Rio Grande aboard inflatable rafts”(Altman). Smugglers or like illegal immigrants call them, coyotes are people that are trained to help you cross…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    dying to cross

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The book covers the immigrant tragedy of May, 2003, when a truck-trailer of at least 74 illegal immigrants due to how the truck was abandoned, the true number involved is unknown and will probably remain so was found near Victoria, Texas, bound for Houston 48 customers from Mexico, 16 from Honduras, 8 from El Salvador, 1 from Nicaragua, and at least 1 from the Dominican Republic. Nineteen people were dead. The story and images of the bodies piled one atop another was headline news for weeks, often described as a "human heap of desperation" which it surely was. Much of the attention was focused on the 5-year old boy found among the dead. Ramos retraces some of the border-crossings made, interviews some survivors & the Mexican consul who handled the affairs that followed, as well as covers the legal proceedings that lead to the guilty pleas of several coyotes, including Honduran Karla Chavez who, according to US. Authorities, was the ringleader of the operation, and the one ultimately responsible for the tragedy.…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Mexican Border

    • 1599 Words
    • 7 Pages

    With the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo on February 2, 1848, the border dividing the Mexican people was formed. The Mexican border means various things to different people. To date, 600 miles of border wall has already been built. This wall would extend from California, to El Paso, to the valley. The first reason given by the government for construction of the wall was to prevent terrorist attacks, the next was to keep illegal Mexicans out, and the most current one is to combat the drug smuggling into the United States. For some Mexicans and Mexican Americans, the border poses threats, and for others, it establishes possibilities for oneself and one’s family.…

    • 1599 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The United States Border Patrol (USBP) has a substantial history as our nation’s first line of defense against illegal migration. Its fundamental intent was to curb the illegal entry of aliens, contraband, and the flow of forbidden alcohol from Canada and Mexico into the United States. The USBP was founded in 1924, and was established in El Paso, Texas, and Detroit, Michigan. Under the influence of the Immigration Act, it was approved by Congress on May 28, 1924. The United States Border Patrol was created as a uniformed law enforcement agency of the Immigration Bureau. Today, the USBP’s primary mission is to identify and avert the entry of weapons of mass destruction,…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “The Border Fence is already making a difference”, says Chris Simcox (2012). Local reports indicate that drug trafficking has already been reduced. He said that there are “fewer vehicles in the area where the fence is under construction proving again that having a presence and taking positive steps to do something to secure the border reduces the flow of illegal aliens, potential terrorists, drug and human traffickers, murderers, rapists and thieves in these areas”. Which, it has been getting harder for smugglers to bring in illegal drugs in or out of the country. There haves been many people getting caught trying to cross drugs in to the country and are been arrested for it. Strong border controls to keep things steady in the United States to not have many drugs that users buy.…

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Us Border Control: Fence

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the past 10 years, there has been increased awareness about the influx of illegal immigrants from South America and Mexico in particular. One of the foremost reasons a border fencing option is unsurpassed is that the other options simply don’t work. For example in 2007, Janet Napolitano, then the governor of Arizona, gave a speech at a press conference swaggering about the capabilities of a “virtual fence.” (DeMint) “"We can shore up our border gaps with ground-based sensors, radar and unmanned aerial vehicles," she said. "Any combination of the above will work far better than any 10 or 20 or 50 miles of wall."” Conversely, she was wrong. Reports published in 2009 from the GAO showed that “virtual fencing was a virtual disaster.” (DeMint) The reports showed that cameras suffered signal loss, the system was unable to “distinguish humans and vehicles from livestock and bushes” and the number of new deficiencies with the virtual fences “outpaced the number that were being fixed.”(Tancredo) Alan Bershin, the USCBP chief called it a “complete failure” in a Senate meeting. (DeMint) Another solution many think is practicable is an intensification of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. This solution is tremendously costly, however. On average agents make $50,000 per year plus an “excellent Federal Government benefits package including life insurance, health insurance, liberal retirement benefits, and a thrift savings plan.” (FAQ) It is also an extremely hazardous occupation. A fence can stop a vehicle transporting…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Border Fence

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Supporters of the Secure Fence Act believe that while the 700 mile fence might not cover the entire span of the border, it will cover one-third, channeling illegal immigrants to the remaining two-thirds of the border; therefore, border patrolmen will be able to better concentrate their efforts on the remaining two-thirds of the border with better results. After the construction of the San Diego Fence, many illegal immigrants began crossing through alternate routes. For example many illegal immigrants began crossing through the Arizona desert, this caused many of San Diego’s border agents to move out there. T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council in 2006 said, “Tucson now has 2,600 agents, San Diego has lost 1,000 agents. Guess where the traffic is going? Back to San Diego! San Diego is the most heavily fortified border in the…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    border patrol

    • 2069 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The United States Border Patrol is the largest law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security. The Border Patrol is a group of highly trained officers that detect , and prevent the illegal entry or smuggling of aliens into the United States. Can you imagine the United States without any border protection? The U.S probably may be an obnoxious place to live in.…

    • 2069 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Border Control

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In recent years, Illegal immigration has been a contemporary political and social debate. It has been the platform of many politicians, especially in the southwest, and it is often a popular subject in news media. People in favor of strict immigration policy often claim that illegal immigrants are costly to the American economy and that they take American jobs. The border control policy is ineffective, it is often too costly for its effectiveness. Border policies have increased the number of immigrant deaths in the deserts of border states. Not only that but the US/Mexico border is harmful to the environment. The anti-immigration policy that's currently in effect goes against a rich cultural history in North America. Lastly, popular arguments made for strict immigration will be brought to light.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Border Security

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Everyone knows about the problems America is facing with her borders. Even the news reminds people that more and more illegal immigrants have snuck their way into America. Many U.S citizens are outraged by these people sneaking into their country and demand that the border between the United States and Mexico should be more secure, but how secure is secure? Some argue that having the fence finished would fix the issue, but immigrants already have found a way past the fence already. So the question is, what should America do to help secure her borders? Some suggest having a bigger funding for the border patrol, helping Mexican authorities remove major paramilitary gangs, and boosting Mexico’s economy would less the desire to cross over into America.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays