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Border Patrol has unique position in Homeland Security

BY MAGGIE ULMER Thursday, October 20, 2005 10:11 AM PDT

S-E Staff Reporter

The U.S. Border Patrol doesn’t work at ports of entry as many people suspect. They patrol the areas of the border in between those ports of entry.

“Our job is to try to look for people who are trying to circumvent the legal ways of entering the United States,� explained Border Patrol Supervisor Calvin Davis.

Davis works out of the Colville Border Patrol Station, which is part of the Spokane Sector. The Spokane Sector patrols a 350-mile section of the U.S. and Canadian border from central Washington to Glacier National Park in Montana.

In his 15 years of service with the Border Patrol, Davis has seen some interesting things.

“Working with the Border Patrol has been so interesting,� he said. “I’ve seen people stuffed under the dashboard of a car, under the hood of a car, and one man sewn into the backseat of a car. All of the drivers were trying to smuggle them into the U.S.

“There are plenty of reasons why people wouldn’t want to come through the ports of entry,� Davis continued. “They may be criminals who wouldn’t be allowed into the U.S., or they might be trying to smuggle something.�

Davis said the most common items to smuggle are drugs and people.

“Marijuana from Canada, or BC Bud, sells for about $5,000 per pound on the open market. It’s the most smuggled item in this area.�

Davis explained that a person or a small group of people would carry backpacks full of drugs through remote areas until they reached a road. Once there, a vehicle would meet them and the drugs would be transferred to the vehicle.

“Smugglers will try anything and any way to smuggle,� Davis said. “To them, whatever they’re smuggling is just a commodity, whether it’s people or drugs, and they’ll do anything as long as they’re getting paid to do it.�

Suspects usually searched first

When Border Patrol agents find a person trying to cross illegally, they usually search him first. “Most of the time, there will be drugs in their backpacks or in big hockey bags they’re carrying.�

According to Davis, the technological advances that money for Homeland Security provided is well worth the expense.

“After 9/11, we had a really steep learning curve. We used to do old school fingerprinting. We’d send the prints off to the FBI by fax, and it would take four or five hours to hear anything back. Even then, the prints were identified manually, so sometimes no match was found, especially using a fax machine. With this new machine, we have results in 10 or 15 minutes.�

But even more important than quicker results is the access to other agencies’ databases.

“After 9/11, we have more computer based programs that give us access to these other databases. Before, we would arrest someone, fingerprint him, and most likely let him go if his prints didn’t get any hits. Now we can see if someone is a criminal or even a suspected terrorist, so we’re not just releasing people without thoroughly checking them out with different agencies now.�

Another new tool the Border Patrol and other law enforcement agencies take advantage of is the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).

“There’s a JTTF in Spokane. It’s a group representatives from different agencies like the FBI. sheriff’s department and other agencies.

“If we have someone in custody that we think might be a terrorist, we’ll have the JTTF come up and interview the suspect. The last thing we ever want is to have someone in our custody and let him go, only to find out later that he was a terrorist.�

Davis said that there is a Border Patrol call center in Washington, D.C. that is staffed around the clock. Border Patrol agents can call anytime seeking more information about someone in custody.

Recording illegal entrants

The Border Patrol is also equipped with a tracking system that shows every time a person has been arrested for trying to cross the border illegally.

“If we have someone in custody and they’re trying to tell us they’ve never done this before, we can find out exactly how many times they’ve been arrested, where, and when. It’s also a good tool for trying to find the smugglers, because they’re more likely to have a longer record with us.�

Across the U.S., 1,171,911 people have been apprehended trying to enter the country illegally in 2005 (as of September). Over 270 people were apprehended in the Spokane Sector alone.

“Statistically, most of the people trying to get into the country are Mexican Nationals. Then we have what we call Other Than Mexicans, or OTM.�

So far in 2005, 161,000 OTMs have been apprehended nationwide, representing 182 different countries.

“For the Spokane Sector, it really depends on the community north of the border,� Davis explained. “North of Oroville, for example, is a large Indian community in Canada, so there are more people from India that try to get through over there.

“Canada accepts refugees from other countries, so they’re very culturally diverse. We have what we call ‘special interest countries,’ or countries that might have links to terrorism. If someone is coming through from Canada from one of these countries, we’ll examine them pretty thoroughly, especially if they’re trying to cross illegally.�

But in Mexico, according to Davis, people can get through with false documents or simply by paying their way.

The nexus of the Border Patrol

For people coming in legally through the ports of entry, some people are looked at more closely than others depending on their reason for coming in, their length of stay, and where they’re from.

“The border is our nexus for where we go,� Davis explained. “If we get some information that a vehicle stopped and picked someone up or may be carrying an illegal load, then we can find that vehicle even if it’s 100 miles away.�

But the good news is that the remoteness in the Spokane sector tends to make it a less appealing area for border-crossers.

“The remoteness is a really good, natural deterrent in this area,� Davis said. “It’s not like Tijuana and San Diego in California, where a person can just jump a fence and then blend right in to the crowd on the other side. In this area, a person usually has to walk at least ten miles and then it’s still several more miles before reaching a town.�

The small communities also pose a threat to smugglers and other illegal entrants.

“We’ve gotten several calls from people living along the river that men are walking down the road in the middle of the night carrying backpacks. We’ll go check it out and find out they’re carrying drugs.�

The Border Patrol works 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.

“There is an agency called Immigration and Customs Enforcement, what we call ICE, and they work in the interior of the U.S. Their job is to find people who made it into the country illegally or whose permits or Visas have expired. The Border Patrol falls under Customs and Border Protection. We work the exterior of the U.S. In that regard, we’re the first line of defense.�

Davis said the Border Patrol is always looking for new recruits.

“Congress has funded several more Border Patrol agents, and we have more positions than we can fill.�

Names on a hiring list

A prospective agent must be a U.S. citizen and at least 19-years-old.

“A candidate also has to pass an aptitude test, go through an interview and then pass a physical test. If a person passes those, his name goes on a hiring list. The person must also speak Spanish or prove an aptitude for learning it. After successfully fulfilling all of those requirements, it’s 19 weeks in a Border Patrol academy in New Mexico. Students learn immigration law, Spanish, and how to drive and shoot the Border Patrol way, as well as defense tactics.�

After the academy, new recruits will spend a year along the southern U.S. border.

“Recruits need to do that because if they came straight up here, they wouldn’t see as much action. They would have training, but not experience, and that experience is vital and necessary before I can let an agent out on his own.�

For the 50 miles of border that the Colville Station patrols, they have 16 agents. For 61 miles of the southern border in San Diego, there are 2,000 agents.

“We use a lot of what we call force multipliers,� Davis said. “We need them since we have more miles than agents. We have video cameras recording activity along the border as well as devices in the ground that detect people walking. Aside from those, we have boats, snowmobiles, and all sorts of other vehicles. People will try anything to cross the border illegally, and we have to be well prepared and well equipped.�

The new chief of the Spokane Sector, Robert Harris, is doing his part to see that agents are even better equipped.

“Harris was the Deputy Chief of the Border Patrol in Washington, D.C.,� Davis explained. “He’s the kind of person who can make an area like this get the same resources as the southern border.�

One of Harris’s goals is to outfit the sector with dogs that can track both drugs and people. The Colville station will get one of the dogs.

“The new chief is a big proponent of community involvement,� Davis said. “At some point, hopefully before next year, he wants to put on a citizen’s academy in Colville. There will be guest speakers and other ways for the public to learn what the Border Patrol does.�