Thread: Night riders: Border Patrol agents take to the ocean

Night riders: Border Patrol agents take to the ocean
DAN SIMMONS
Increase in water ‘crossings’ seen in last few years



SAN DIEGO —- It’s dark and still in the harbor. All other boats are docked, and sensibly so —- it’s a touch above 50 degrees and just before 11 p.m. on a Wednesday night in February.

But Keley Hill, director of marine operations for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Branch in San Diego, and seven colleagues are geared up for a night at sea. It’s going to be bitter cold, and they’re dressed for it: ski goggles, face masks, down jackets and winter gloves.

In three daily shifts at all hours of day and night, year-round, Marine Interdiction agents patrol U.S. waters off San Diego, Hill said. Their goal: Enforce the liquid border separating the U.S. from Mexico.

That invisible border at sea has become an increasingly popular crossing spot for smugglers carrying illegal immigrants and illegal drugs. In 2007, Marine Interdiction agents intercepted 17 boats at sea and took 85 people into custody, said public affairs officer Juan Munoz-Torres. That’s up from nine boats, and 29 people, caught at sea in 2006, he said.

The increase in smugglers, and the seemingly more brazen nature of the journeys, can be traced to improved enforcement of the land border by Border Patrol agents and National Guard troops, Hill said.

“It’s like a tube of toothpaste,â€

Next they'll be having them skydive from planes......

Originally Posted by crazybird

Next they'll be having them skydive from planes......

I hope that Border patrol does whatever it takes whenever it is at all times to turn back the invasion.

We need 10,000 Border Patrol agents on the southern border!