Q&A with Border Patrol council leader

Written by Greg Moran

11 a.m., Nov. 26, 2011

3 comments

Shawn Moran joined the U.S. Border Patrol as a fresh-out-of-college 22 year old in 1997. He has spent his entire career on the southwest border, assigned to the San Diego sector. Moran is currently a vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents some 17,000 agents across the country.

Apprehensions of illegal immigrants along the southwest order — which includes California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas — have been plummeting in recent years, from more than 1 million in 2000 to 447,731 in 2010. Apprehensions for 2011 are expected to be at their lowest level since 1972.

Yet illegal immigration remains a charged topic, and Moran said the work of the Border Patrol is far from over. The federal budget deficit also looms over the Border Patrol, which has doubled in size over the past decade.

Question: Apprehensions of illegal immigrants are at an all-time low. What do you attribute that to?

Answer: I think the biggest factor is the economy. Americans can’t find jobs and the illegal aliens in this country can’t find jobs. That’s the biggest factor, but I also think the layers of bureaucracy the administration is putting between Border patrol agents and actually going after criminals is contributing to that.

(There are a) couple of different factors with that. They’re trying to attack pay of Border Patrol agents. So if they can say there is not as much work for Border Patrol agents, it makes the argument a lot easier for them. And also they want some type of guest worker programs or amnesty, and if we can say “The numbers are down,â€