The Border Patrol

by Mike Brannon

The most important thing about the Border Patrol in the Oceanside area of southern California simply is that politics runs the show. The real question is, "Is the Border Patrol (federal government) preventing illegals from entering the country?" The answer from my viewpoint, having gone on a "ride along" with an agent at Otay Mountain, is emphatically not. In fact, they are being overrun. The folks that are actually out in the field trying to get control of this human flood are outnumbered and understaffed. The technology is in place, such as sensors, infrared telescopes and night vision goggles, but there is just too much ground to cover. And the sickening part is that politics governs the show.

Here are several examples.

Locally the Border Patrol has authority to "capture" illegals within 25 (recently extended to 100) miles of the border. But local cities have asked the Border Patrol to not conduct operations in their communities. It's politics. The mayor and chiefs of police would look bad with the Border Patrol conducting sweeps in their towns. So they have told the Border Patrol to stay out.

Seldom will you see the Border Patrol in Oceanside. If you do see a Border Patrol vehicle it usually means that an illegal has commited a crime and the local Police Department has asked them to transport someone. Out in the field Border Patrol agents are assigned areas to "patrol." The effort is actually a waiting game. Agents park (in their assigned areas) and wait for illegals to cross into the USA and try to intercept them before they make it to the urban areas and to freedom.

What about the ones who get caught? Here again, this is also driven by politics.

For example, if an illegal happens to have a criminal record then the agents process them differently. It is not uncommon for a captured illegal to have histories of child molestation, spousal abuse, drug trafficking, robbery, etc. (Here in Oceanside a local police officer was killed last year by an illegal with an extensive criminal record). Border Patrol agents process them through the federal District Attorney. Then the federal DA gets to choose whether or not to bring them to trial. But that's the kicker — the DA doesn't want to try them, unless it's an open and shut case. Simply, trials cost to much money and there is always possibility of a defendant getting off. The DA wants his record to look good. Having 100 out of 100 cases resulting in convictions is impressive.

The truth is that most of the cases get dropped and the illegals are shipped back across the border. In the middle are the Border Patrol agents. These folks are sworn peace officers trying to do a job that no one wants them to do. On my ride along I learned that the process is a huge catch and release program.

For my ride along I joined two agents in seperate vehicles assigned to an area that was about 40 square miles. After sundown, sensors began to show the location of illegals crossing into the US. We were actually about six miles from the border when we parked the trucks and on foot intercepted a small group of four men in the dark of a mountain canyon. The agent I was with was able to apprehend one of them. He surrended without a struggle. He was a middle-aged man (late thirties) who was dirty and exhausted, having climbed a 4,000-foot mountain range in the July heat, and was visibly diminished in his appearance and emotion. He had a small backpack with some personal items which he was allowed to keep, minus some plastic razors. He was searched and transported, unhandcuffed and humanely, in the air conditoned box attached to the truck. I was privileged to enter the sally port and observe the booking process. The facility resembles a large concrete and glass waiting room without cages or bars. The immigrant was allowed to wash his face and hands. He was photographed and fingerprinted electronically. The computer found him to be a repeat visitor on one other occasion, providing a photo of him at an age I would consider a teenager. Clearly this fellow was a migrant worker just trying to get north. He would spend the night and get a free bus ride back the next day. As for his three compadres we did not catch that night they probably made it safely to the urban areas and beyond..

I will finish by saying some things about the agents themselves.

Law enforcement tends to take a beating publically and sometimes it is deserved, however I have grown to have new respect for the Border Patrol agents. They work in grueling heat in mountainous terrain, packing a gun belt and all the gear neccessary for apprehending people on the run. Most of the time they operate alone, without backup, often challenging groups of desperate people in the dark. Remarkably, they seldom need to resort to force in an environment where every rock on the ground is a lethal weapon. The agent I accompained stated to me that he has never had to draw his firearm in seven years. He also carries no nightstick or even a backup pistol. If he should ever need assistance it is always at least 45 minutes away.

Finally, he is not wanted nor liked in any community in the county, trying to enforce laws that flagrantly are abused.

(Local readers may remember Mike Brannon, one of the well-known tall, lanky, smiling Brannon Twins. They're both graduates of Anderson Valley High School.)