Works with US Border Patrol

ICE works with another division of the Department of Homeland Security, the US Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol, the uniformed law enforcement arm. The U.S. Border Patrol was established in 1924 by an act of Congress precipitated by increasing illegal immigration.

The primary mission of the US Border Patrol is homeland security. Its goal is to prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the country. The Border Patrol Agent force patrols nearly 6,000 miles of international border land with Canada and Mexico and nearly 2,000 miles of coastal waters surrounding Florida and Puerto Rico. Agents work 24/7 and are also employed in isolated communities throughout the country.

More than 11,000 Employees

The Border Patrol has 20 sectors, with more than 11,000 employees that are responsible for detecting, interdicting and apprehending people who attempt to illegally enter or to smuggle others, including terrorists, across U.S. borders between official ports of entry. Agents are supported with sophisticated technology, vehicles and aircraft.

The Border Patrol maintains surveillance, follows up leads, responds to aircraft sightings and electronic sensor alarms, and interprets and follows tracks. The U.S. border control maintains traffic checkpoints on highways leading to the border, conducts city patrol and transportation checks, and conducts anti-smuggling investigations. Border Patrol agents have made more than 15.6 million arrests since 1994. In 2005 immigration officers seized more than 12,300 pounds of cocaine and more than 1.2 million pounds of marijuana, with a street value of more than $1.4 billion.

The Invisible Border

The border is invisible in mountains, deserts and canyons. In those situations electronic sensors in strategic locations detect people or vehicles illegally entering the country. Video monitors and night vision scopes are also part of the arsenal. Agents patrol the borders on foot, in vehicles, boats, and aircraft. In some places they use horses, bicycles, motorcycles or snowmobiles. Unmanned aircraft are also used.

All Border Patrol agents spend 19 weeks training at the Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, New Mexico. It is a branch of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

Calls for Merger

Some people have called for the CBP Border Patrol and ICE to be merged, saying it does not make sense to have an artificial distinction between enforcing immigration laws at the border and enforcing them in the interior of the U.S. Critics say this system creates potential gaps for those attempting to avoid arrest. A proposed solution is to create task forces that combine the assets of ICE and CBP plus those of other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

The Department of Homeland Security has pilot-tested Border Enforcement Task Forces along the southwest border. For the time being, however, the primary responsibility for border enforcement remains in the hands of the US Border Patrol.