Border Patrol How Many Agents

Border Patrol

How Many Agents Does it Take to Keep a Border Safe?

Since the tragedy of 9/11 the U.S. Customs and Border Control has changed its structure and strategy to confirm to the ways in which the federal government has reconceived the dangers posed to the United States by terrorists as well as by foreigners entering the country without legal authority. This is a very broad task if for no other reason than there is such a broad range of individual motivations of those who are entering the country. There are the terrorists who must be apprehended at any cost, of course, but there are also people like Mexican citizens who intend to cross the border for a single day to visit family friends living in California.

The U.S. Customs and Border Control is a division of the Department of Homeland Security, a department that was created after 9/11. As is generally true of federal agencies, it is constantly evaluating its mission and strategies so that there is not a single new strategy but rather a series of new strategies, with a new one every few years being rolled out to replace the previous one.

The agency's current overall strategy is as follows: It is to act in any lawful way to "protect the American public against terrorists and the instruments of terror" and "steadfastly enforce the laws of the United States while fostering our Nation's economic security through lawful international trade and travel" (Secretary Napolitano Updates Congress on Border Security).

This broad mission reflects the highly diverse elements of the agency's task. In terms of specific strategies to accomplish the above, the agency takes the following steps under its current plan: Control the borders through all legal means; use all legal data-collection means; use all legal biometric means to keep unauthorized people out of the United States; make the entry of people legally entitled to do so smoother and faster; to apply their actions equally to all people, regardless of race, religion, or country of origin; and examine trade policies (Secure Borders, Safe Travel, Legal Trade).

Among the strengths of this strategic plan are its ability to collect data in a broad manner of ways, from interviewing individuals, using biometrics such as fingerprints and iris scans, and using various electronic means. By combining these different techniques and by having such a broad purview, the agency is capable of being able to have the necessarily broad view of the ways in which people and goods enter and leave the country.