Border PatrolWho Is Watching the Border Patrol?

By Robert Lee Maril

Published 21 July 2020

Since 2016 the Border Patrol (BP) has become highly politicized, even as the organization continues to be plagued by institutional violence and corruption at all levels. A closer examination of these federal agents and officers in green now highlights their extraordinary legal powers and reach. This is worrisome: In these challenging times, the BP is especially ill-prepared for more mission creep, nor are we ready for it. The Border Patrol is a loose cannon requiring immediate accountability and oversight by our elected representatives.

_________________________
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
[Who will guard the guardians?]
Juvenal, Satires (early 2nd century)

 

Since 2016 the Border Patrol (BP) has become highly politicized, even as these federal law-enforcement agents continue to add to their documented legacy of institutional violence and corruption at all levels. However, a closer examination of these federal agents and officers in green now highlights their extraordinary legal powers and reach — in addition to a history of documented racism and misogynism. In these challenging times, the BP is especially ill-prepared for more mission creep, nor are we ready for it. The Border Patrol is a loose cannon requiring immediate accountability and oversight by our elected representatives.

After more than a hundred years of guarding the border against illegal entry by undocumented workers and smugglers, the Border Patrol has, in a short time, assumed or created additional agency objectives. The Border Patrol was first forced to dramatically change after the events of 9/11, when terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. Passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 93 forced down a fourth hijacked plane in a Pennsylvania field near Stonycreek Township. Overnight the events of 9/11 thrust the Border Patrol into the national spotlight amid rising expectations about its new role in federal law enforcement: combating international terrorists at our borders.

More recent actions by the Border Patrol place it even more directly at the center of public attention and concern. Beginning in 2016 the White House implemented major changes in immigration policy which directly resulted in BP’s egregious handling of immigrant families at the border. This included placing children of undocumented immigrants in special detention centers. Many of these special detention centers were, and still are, not prepared to care for these children. At the same time, some facilities are currently operated by opportunistic entrepreneurs who clearly have maximized their capital investments under the banner of the new immigration policy.

It is more than fair to say this newer, highly politicized version of the Border Patrol now seems yet again on the brink of more mission creep. This time the Border Patrol has been thrust into the breach of protests over the killing of George Floyd and a heightened public sensitivity to systemic racism in policing. With notable exceptions, these massive political protests have been predominantly lawful in cities and towns across our nation.