| Part 1:
The Border Patrol's El Paso Sector
By Greg Bloom, Frontera Norte Sur Editor
Historical
Background
It can be argued
that current Border Patrol,
border-control strategy originated with
Operation Hold the Line in 1993 in the
area between downtown El Paso and Ciudad
Juárez. In that operation, launched in
September, 1993, sector chief Silvestre
Reyes forward deployed his agents along
the corridors most used by people trying
to cross illegally into El Paso from Cd.
Juárez. While the year concluded with
the El Paso sector's 600 agents having
made 285,781 apprehensions, by 1994, with
Hold the Line still in place, the number
of apprehensions had dropped to 79,688.
While some
immigrant-rights and human-rights groups
opposed Hold the Line, it was considered
a success by the Border Patrol. After
Hold the Line came other Border Patrol
operations such as Guardian that sought
to keep people from moving illegally
between the border's large twin cities.
Again, these later operations were also
deemed Border Patrol successes but many
human-rights and immigrant-rights groups
still stand in opposition to a
border-control system that they believe
forces immigrants into the hands of
frequently dangerous, professional human
traffickers and/or into dangerous
crossing zones in deserts and arid
mountains.
Along the El
Paso-Ciudad Juárez Border
South of downtown El
Paso there is a dirt road that runs
between the railroad tracks and the Rio
Grande. Access to the road is restricted
to railroad crews and the Border Patrol
and on a Friday afternoon things appear
to be quiet along the river which at this
point in its run, below a major diversion
for agricultural water, is not much more
than a wide, calm stream bordered by a
few trees and high grasses. Border Patrol
agent Robert Cordero points out lights
and camera towers that follow the road
and says that the lights were recently
installed to protect agents operating in
the area and people on the Cd. Juárez
bank of the river. Cordero explains that
people sometimes wait on the Mexican side
of the river to take advantage of
would-be border crossers. Robbery, rape
and murder have been some of the illegal
acts committed along the river in the
past.
Following the road a
little longer it comes to parallel
Paisano Drive where Cordero says that
low-level drug traffickers known as
"mules" sometimes quickly cross
the Rio Grande and then pull across 50
pound sacks of marijuana. The
"mules" then throw the bags
onto Paisano where people arrive in
trucks to retrieve the marijuana. For
their work, and for exposing themselves
to a couple of minutes of risk in the US,
the traffickers receive between
US$50-$100, according to Cordero (this
compares to the approximately US$25
someone might take home at the end of a
week's work in a US-owned maquiladora in
Cd. Juárez).
Further down the
road there is a narrow steel and wooden
bridge that leads to Border Marker Number
1 near where the three states of
Chihuahua, New Mexico and Texas meet. The
large white, graffiti-covered, cement
obelisk that serves as the marker is
close to the river and sits at the
beginning of the land border between
Mexico and the US (east of the marker the
dividing line between the two countries
is the middle of the Rio Grande).
Strangely, there is no border barrier
near the marker and one can move freely
back and forth across the dividing line.
The marker's surroundings would seem to
speak volumes about the distinct
personalities of each nation. On the US
side of the border there is a low fence
about knee-high that might prevent
vehicles from driving from one country to
the next. On the Mexican side of the
marker there's a little, slightly
littered park with some nice, big, shade
trees.
The Detention Center
A little bit back
from the river, and essentially under the
Cordoba bridge that connects Cd. Juárez
and El Paso, is the detention center
where the Border Patrol holds Mexican
citizens that have accepted voluntary
return to their country. According to
Cordero hardly anyone refuses voluntary
return. The only other option is to enter
legal proceedings that can takes weeks if
not longer to complete and can result in
deportation. Once someone has been
deported they risk being prosecuted for
felony illegal reentry if they come back
illegally to the US. This is not
something most would-be immigrants want
to face.
Cordero says with a
laugh that he has had people tell him
that they want to accept voluntary return
because they know they will be back in
Cd. Juárez in a few hours and can try to
cross to the US a few more times over the
course of the day. Cordero has a good
sense of humor about the fact that he and
other agents frequently catch people only
to have them come back a few hours later.
He also recognizes that not all
undocumented people apprehended in the US
can be prosecuted due to crowded court
and prison systems. Prosecution in
illegal immigration cases is usually
reserved for human traffickers or people
with a prior US criminal record, he says.
Inside the detention
center there are separate holding areas
for men, women, and minors. These areas
are built against the back wall of the
facility and the front of the cells are
made from thick pieces of a transparent
plastic. In the middle of the room are
desks for the agents that run the
facility and IDENT machines that identify
people by their fingerprints. The use of
the IDENT system means that people cannot
hide their identity by giving aliases to
the agents as some did previously.
Cordero says that on
average people might spend a couple of
hours at the facility before a Mexican
immigration official comes over the
bridge to get them and take them back to
Mexico. Back in Ciudad Juárez the people
are questioned to make sure they are all
truly Mexican citizens and if not the
OTMs (Other Than Mexicans in Border
Patrol lingo) are sent back to El Paso
where they are again dealt with by US
authorities. Cordero explains that even
though non-Mexicans might have entered
the US through Mexico they must be sent
back to their country of origin by the
US.
Unaccompanied minors
detained in the US teleconference from a
special room in the detention center with
their consulate in El Paso and are
advised of options available to them
before they go back to Mexico. This is
part of a program to assure that minors
are not released into dangerous
circumstances in Cd. Juárez.
In a cabinet to one
side of the room Cordero points out
shelves full of juice, granola bars,
diapers and formula. These goods can be
given to people that are dehydrated or
hungry or have problems with their
babies. Overall the detention center
appears clean but well used--sort of like
a 24-hour, chain restaurant.
Near the
food-storage cabinet is the room where
some of the sector's cameras and sensors
are monitored. Whenever a sensor is
triggered an alarm beeps on a computer
and an attendant must investigate.
Television-like monitors ring half of the
room and show whatever a camera is
pointed at from atop the camera towers.
The image from one camera can be brought
on to a larger screen directly in front
of one of the room's two attendants and
this image is recorded on a VCR-like
machine. To give an example of the
cameras' resolution an attendant zooms in
on a small stone near Border Marker
Number 1. The rock can be seen in
detail--even though it is located at
least one hundred yards from the nearest
camera tower.
End of Part I
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