Border Patrol Scales Back Transportation Hub Checks in Northern U.S.

The U.S. Border Patrol is scaling back its practice of searching for illegal immigrants on buses, trains and airports along the northern U.S. border, The Associated Press reported this week. Previously, Border Patrol agents would routinely question suspicious-looking people in transportation hubs in an effort to catch unlawful immigrants who had not been detected at the border.

Border Patrol agents, speaking to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, said field offices started receiving the orders to scale back shortly after the Obama Administration announced it would focus on removing criminals and allow many illegal immigrants without a criminal history to remain in the United States.

The union that represents Border Patrol agents, the National Border Patrol Council, issued a news release on Oct. 27 regarding the change in practice.

"Orders have been sent out from Border Patrol headquarters in Washington, D.C., to Border Patrol sectors nationwide that checks of transportation hubs and systems located away from the southwest border of the United States will only be conducted if there is intelligence indicating a threat," the release said.

Enforcement personnel still retain authority to search for illegal immigrants near the border and in transportation hubs, and a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesman, Bill Brooks, insisted that the change in enforcement practice does not equate to a change in policy.

"Conducting intelligence-based transportation checks allows the Border Patrol to use their technology and personnel resources more effectively, especially in areas with limited resources," CBP said in a separate statement.


Fed Agent.com