Border Patrol Recruiting More Agents in Effort to Stem Influx

Acknowledging that the landmark 1986 immigration law has yet to halt the massive illegal movement of people across the U.S.-Mexico border, federal authorities have launched an intensive campaign to recruit new agents to patrol the porous boundary.

The U.S. Border Patrol, a uniformed enforcement branch of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, plans to augment its manpower by more than a third by the end of the year, increasing its force to about 4,200 agents along the 1,952-mile border, stretching from the the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico.

“We still face the enormous job of regaining control of our southern border,” said Dale W. Cozart, chief Border Patrol agent in San Diego, which has the largest single contingent of officers nationwide.

Popular Entry Point

The San Diego area, adjoining populous Tijuana, is considered the most popular entry point for illegal aliens from Mexico and Central America who are headed for Los Angeles and other areas in search of jobs.

Although U.S. officials say the Border Patrol buildup is vital to combat illegal immigration, critics maintain that the agents’ presence is likely to be ineffective, and they worry that rights violations might become more frequent.

“Their solution to a socioeconomic problem is more enforcement,” said Roberto Martinez, an activist who is the local representative of the American Friends Service Committee, the social action arm of the Quaker Church. “I’m sure we’re also going to see an increase in abuses.”

With an eye toward attracting new Border Patrol officers, whose pay ranges from $15,000 to $27,000 a year, depending on experience, the patrol and the immigration service held a news briefing on its recruitment plans Friday and scheduled open houses Friday and today at offices in San Diego, Los Angeles, Livermore, El Centro, Riverside, Indio, Tucson and Yuma. Authorities have already produced a promotional public-service video, to be shown on area television stations, and have set up recruiting stands.

The latest Border Patrol buildup--its forces have been increasing steadily since 1981--is mandated by a little-known provision of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, the sweeping immigration-law reforms enacted by Congress in 1986. The same act also created the amnesty program for foreigners who had been living in the United States illegally since 1982, as well as the new civil and criminal sanctions for employers who hire undocumented workers.

Illegal Crossings Continue

Despite an initial deterrent effect last year, U.S. authorities acknowledge that the law is now failing to discourage many immigrants from attempting to illegally cross the border. In the first five months of 1988, the Border Patrol in San Diego recorded arrests of about 230,000 undocumented immigrants, an increase of 17% over the corresponding period last year.

However, U.S. authorities say that the presence of more Border Patrol personnel, plus the stepped-up enforcement of sanctions against employers who hire illegal aliens, should eventually reduce the flow at the border.

Wayne A. Cornelius, director of the UC San Diego Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, concluded in a yearlong study released last week that the law is unlikely to have much success, given the continued economic decline south of the border and loopholes allowing U.S. employers to continue hiring undocumented workers.

“Even with the new immigration law on the books,” Cornelius wrote, “going to the United States still looks like a risk well worth taking.”