THE GREAT DIVIDE: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ON ONE DAY : BORDER PATROL AGENT

NAME: Alan Summers

AGE: 34

WORK: Supervisory Border Patrol agent

HOME: San Diego

IMMIGRATION STATUS: U.S. citizen. The son of a Border Patrol agent, Summers is part Native American. His European ancestors came in the 17th Century.

“It gets to you for awhile, then you crust up, then it gets you again. I don’t know how many times I’ve given away my lunch to (illegal immigrants). There’s not a Border Patrol agent out there who doesn’t feel sympathy for these people. We know they are just doing what they got to do to better their lives. But we can’t just tear the fence down and say come on over. Some people may not like it, but somebody’s got to try to maintain control (at the border).

“It’s mainly a peaceful relationship. I’m down here talking to the people all the time.

“I remember I spent about eight hours one night talking to an 8-year-old kid here by the (border) fence. Practicing my Spanish. He said: ‘I already did get some people by you.’ And he showed my a $100 bill. I couldn’t believe it; I didn’t have that much money in my pocket myself. Then I was down in Mexico one day and I ran into him. He was selling flowers on the street. He was saying ‘You’re the migra from the other night.’ He started tagging along with me like I was his friend.

“There is a high number of criminals coming across too. I don’t know the exact stats, but there’s plenty of them coming over here to commit crime . . . If you try to apprehend a guy and he tries to knock your teeth out, he’s probably a criminal.”