Border Patrol, United States, is a uniformed enforcement agency within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a bureau of the Department of Homeland Security. The patrol operates along United States land borders and in coastal areas of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. Its main purpose is to prevent the unlawful entry of aliens (noncitizens) into the United States. It also works to intercept illegal drugs being smuggled into the country.
Border Patrol officers are trained at the Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, New Mexico. They learn immigration laws and related subjects, methods of operation, the Spanish language, and routine law enforcement.
The Border Patrol was established in 1924 as part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in the Department of Labor. The INS was transferred to the Department of Justice in 1940. In 2002, Congress passed a bill that called for establishing the Department of Homeland Security and placing the responsibilities of the INS, and thus the Border Patrol, under the new department’s control. The INS was broken up in 2003, and the Border Patrol became part of CBP.
See also Illegal immigration .
