DuBois - ABOUT DEPLOYING BP OFFICERS

This was posted to a Facebook group in response to a discussion on deployment of BP officers...Frank

ABOUT DEPLOYING BP OFFICERS

One of the reasons more Border Patrol officers are not deployed closer to the border in many western states is the existence of so much federal land along our border with Mexico, including those that have been designated as wilderness areas, wildlife refuges, national parks and national monuments where the Border Patrol has restricted access. Where there is private property, the BP has statutory authority to enter, without warrant, any private property except domiciles. Here is the language from the statute:

(3) within a reasonable distance from any external boundary of the United States, to board and search for aliens any vessel within the territorial waters of the United States and any railway car, aircraft, conveyance, or vehicle, and within a distance of twenty-five miles from any such external boundary to have access to private lands, but not dwellings, for the purpose of patrolling the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United States;

They do not have that same authority on federal lands. For instance, the Wilderness Act of 1964 states, “there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within any such area.”

The Border Patrol, or any other federal, state or local law enforcement entity may only enter these areas on foot or horseback.

Thanks to Senators Udall & Heinrich, we just this year had 280,000 acres, in Dona Ana County on or near the border, designated as wilderness. This is a great gift to the cartels.

For an example of what occurs in wildlife refuges, here is an excerpt from a column by Steve Wilmeth that outlines a series of letters from the USFWS regional director Benjamin Tuttle in Albuquerque to the Border Patrol, or CBP as it is now called:

The first letter stamped April 30, 2009, by the Congressional Committee reviewing the letter, Dr. Tuggle put Chief Gilbert on notice that the CBP request for reason of need for entry into the refuge for issues other than “non-emergency operational access” would not be automatic.  USFWS needed to know what is meant by access other than human emergency.

    In the second letter stamped May 29, Dr. Tuggle initiated the step wise protocol for CBP access.  He informed CBP of the administrative roads that will be allowed for only the purposes of human emergency and demands a report within 24 hours if CBP even enters the refuge.  He then declared that CBP will be audited.  “Should the predominance of these instances of vehicular access to the Refuge not constitute true emergency incidents, the Service will suspend CBP access.”

    In the third letter stamped October 23, effectivelyTuggle warned that if CBP does not comply with his protocol he would disallow entry and access would henceforth take place only by special use permit.  He also warned that if an endangered species is affected by the human emergency entries “consultation is not required to address the emergency itself; Rather, consultation is conducted to address the agency response to the emergency.”

     No follow up letters were received. The long and the short of it Dr. Benjamin Tuggle set forth a protocol that allowed CBP in their refuge only on the basis of imminent human death and health matters.   If the protocol was not met, all CBP access could be withdrawn.  There was never any accommodation made for ongoing CBP motorized patrols. 

The end result of all this is even if it was BP policy to deploy more officers on or near the border, they are prevented from effectively doing so in many areas by federal law affecting federal lands.