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 News from Around the Americas | March 2008 
US Border Patrol Ranks Swell in Fight Against Terror, Illegal Immigration
 Nate Carlisle - Salt Lake Tribune
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| | U.S. Border Patrol agents Francisco Silva, center, and David Fuentes, in background, talk to students at the University of Utah during a job fair Wednesday. Recruiters will be at Utah State University this week. (Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune) | | |
El Paso, Texas - The United States is breeding a new generation of border enforcers, and Utah natives like Brandon Carson are among the offspring.
Raised in Lindon, Carson left Utah law enforcement and joined Border Patrol in the midst of the agency's expansion. He has worked the international boundary with Mexico for the past 18 months, and soon he'll be a relative veteran as Border Patrol continues adding recruits by the thousands.
"I just see myself as keeping the terrorists out," Carson said, as he stood on a cliff overlooking the border and El Paso. "I'm keeping the dangerous weapons out."
While Carson acknowledged he has not found anyone he can identify as a terrorist, he still feels proud to uphold U.S. immigration laws.
Utah's contribution to the border buildup has been proportional to its population, and the state is seen as a habitat for applicants. Border Patrol recruiters were at the University of Utah on Wednesday and will be at Utah State University this week.
Border Patrol Agent Frank Silva Jr., has recruited in Utah for about three years. Silva has kept mostly to the Interstate 15 corridor, but said he recently called the Blanding Chamber of Commerce in southeast Utah to attend a career fair there.
Not being from a border state, many of the people who approach his table at career fairs, like the one Wednesday on the University of Utah campus, ask basic questions about Border Patrol.
Some want to know if patrolling takes place in Utah. Others ask if they could join and still live in Utah.
"I don't just grab people and say, 'Hey, would you be interested in this?' " Silva said. "The people who are really interested do their research and seek us out."
Carson said he was interested in Border Patrol before ever speaking with a recruiter. He comes from a family of law enforcers: His uncles and a brother work for Utah Adult Probation and Parole, and Carson joined the department, too. He worked at a halfway house, then helped apprehend fugitives. But Carson also had an interest in joining federal law enforcement.
A brother served a mission along the U.S.-Mexican border for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and came to know some Border Patrol agents. When Carson heard from his brother how much the agents liked their jobs, he decided to apply to Border Patrol, too. Carson reported for duty July 31, 2006.
Since leaving the Border Patrol's academy, Carson has been stationed in El Paso, driving a pickup through a 17-mile beat that includes the city limits and the open west Texas desert.
About half his area is fenced. The Rio Grande runs through his beat, but the river is dry much of the year and of little consequence to someone wanting to cross the border.
Depending on where migrants try to enter, Carson could track them across sagebrush or through residential neighborhoods. The first time Carson apprehended undocumented immigrants it was while helping another agent during a night shift.
The two agents found footprints leading north and followed them. They eventually found a group of 10 to 15 people, told them to stop, then walked them in a line back to their truck.
"My heart rate went up a little bit," Carson said. "It was my first apprehension."
Starting salary for a Border Patrol agent is about $35,000 a year. Most agents have the chance to double that amount by working overtime, night shifts and holidays.
A college degree is not required, nor is prior fluency in Spanish. Carson said he has not finished a degree from Columbia College in Salt Lake City, and he is learning Spanish.
Some Utahns question the way the border has been enhanced, said Silva. A few weeks ago at a fair at Weber State University, a young woman approached him and said she dislikes the idea of building a fence along the Mexican border.
"There are people who don't like us," Silva said.
Carson said he wants to make a career in Border Patrol but not necessarily on the Mexican boundary. He would like to work on the Canadian border one day, in part, because the climate and terrain there is more like his home in Utah.
"I'm all for immigration," Carson said. "You've just got to do it legally. I don't ever question my job or the reasons behind it."
ncarlisle(at)sltrib.com |
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