Border Patrol Foundation helps families of agents lost in line of duty.
By Nelson Balido
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas News that we
lost Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Ivie in the line of duty last week was a punch in the gut to any of us who monitor border security issues. The loss of anyone who takes the solemn oath to patrol our borders and secure our ports is felt all along our shared borders from Washington to Maine
San Diego to Brownsville.
Theres very little anyone can say to ease the pain that the men and women of the Border Patrol and Agent Ivies family are feeling right now. Even the best border security strategy cant guarantee that there wont be terrible days like the one last week in Naco Arizona.
Ive had the immense privilege on numerous occasions in my career to ride along with Border Patrol agents as they spend an evening waiting and watching not knowing if the next call over the radio is to assist a wayward group of crossers struggling in the desert heat or to engage armed and dangerous drug runners.
Their commitment to excellence and professionalism in either case is inspiring.
While I lead a group that is foremost a border trade advocacy organization (
the Border Trade Alliance) in todays border environment its impossible to separate the critical importance of security and the role of the Border Patrol in the trade discussion.
After all if policymakers in Washington are hearing from their constituents that the border isnt secure then even the most persuasive lobbyist will face a struggle to get Congress to pay attention to a trade agenda.
Our Border Patrol agents are oftentimes our last line of defense on the frontier against those with ill intent. We can help our agents in the field who put themselves in harms way by ensuring that they have the tools they need to do their jobs safely and effectively.
In the fall of 2010 I gained permission to visit the Border Patrol sector headquarters in Tucson for a special meeting with agents for a presentation on
SBInet or the Secure Border Initiative-net the technological security suite of cameras sensors and integrated fixed towers that were often referred to as the virtual fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Back then controversy over SBInet was at a fever pitch with Department of Homeland Security officials and individuals on Capitol Hill deriding the program as ineffective and wasteful. It was clear that the program was struggling to restore its reputation as sources named and unnamed were questioning the programs effectiveness based on faulty or outdated information.
To my dismay most often the people writing about the program had never visited southern Arizona but instead parroted someone elses opinion resulting in what could have been a journalism students perfect case study on circular reporting. In January 2011 SBInet was canceled with over a half-billion dollars spent. No visit from the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection or from the secretary of Homeland Security to see the program in
action; just canceled.
But sitting in that briefing room with the agents and two Arizona state lawmakers that day I was struck by the agents desire for more tools in their enforcement toolbox.
We watched video footage of illegal border crossers that was captured by a remote camera and then beamed back to staff at a secure location. When I asked the presenting agent about his impression of the technology he said that the system worked: it helped his men do their jobs and come home safe. For him that was all that mattered knowing that the agents he was sending out on a mission would be coming home safe that night to their families.
The debate playing out in Washington D.C. between DHS and the system contractor was far away from the daily struggles agents face along the border every day.
My expectation is that there will be plenty of opportunity in the next Congress to urge lawmakers and the administration to adopt a border security strategy that staffs our borders and ports adequately outfits the men and women of the Border Patrol and CBP with the equipment and proven technology they need to do their jobs and increases the security of the homeland all while creating an environment where trade and commerce can thrive.
Theres a legitimate debate to be had over funding levels where appropriations should be directed and the types of technologies that should be procured and strategies employed. But thats for later.
Today I would urge you to make a donation to my good friends at the
Border Patrol Foundation a group that provides assistance to the families of Border Patrol agents whose lives were lost in the line of duty.
The foundations work is incredibly important and a constant reminder that we are blessed by those along our
borders who wear the green and those at our ports who wear the blue.
Nelson Balido is the president of the Border Trade Alliance. The BTA is the borders voice in Washington D.C. If your company or community isnt already a member we urge you to join us as together we work to promote policies that encourage cross-border trade travel & security.
