In the United States, who’s job is it-legally-to protect the borders?
I was reading an article earlier tonight on how Arizona and New Mexico declared a state of emergency to free up funds for border security, and how Texas has not and is instead waiting for Federal funds to come.
One of the Sheriffs quoted said that he’s waiting for both State and Federal funds to come in to help him patrol the border.
So I was curious, legally who’s responsibility is it to protect the US borders from illegal immigration? I’d always assumed it was federal since Border Patrols are federal employees, but it would seem the States along the border (in this case w/ Mexico) are devoting a good amount of money to it as well.
And for my sub-question:
Does anyone know the proportion of border security funds the Feds pay as compared to the States? IE, how much of the US/Mexico border in Texas is funded by Federal funds vs. State funds?
I seem to recall that in Texas, the Texas Rangers (the law enforcement agency, not the baseball team) have some border patrol duties, but since there’s not many of them (the roster is set at something in the neighborhood of just over 100 Rangers total, IIRC) this is probably not something that occupies large portions of any individual Ranger’s time on a regular basis. State troopers and local police along the border would also probably have some border patrol-related duties.
In theory, the National Guard (and maybe the State Guard, in the states that have it) might also get involved if a state of emergency were declared, but this wouldn’t be very likely to happen (for one thing, National Guardsmen tend to have full-time jobs other than soldiering, so a Governor would have to think long and hard about calling them up for potentially long-term work).
Enforcing immigration law and defending the border against unauthorized entry is strictly a federal responsibility. That being said, illegal immigration inevitably creates some costs for state and local governments on the border. Many illegal immigrants get picked up by local PDs for assorted criminal acts and have to be held at the locals’ expense until the Border Patrol comes to get them. Also, local emergency rooms have to provide care for undocumented aliens and often have no way of getting reimbursed.
The states of emergency that were declared in New Mexico and Arizona were state measures designed to allow border counties to tap into state disaster funds. They are mostly to help recompense border counties for some of these costs.
Yes. Also, at the federal level is CPB - Customs and Border Protection. They have some boats, but operate very near shore whereas the Coast Guard will operate further offshore. Sometimes right up to another nation’s territorial sea when conducting AMIO ops. (Alien Migrant Interdiction Operations)