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Border reinforced with technology, soldiers, and new walls

STRYKER AND SOLDIERS | Armored vehicle patrolling the border. (Photos/Morgan Smith)

THE CHALLENGE OF CONTROLLING ILLEGAL CROSSINGS

Morgan Smith

Correspondent in the U.S. South who has traveled the border monthly for the past 15 years.

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It’s 5:30 AM and still dark as we gather at the Sunland Park police station parking lot – Border Patrol agents, soldiers led by Major Edward Alvarado who helped make the arrangements for this border tour, several other journalists, my wife and me. Our first stop is at the border wall between Anapra, Mexico and Sunland Park. Formerly the site of numerous illegal crossings, it has now been largely shut down.

My wife and I first drove along this wall on April 19, 2019, and were astonished to see it end abruptly near the base of Monte Cristo Rey. At that time, there was still a militia group camped near the wall. A month later I observed some twelve migrants running past my car near the end of the wall. So historically it has been a high traffic area and a microcosm of border control issues.

Now there are Normandy-style barriers running up the slope of the mountain, designed to stop smaller vehicles like ATVs that can transport migrants across the rough terrain. There is also a road curving up the steep hillside which gives good visual access into the Anapra side of the mountain which allows BP agents to spot migrant groups as they are gathering for an attempt to cross into the US.

Refuerzan frontera con tecnología, soldados y nuevos muros — **STRYKER CREW** | *Soldiers assigned to border security.*

Around Monte Cristo Rey

These improvements plus the expanded use of automated surveillance towers have largely shut down illegal crossings. The next step will be to expand the wall across Monte Cristo Rey. That will be enormously expensive. The second leg of this early morning tour was to follow the border wall westward towards the Santa Teresa Port of Entry. Over time, “coyotes” have cut dozens, maybe hundreds of openings in the mesh that makes up this wall.

The time and cost involved in constant repairs must be enormous but much of the wall has been fortified now with vertical metal bollards. Nonetheless, the plan now is to build a second parallel wall; we saw the first piece of a second wall under construction close to Santa Teresa. The third stop and the main reason I had asked for this tour was to see one of the Stryker vehicles close-up and talk to the soldiers manning it.

When the private wall was built back in 2019, I met soldiers there who had been assigned from Fort Polk, Louisiana and they spoke freely about their mission. Now it’s much more restrictive; this tour would have been impossible without Major Alvarado’s support as well as that of Border Patrol agent Claudio Herrera. The Stryker was introduced in 2002 to fill a gap between the heavier but less mobile M2 Bradley Fighting vehicle and the more mobile but lightly armed Humvee.

Border Patrol morale

It was named Stryker after two soldiers who posthumously received the Medal of Honor – PFC Stuart S. Stryker in World War II and Spec. 4 Robert F. Stryker in Vietnam. Earlier this year, 2,400 troops from the 2d Stryker Brigade Combat Team in the 4^th Infantry Division were deployed from Fort Carson, Colorado to the border. There were four soldiers at the Stryker we visited, the Company Commander and three enlisted men.

Their morale was good, and they seemed to feel that their mission was important and that their working relationship with the Border Patrol excellent. In addition to this huge vehicle sitting on a hilltop near the border wall as a “show of force” as one Border Patrol agent put it, a Sergeant named Nevarez showed us two tools used for border control. One was what he called a drone buster – a device that can jam the signals of the drones that cartel members in Anapra are using to spot the locations of Border Patrol agents.

The second was a sound device that can focus sound on a particular group in Anapra, for example, to tell them that they are being observed and will be detained if they cross the wall. These seem to be useful border control tools, but the reality is that there is very little activity now. Nevarez wanted this assignment and transferred from the 82d Airborne Division, my unit from many years ago. I hope that this works out for him, that boredom doesn’t set in.

Border reinforced with technology, soldiers, and new walls

**MIGRANTS** | *In the Sunland Park area of Anapra, Mexico.*

One prediction for the future will dramatically affect border security

How did this tour affect my feelings about border control? Is this enormous military commitment warranted? What is the best and the most cost-effective way to control illegal border crossings? In 1992, there were 4,130 Border Patrol agents. That number rose to 21,441 because of a hiring surge in 2010. Many of those agents are nearing retirement age and must be considering opportunities to take retirement and go to work for another law enforcement agency with far less danger and physical stress.

The priority should be to retain as many as possible, taking advantage of their years of experience and training. The second priority ought to be to hire new Border Patrol agents; they will always be more effective than soldiers whose training is very different. Hiring more women agents is important; they only make up about 5% of the BP workforce today, compared to 21% in the US Navy. One obstacle that keeps coming up is the lengthy and oppressive lie detector test that applicants are required to take. Agent Herrera says that his lasted seven hours.

Border reinforced with technology, soldiers, and new walls

There also must be continuous technological improvements like more autonomous surveillance towers as well as repairs to the wall. Deploying soldiers, even those as well trained and enthusiastic as those we met that Wednesday, is costly but if their addition helps convince the American public that the border is under control, it may be worth the expense. The result should be a separation of those who are attempting to cross illegally from those who have followed the law by applying for asylum.

Look to the journalist, Thomas Friedman who said in an April 13, 2021, New York Times column that “We need a High Wall with a Big Gate on the Southern Border.” Showing that we have control over those who want to cross illegally should free us up to reinstitute the asylum system for those who are following the law. Yes, the asylum system does need to be reformed but isn’t that the job of a Congress that, to date, has been largely absent?