Maximum Riot Control
U.S. Border Patrol In ACTION with the multi-projectile FN-303 Launcher System.
When I joined the Border Patrol a quarter of a century ago, I was stationed in New Mexico, along our boundary with Chihuahua, Mexico. Back then, I’d hear about some of the goings-on with illegal aliens over in the El Paso, TX sector and I’d often remark that over in our territory we had a “better class of illegal’s.” That was pretty much the case. Mexico at that time was still largely an agrarian society and the vast majority of “alambristas” that came across the fence on the rural border were farmers looking for agricultural or manual labor-type jobs. They were by and large a rather peaceable, stoic, group of people and rarely gave a Border Patrol agent any trouble. It wasn’t unusual to apprehend groups of them single-handedly. On one occasion, I filled my Suburban to the max with aliens at a windmill “watering hole” and the fan belt went.
It so happened I was in a radio dead spot. Fortunately a couple of the aliens gave me a hand and we got the engine running. They climbed back in the truck for a ride to the border station to be deported.
Changing World And Tactics
Fast-forward to 2008. The demographics are changing rapidly and Mexico/Central America, like the U.S. some 100 years ago, is more urbanized. Consequently, most illegal aliens crossing the border are no longer farmers, but more likely to be city born and bred with street smarts and attitude. Some are associated with street gangs where violence is a way of life. Simply escaping apprehension by the Border Patrol has been replaced with outright resistance. Agents patrolling the border today are often targets of rocks, bottles and other dangerous missiles hurled at them as they try to perform their duties. It’s no wonder that from early 2000 to mid-2008, 17 patrol agents have lost their lives in the line of duty. In early 2008, one BP agent was run over in the southern California desert as he attempted to stop fleeing drug smugglers.
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