Has Obama pulled the BP back in West Texas?

[VMI77]

Two years ago traveling around West Texas we saw the Border Patrol everywhere, with the presence somewhat proportional to proximity with the border. On our current trip the Border Patrol is practically invisible. The checkpoints south of Alpine, Marathon, and Marfa are there, but traveling around through Sanderson, Marathon, Marfa, Presidio, Lajitas, Terlingua, Big Bend, and and Alpine, we've seen a total of two Border Patrol vehicles. Any West Texas members seeing this?

[Nicolai]

Drove to Palm Desert, CA, and back in Jan 11 and LEO were everywhere. Saw lots of BP along I-10 and lots of AZ LEO--Highway Patrol and Pinal and Maricopa County Sheriff's Departments in particular. Drove to Phoenix and back in late Nov 11 and saw lots of BP and other LEO, only less than what we had seen in Jan. Nothing scientific, just an observation.

[CC Italian]

Don't live out in west Texas but I frequently go out to Davis Mountains about 4 times a year to hike and border patrol was everywhere when I went 3 months ago. Also I was down in the valley (Kingsville south to McAllen) a few days ago and they were everywhere also.

[TXCO]

Just got back from a trip to Tucson, AZ on the 22nd of December. Saw many BP units in Texas and New Mexico, not so much in Arizona.

[atticus]

I live in far west Texas. The BP has ceded all of the area south of I-10 from just east of El Paso to the Big Bend. You can get this straight from the local sheriffs of the border counties. To say they are frustrated is to put it mildly. When I say "ceded all the area," I mean that the BP no longer actively covers the river and area north of it; instead, they work from I-10 on the theory that only the serious bad guys will be wanting to go north from there. That's the Border Patrol setting out their priorities. It's not a serious attempt to control the border. Not even close. Local law enforcement (non-border patrol) has been apprehending OTMs on I-10 and I-20 for well over 10 years. "OTM" is their term for "other than mexicans," such as Chinese, central Americans, middle-easterners, Africans, eastern Europeans and such. LOTS of OTMs have been getting through the tight Border Patrol sieve for years. A tight, tight sieve. Just ask Janet Napolitano. It's a very safe border. She said so. So it must be so.

[74novaman]

I live in far west Texas. The BP has ceded all of the area south of I-10 from just east of El Paso to the Big Bend. You can get this straight from the local sheriffs of the border counties. To say they are frustrated is to put it mildly. When I say "ceded all the area," I mean that the BP no longer actively covers the river and area north of it; instead, they work from I-10 on the theory that only the serious bad guys will be wanting to go north from there. That's the Border Patrol setting out their priorities. It's not a serious attempt to control the border.

Wow. Stay safe out there, border members.

[VMI77]

I live in far west Texas. The BP has ceded all of the area south of I-10 from just east of El Paso to the Big Bend. You can get this straight from the local sheriffs of the border counties. To say they are frustrated is to put it mildly. When I say "ceded all the area," I mean that the BP no longer actively covers the river and area north of it; instead, they work from I-10 on the theory that only the serious bad guys will be wanting to go north from there. That's the Border Patrol setting out their priorities. It's not a serious attempt to control the border. Not even close. Local law enforcement (non-border patrol) has been apprehending OTMs on I-10 and I-20 for well over 10 years. "OTM" is their term for "other than mexicans," such as Chinese, central Americans, middle-easterners, Africans, eastern Europeans and such. LOTS of OTMs have been getting through the tight Border Patrol sieve for years. A tight, tight sieve. Just ask Janet Napolitano. It's a very safe border. She said so. So it must be so.

That assessment definitely fits with my observations. I saw exactly two BP vehicles anywhere south of I-10. I saw the Brewster County Sheriff Dept. several times during a four day period and not a single BP vehicle (not counting those parked inside secure lots in places like Sanderson). I didn't see a single BP vehicle anywhere along the river in the Lajitas area or in Big Bend. And btw, the sandy areas along the river around Lajitas were saturated with footprints. When we were in the area a couple years ago we saw the BP everywhere we went, including air patrols in the Sanderson area.