History and Area of Responsibility
The Malta station was established in mid 1925 with three officers assigned. In February 1926 two officers were stationed in Malta. The number of officers in Malta has fluctuated from one to nine. A Border Patrol station was established at Opheim in 1925, and discontinued in the latter part of 1948 or the first part of 1949. There were also Border Patrol stations at Glasgow and Hinsdale for a number of years. The Malta station area at that time was much the same as it is now except that officers of the Opheim station worked the northeastern part of the present area. For many years the on-duty force at the Malta station numbered three men, one Patrol Agent in Charge and. two Patrol Agents. In 1973 the complement became two Patrol Agents, and the station was placed under the supervision of the Havre station Patrol Agent in Charge thus establishing Malta as a sub-station of the Havre station. In December 2003 position enhancements provided a staffing level of one Supervisor and eight Border Patrol Agents.

Through the years the location of the Border Patrol office has changed numerous times. It has been located in the homes of the Patrol Agents, in local office buildings, and 1959 the Border Patrol moved to the Malta City Hall, located in the center of the business district in downtown Malta where in remained until 1984 when it was moved to a one room office in the district BLM office on the east side of Malta. In December of 1994 it moved to the Department of Agriculture building. It remained there until the present facility on U.S. Highway 2 was built, which was occupied in November 2005.

The Malta Border Patrol station area covers approximately 15,400 square miles of north central Montana, with 91miles of the International Boundary. Malta the Phillips County Seat is located on U.S. Highway 2 at the junction of Montana Highway 191, about 88 miles east of Sector Headquarters and 54 miles south of the Port of Entry at Morgan, Montana. The following is an outline of the station boundary starting at Morgan.

The International Boundary extending to the Port of Opheim, Montana, 91 miles east of the Port of Turner, Montana, binds the station area on the north. The western boundary starts at Turner and follows State Highway 241 to Harlem, then south on Highway 66 and U.S. Highway 191 to Lewistown, then follows U.S. Highway 87 east and south to the Musselshell County line. The southern boundary is formed by the southern boundaries of Petroleum and Garfield counties. The east boundary begins at the southeast corner of Garfield County, follows the east Garfield County line north to the junction of State Highway 200 and U.S. Highway 24, then follows the highway north to the junction with U.S. Highway 2, then follows U.S. Highway 2 northwest to the junction with State Highway 24 and along this highway north to the Port of Opheim, Montana.

Malta, Montana is the ideal station site for the Malta station area as it is located at the intersection of Highways 2, the main east/west artery, and State Highway 191 leading north to the Port of Entry Morgan, Montana. North of Morgan is Swift Current, Saskatchewan, the largest Canadian city opposite this station’s area and through which runs the Trans-Canada Highway 1. U.S. Highway 191 south from Malta is also important, as it is the only north/south road in the station area to cross the Missouri River. Malta is centrally located for the prevention of illegal entry across the International Boundary between the Ports of Entry located at Turner and Opheim, Montana. Illegal entry from Canada by vehicle can be made throughout a large portion of the border area. U. S. Highway 2 carries a large volume of alien traffic. This highway also carries Canadian traffic destined from eastern to western Canadian provinces and vice versa, as well as alien traffic destined for the interior of the United States.

With the enactment of The Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico, the Port of Entry at Morgan is rapidly becoming a major commercial truck Port. The route through Malta provides a direct route from Canada to Billings, MT, the largest Montana city, to Interstate 25, which exits the U.S. at El Paso, Texas, and enters Mexico at Ciudad Juarez.