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 Overview
(01/15/2008)History
As early as 1904, a small group of mounted Patrol Inspectors, later known as mounted guards, had operational headquarters at El Paso, Texas. They patrolled the Mexican border near El Paso on horseback to curb the flow of illegal Chinese aliens. The area of operation was later extended to include New Mexico and Arizona.The El Paso Border Patrol Sector was established on July 1, 1924, under the authority of the Immigration Act approved by Congress on May 28, 1924. This Act created the Border Patrol as a uniformed law enforcement branch of the Immigration Bureau. The original El Paso Sector encompassed New Mexico and the three western counties of Texas. The first officers selected for the new Border Patrol came from the old mounted guards and Civil Services Register for Railway Mail Clerks.The newly organized El Paso Border Patrol Station was assigned 25 Patrol Inspectors. Liquor smuggling from Mexico was a thriving industry and well organized, providing a means of considerable profit for illegal aliens entering the United States carrying a load of contraband.As Border Patrolmen attempted to apprehend the smugglers, gunfights soon began to break out. Many bloody battles were fought in and around El Paso. Newspaper files indicate that not one 24-hour period passed in the month of February 1927 without a report of gun fighting along the border. The newly established Border Patrol built a reputation of winning most of the gun battles.After the establishment of the El Paso Station, almost immediately a need was seen to have officers at outlying locations. Other stations opened within the sector and some were temporarily closed during the depression years for budgetary reasons.Area of Responsibility
Today, the El Paso Sector is one of nine Border Patrol Sectors that run along the Southwest Border of the United States with Mexico. The sector is comprised of eleven stations and covers the geographical region of the entire state of New Mexico as well as two counties within far west Texas.The stations that make up the El Paso sector are:- Alamogordo, New Mexico
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Deming, New Mexico
- El Paso, Texas
- Fabens, Texas
- Fort Hancock, Texas
- Las Cruces, New Mexico
- Lordsburg, New Mexico
- Santa Teresa, New Mexico
- Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
- Ysleta, Texas
The El Paso Sector employs approximately 2,400 Border Patrol Agent positions, six permanent vehicle checkpoints and patrols 268 miles of international border. The sector encompasses 125,500 square miles. |
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