Woman hidden inside dashboard.

You may ask, why would anyone take such dangerous chances to enter the United States? The reason is that many individuals long for the American dream-a decent place to live, work, and raise their family. For this reason, CBP officers must be creative and innovative when searching vehicles or other conveyances entering the U.S. Everyday, CBP officers find illegal aliens being smuggled across the border in cattle trucks, cargo containers, and packed into vans like sardines. Although the smuggling of illegal immigrants never stops, neither does the effort put forth by the CBP officers on our borders. From January 2004 to the present, CBP Border Patrol agents have apprehended more than 660,000 illegal aliens trying to enter the United States.

Man attempting to conceal himself as a carseat.

Today, CBP officers and agents are encountering immigrants coming from a variety of countries like Asia, South America, and Central America. U.S. borders have become tighter and more secure, which causes some immigrants to use other methods to cross the border and fall prey to the people smugglers or "coyotes" as they are called. Since the immigrants usually outnumber the coyotes this makes the business very profitable. The current cost for illegal entry can be between $1,500 to $2,500 per person. Immigrants usually contract with a smuggler to assist with the border crossing itself, and to provide them with a safe house and necessary transportation along the way. These safe houses are known in Arizona as "drop houses," one of the last stops that immigrants make when they are smuggled into the country.

The United States may seem like a gateway to a better life for some, but in these perilous times CBP can not let its guard down. The threat of a terrorist sneaking across our border is real. CBPs priority mission to protect America's borders from any illegal entry will not change as we continue to fight the war on terrorism.