Source: United States.com
EL PASO, Texas, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The Border Patrol on Sunday will begin shifting
100 agents from the Mexican border to the Canadian border for national security reasons,
a patrol spokesman said Thursday.
The temporary assignment will be reassessed in 30 days to determine whether additional
officers need to be deployed, according to Doug Mosier a patrol spokesman in the El
Paso office.
Mosier would only say the deployment was "a national security issue." Since Sept.
11, patrol agents have taken on additional duties, including airport security in some
areas of the country.
"They will be providing security, assisting with vehicle inspections, and other
duties," he said.
Mosier would not disclose how many agents would be sent from the El Paso sector,
which includes West Texas and New Mexico. He said it would not create a problem for
the sector.
"We understand the need for personnel on the northern border and we will do what
we can to support that task," he said.
The 100 agents will come from patrol sectors all along the border from Texas to
California.
The patrol reported recently that apprehensions on the U.S.-Mexico border are down
54 percent from two years ago. In the El Paso sector, they have been down 26 percent
from last fiscal year.
Mosier said officials don't know why apprehensions are down but one factor might
be the new administration of Mexican President Vicente Fox.
The patrol has more than 9,000 agents along the U.S-Mexico border and about 300
along the Canadian border.
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