On the Line: Inside the U.S. Border Patrol

By Erich Krauss

Book Overview

The United States Border Patrol is much more than a glorified checkpoint force, rounding up illegal aliens and smugglers as they make their way across our northern and southern borders. In the wake of September 11, 2001, the mission of the Border Patrol has been fundamentally redefined, with emphasis shifting from stopping the flow of drugs and illegal immigration to the critical mission of protecting our vast borders from terrorist infiltration. Agents patrol some 8,000 miles of United States borderlands in helicopters, four-wheel-drive trucks, motorcycles, ATVs, and snowmobiles, as well as on horseback, by bicycle, and on foot. These dedicated men and women learn to clear buildings like the most highly skilled SWAT teams, and their knowledge of immigration law rivals that of many attorneys. The job is lonely, hard and dangerous. Agents often operate in remote areas where their backup can be hours away, forcing them to rely on their instincts and training to confront criminals, and, on many occasions, to save their own lives. Alex Pacheco knows this world intimately. His skills and knowledge are unquestioned. As a senior patrol agent responsible for hundreds of arrests each month, his reputation as a tough, straight-talking lawman is well deserved. Pacheco takes you deep inside his world, beginning with the intensive, five-month training program where you'll learn to use the tools of the Border Patrol's trade. Then you'll join Pacheco as he chases drug runners backed by the firepower of the Mexican military and faces down ruthless immigrant smugglers who mistreat and often abandon their human cargo, leaving them to die in the parched deserts of Arizona and California. You'll go undercover with the men and women of the Anti-Smuggling Units (ASU), and experience the adrenaline rush of hard-hitting raids with BORTAC, the Border Patrol Tactical Unit. Reading On the Line, you'll gain a new understanding of the dedicated and highly skilled men and women who put themselves in harm's way to protect America. Book jacket.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806525436
• ISBN13: 9780806525433
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Citadel Press
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

True professionals

The thing that surprised me about this book was how tough the training of these border agents is. Americans should know this and honor their hard work. This is a good book on a very important aspect of our nation's security after 9/11.

Couldn't put it down.

I received this book in the middle of finals and made the mistake of opening the cover. I couldn't put it down. I purchased the book to learn more about the USBP and now I want to be an Agent! The proud history of the USBP is illustrated well as is the current status of the organization. The author really seems to know what he is writing about and must've interviewed a hundred people.

A Quick Review

This is an outstanding read. At times it reads like the newspaper; at times it reads like a novel. The author(s) have done an impressive job at combining details and narrative to get information across in a very enjoyable manner.I highly recommend this book as an introduction to the life on the line of the US Border Patrol.

A masterpiece

This book is a "must have" for every Border Patrol Agent who wants to learn more about our long and proud history. I was so attracted with the material that I could not avoid reading the book twice in just a week.

A Gripping Read

I think 99% of America would be absolutly shocked to learn what's going on along our borders--illegal immigrants from countires such as Iraq paying Mexican smugglers to get them across the border, the Mexican military crossing into Arizona and Texas with narcotics, Coyote smugglers killing illegal immigrants by the dozen, drug cartels offering a $200,000 bounty to anyone who kills a border patrol agent, tunnels a half mile long shooting beneath the border, U.S ranchers arming themselves with machine guns to protect their property. The list goes on and on, and the most shocking part about it is that we seldom hear about these events in the news. Living in Southern California, I had been led to believe that Border Patrol operations such as Gatekeeper have largely stopped the flow of illegal aliens and drugs, but now I realize that they have only pushed the problem into more remote parts of the border where the news media seldom venture. The authors of this book did an excellent job at exposing the truth of what is going on in America's backyard. They interviewed what seemes to be hundreds of patrolmen, politicians, and citizens who deal with these issues on a daily basis, as well as offer a ray of hope for the border patrol under the newly created department of homeland security. Hopefully if enough people read this book, maybe politicians will stop skirting around border issues as they have for the past thirty years and make some much needed changes that will help protect the US from invasion. A MUST READ!