Border Patrol Stories
Bouncing Baby
One midnight shift while I was detailed to Douglas in December 1999, I was assigned to patrol a zone north of Douglas with a group of detailers from Chula Vista and Imperial Beach. My ride that night was a Ford Expedition that had an inoperable infrared scope on the top. I asked the Inside Supervisor about getting one that worked and was told that none were available. While doing a vehicle inspection I discovered that the problem with the scope was a loose wire, which I was able to repair.
I took our small group and began working our assigned area and soon we were apprehending aliens in the brush north of Cochise Community College. We then moved further north and as it started to lightly snow, I picked up a large group in the brush off of Highway 80. As we were trying to flank the group, they started to scatter, one of the aliens (assumed to be the smuggler) pulled a baby out of the hands of another alien and threw it in the air in an attempt to distract the Agents trying to apprehend them.
Well, the tactic succeeded as the nearest Agents were concerned the baby had been injured as it was crying. The Agents along with the baby’s mother found it laying on top of a bush that had softened it fall. The baby was wrapped in a thick blanket and was unhurt. Our group continued to search and rounded up around fifty aliens, but were unable to identify the smuggler/guide. I called for transport and our group went into process. The Inside Supervisor was not happy expecting the “detailers” not to catch any groups, but did not make an issue of it.
I took our small group and began working our assigned area and soon we were apprehending aliens in the brush north of Cochise Community College. We then moved further north and as it started to lightly snow, I picked up a large group in the brush off of Highway 80. As we were trying to flank the group, they started to scatter, one of the aliens (assumed to be the smuggler) pulled a baby out of the hands of another alien and threw it in the air in an attempt to distract the Agents trying to apprehend them.
Well, the tactic succeeded as the nearest Agents were concerned the baby had been injured as it was crying. The Agents along with the baby’s mother found it laying on top of a bush that had softened it fall. The baby was wrapped in a thick blanket and was unhurt. Our group continued to search and rounded up around fifty aliens, but were unable to identify the smuggler/guide. I called for transport and our group went into process. The Inside Supervisor was not happy expecting the “detailers” not to catch any groups, but did not make an issue of it.
Bouncing Baby
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