Why Was the Border Patrol created?
On May 28, 1924, the Bureau of Immigration received funding through Public Law 68-153, an approved appropriations bill (page 240), to enhance its existing "land-border patrol" functions. The Immigration Border Patrol was established using this funding, an idea that had been proposed as early as 1914 as per this document. Contrary to popular belief, no official Immigration Service documents found in the National Archives support the claim that the Border Patrol's creation was in response to the ratification of the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act, or Prohibition.
Some have suggested that the Border Patrol was established to counter the threat of German espionage during World War I. However, historical documents provide only limited evidence supporting this claim. On April 30, 1918, after having received Berkshire's Proposal to Establish an Immigration Service on the Land Boundaries a day earlier, the Commissioner-General wrote a 5-page letter to the Secretary of the Department of Labor. The letter was to provide the Secretary information should he wish to bring the matter before a cabinet meeting that was scheduled to occur that day. Further, and absent from Berkshire's proposal, the Commissioner-General provided that this initiative may be appropriate in dealing with the threat of German activity originating from Mexico:
Still, others claim that the Border Patrol was formed in response to the quota law of 1921. The 1923 Annual Reports from the Commissioner-General of the Bureau of Immigration and of the Secretary of Labor both state that border patrol is needed to prevent alien smuggling. The Bureau of Immigration's report indicates that the increase in smuggling was attributed to:
Documents have been discovered that indicate that the concept of a Border Patrol was conceived and proposed by Supervising Inspector Frank W. Berkshire in response to the growing problem of aliens circumventing the ports-of-entry and illegally entering the United States. That article describes how Frank Berkshire presented proposal after proposal to create a Border Patrol and is the genesis story of the U.S. Border Patrol. Frank Berkshire would later become one of the Chiefs of the Border Patrol, 1932-1933.
Interestingly, once created, the Border Patrol had more inspectors assigned to the northern border than to the southern border. This occurred even though the southern border had requested staffing levels three times greater than that of the northern border. On April 30, 1924, the Commissioner-General issued a memorandum to the eleven districts that were to receive funding to hire personnel to create a "land-border patrol". The districts were instructed to respond via telegram with the number of inspectors they wished to hire.
Please see this document to see the memorandum and the telegrams.
In summary, the U.S. Border Patrol was established to enforce immigration laws—not Prohibition or national security measures. Its origins trace back to Frank Berkshire’s 1918 proposals, which sought to create a dedicated enforcement unit to prevent illegal entry along the U.S. borders.
Some have suggested that the Border Patrol was established to counter the threat of German espionage during World War I. However, historical documents provide only limited evidence supporting this claim. On April 30, 1918, after having received Berkshire's Proposal to Establish an Immigration Service on the Land Boundaries a day earlier, the Commissioner-General wrote a 5-page letter to the Secretary of the Department of Labor. The letter was to provide the Secretary information should he wish to bring the matter before a cabinet meeting that was scheduled to occur that day. Further, and absent from Berkshire's proposal, the Commissioner-General provided that this initiative may be appropriate in dealing with the threat of German activity originating from Mexico:
- ...Since the United States entered the war, although every government agency has cooperated and worked the best of its ability, it has been impossible adequately to control the passage of persons back and forth across the Mexican boundary. That information of military value has constantly been carried into Mexico and that the various laws having in view the protection of the United States against the machinations of the enemy have been extensively and repeatedly violated in that quarter has been demonstrated in many ways...
Still, others claim that the Border Patrol was formed in response to the quota law of 1921. The 1923 Annual Reports from the Commissioner-General of the Bureau of Immigration and of the Secretary of Labor both state that border patrol is needed to prevent alien smuggling. The Bureau of Immigration's report indicates that the increase in smuggling was attributed to:
- ...the literacy test, an increased head tax and it extension to the peoples of foreign contiguous territory, war-time passport requirements, and finally the quota law, making a combination of restrictions which inevitably promoted the alien smuggling industry and furnished new and multiplies incentives to illegal entry.
Documents have been discovered that indicate that the concept of a Border Patrol was conceived and proposed by Supervising Inspector Frank W. Berkshire in response to the growing problem of aliens circumventing the ports-of-entry and illegally entering the United States. That article describes how Frank Berkshire presented proposal after proposal to create a Border Patrol and is the genesis story of the U.S. Border Patrol. Frank Berkshire would later become one of the Chiefs of the Border Patrol, 1932-1933.
Interestingly, once created, the Border Patrol had more inspectors assigned to the northern border than to the southern border. This occurred even though the southern border had requested staffing levels three times greater than that of the northern border. On April 30, 1924, the Commissioner-General issued a memorandum to the eleven districts that were to receive funding to hire personnel to create a "land-border patrol". The districts were instructed to respond via telegram with the number of inspectors they wished to hire.
Please see this document to see the memorandum and the telegrams.
In summary, the U.S. Border Patrol was established to enforce immigration laws—not Prohibition or national security measures. Its origins trace back to Frank Berkshire’s 1918 proposals, which sought to create a dedicated enforcement unit to prevent illegal entry along the U.S. borders.
