At that time Congress made that decision, the border patrol was less than 1,000 agents. Today there are 21,000 border patrol agents. 'We are exempt from the fourth amendment,' a Customs and Border Protection official once told me“We are exempt from the fourth amendment,” a Customs and Border Protection official once told me. On top of this, Bortac, Customs and Border Protection and the patrol have long been doing operations outside of their “traditional roles”. Since 9/11, in particular, the border patrol has become a veritable “national security” police force with counter-terrorism as a priority mission.

Source: The Guardian August 08, 2020 11:03 UTC