Border Patrol: Shifting Borders, Expanding Powers
What's actually happening: A Border Patrol agent shot a person in New Hampshire, a state far from the U.S.-Mexico border. This incident is not an isolated anomaly. It reveals how an agency designed for specific geographical constraints has steadily expanded its operational reach deep into the American interior, often with little public scrutiny or localized consent. The Border Patrol, established
in 1924, derives much of its federal grant-in-aid funding from a mandate to operate within 100 air miles of any land or coastal border, encompassing two-thirds of the U.S. population and major cities like New York City and Chicago. This expansive jurisdiction allows agents to conduct checkpoints and question individuals hundreds of miles from the actual border, as demonstrated by the approximately
34,700 apprehensions made by Customs and Border Protection nationwide in April 2024 alone, many occurring far from the immediate border. The financial incentives driving this domestic expansion are significant. Federal budget allocations for Customs and Border Protection have consistently increased, reaching over $18 billion in 2023, funneling resources into a broad range of activities and
technologies that extend far beyond border-adjacent regions. This unchecked growth permits agents, originally tasked with border integrity, to engage in activities typically reserved for local law enforcement, but without the same levels of accountability or community oversight. The killing of Marcelino Serna, a U.S. citizen assisting the military against Pancho Villa in 1917, by Border Patrol