Border Agents Training on Location

ARTESIA, N.M. — A class of 48 aspiring Border Patrol agents on Thursday became the first to begin training at an academy close to the U.S.-Mexico border that they will soon be charged with protecting.

For years, new agents have trained in Glynco, Ga., and Charleston, S.C. Consolidating training at the federal law enforcement center about 80 miles north of New Mexico’s border with Texas gives trainees a chance to learn in a Southwestern environment akin to the one they’ll be working in.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner welcomed the class Thursday and said they were “training to become modern-day centurions, charged with guarding our country from all those who seek to harm us or violate our laws -- whether they’re international terrorists or drug smugglers, illegal entrants or other criminals who intend to break our nation’s laws or who are likely to commit crimes in our country.”

In an interview with Associated Press, Bonner said that Border Patrol agents no longer merely stand guard against drug smugglers or migrants in search of work. They are a critical line of defense in U.S. efforts to repel terrorists, he said.

“The reality is that we need to do our traditional mission even better -- and that is the ability to detect people coming across our border unlawfully -- to make sure we are in a position to prevent potential terrorist operatives from entering our country,” he said.

During the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, agents made more than 1.1 million undocumented-immigrant arrests, up from more than 931,000 the year before.

Up until now, the Artesia center provided only advanced training to experienced Border Patrol agents. The decision to locate the Border Patrol Academy here was prompted, in part, by the remote location -- an element seen as a bonus for federal law enforcement activities.

The southeastern New Mexico locale also allows new agents “to train in an environment that’s realistic, that’s relevant to where most Border Patrol agents are assigned and stationed -- and that’s the Southwest border,” Bonner said.

For example, trainees can see firsthand how to “cut sign” -- Border Patrol lingo for tracking -- and how border checkpoints operate here, he said.

The government acquired the former Artesia Christian College campus in 1989 and started the center as an advanced training facility for federal law enforcement officers, working with dozens of federal organizations, including the FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Artesia training center and three others nationwide were moved to the Department of Homeland Security last year.