Border Patrol

The U.S. Border Patrol is a federal law enforcement agency in U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security. Formerly a part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), which itself was part of the Department of Justice until Immigration and Naturalization Service was decommissioned in 2003, the Border Patrol is one of the three immigration enforcement agencies in the Department of Homeland Security (the other two being Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Coast Guard, an armed service responsible for patrolling maritime borders). The acting commissioner of the U.S. Border Patrol is currently David V. Aguilar, and the current chief is Michael J. Fisher. This entry discusses the history of the Border Patrol and current issues.