The United States Border Patrol (USBP) is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and is responsible for securing the borders of the United States. According to its web site in 2022, its mission is to "Protect the American people, safeguard our borders, and enhance the nation’s economic prosperity."
Border Patrol Agents with a Hummer and Astar patrol for illegal entry into the United States
Patrolling the beach in San Diego County, California
An agent armed with an M14 rifle tracking someone in harsh winter conditions on the northern border.
Border crossing to Canada at Beebe Plain, Vermont
The Mexico–United States border is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. The Mexico–U.S. border is the most frequently crossed border in the world with approximately 350 million documented crossings annually. It is the tenth-longest border between two countries in the world.
The vast majority of the current border was decided after the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). Most of the border is settled on the Rio Grande River on the border of Texas and northeastern Mexico. To the left lies San Diego, California and on the right is Tijuana, Baja California. The building in the foreground on the San Diego side is a sewage treatment plant built to clean the Tijuana River.
U.S. Border Patrol at Algodones Sand Dunes, California. The fence on the U.S.–Mexican border is a special construction of narrow, 4.6 m (15 ft) tall elements, that are movable vertically. This way, they can be lifted on top of the ever shifting sand dunes.
Border Patrol patrolling the Rio Grande in an airboat in Laredo, Texas
The start of the border fence in the state of New Mexico – just west of El Paso, Texas