ABSTRACT
Mexicans and their progeny in the United States, who cut their teeth on Anglo skulduggery, know a thing or two about the border patrol, today part and parcel of life on the borderlands. Mexicans allude to the agency as la migra. For Mexicans, la migra is an unflattering reminder of how their Anglo neighbors look upon them. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), an agency of the Department of Justice, it was the watchdog at the border and, for some Anglo-Americans, the guardian of American culture. Conflicts also flare up between the INS and the US Customs Agency, the other bureau on the border. The border patrol works closely with the Drug Enforcement Agency. The border patrol annually apprehends over 1 million people trying to enter illegally; of that total, 95 percent come from Mexico. San Diego, Nogales, El Paso, and the Lower Rio Grande account for a majority of the detentions.
