Press Herald by Rachel Ohm 8/25/2019
Jason Owens, the state’s chief U.S. Border Patrol agent, comes from Laredo, Texas – a station at the center of the migrant crisis at the southern border. Managing Maine’s vast Houlton Sector isn’t about fear or bigotry, he says. It’s about keeping Americans safe. HOULTON — Take a scroll through the official Twitter page for the new chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol in Maine and you’ll find frequent references to crimes by undocumented immigrants and #BuildTheWall.
Jason Owens, who took over as chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol in Maine in February, said the posts aren’t meant to drum up fear or paint an inaccurate picture of immigrants as criminals.
Instead, he says, they go back to the border patrol’s overall mission: to stop people from coming into the country who want to do it harm.
“The point is to educate folks and to say there are a large number of people simply seeking a better way of life, but that’s not the entirety of the population, and that’s why we’re here,†he said.
The philosophy is part of a larger vision Owens has as the new leader for the border patrol in what the agency designates as the Houlton Sector, one of 20 border patrol regions in the country.
It includes all of Maine and 611 miles of U.S.-Canada border running from the New Hampshire state line to a point in between Lubec and Canada’s Grand Manan Island.
The sector is also part of a larger agency that in recent months has been in the national spotlight because of President Trump’s proposed reforms aimed at combating illegal immigration and a humanitarian crisis as record numbers of families try to enter the U.S.
The southwest border has seen a spike in apprehensions of undocumented immigrants this year, totaling 760,370 so far compared with 479,371 total in 2014 – the next highest number in the last seven years, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.
And the new chief in Maine comes from the Laredo Sector, which encompasses more than 100,000 square miles in northeast and southwest Texas, and has been at the forefront of responding to the new migrants.
He now finds himself in rural Maine, surrounded by potato fields and snow, and in charge of an area that last year had 52 apprehensions of undocumented immigrants compared with Laredo’s 32,641.
More:
https://www.pressherald.com/2019/08/25/new-border-patrol-chief-explains-why-he-uses-buildthewall-and-what-his-plans-are-for-maine/
