ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For 100 years, the U.S. Border Patrol has been securing the border by air, rail and water transportation.
“We got some sunshine in between the storm this morning, the storm is supposed to come this afternoon,” Jeff Schmitz said.
He’s been a border patrol agent for 15 years. The career brought him to the Southern border, and up to Maine, before it led him back home to Western New York.
“We’re approximately 21 miles from the border. It’s about 42 miles to Canada from this area,” he showed.
The Rochester station covers approximately 52 linear miles on Lake Ontario. The agency is known for protecting the nation’s border from illegal travel, trade and revenue. Although, at times, it can be a mighty task out on the water.
“Our goal as an organization is to protect America by securing our borders. So, our responsibility is protecting America between ports of entry, illegal migration, or irregular migration happens between the ports of entry, right? So there is that is our job to do every day,” explained Juan Ramirez, patrol agent in charge.
“The big thing we do is looking for our international, boat, boaters is just making sure that they’re using the appropriate measures to check-in to the United States when they make entry, like you would at a port of entry,” he said.
Schmitz says he often looks for a range of things that could indicate something is off. It could be a marker on the boat that indicates the vessel’s home dock is another waterway away.
“Things we’re looking for when we’re running the river, specifically, is things that are out of place. Rochester is a port that’s used for a lot of transient vessels coming across Lake Ontario between Buffalo, Niagara region and Thousand Islands. So, a lot of the, once in a while we’ll get some Canadian vessels that stop in Rochester for the night, that kind of dock up,” Schmitz explained, “If you look at the back of the boats, it determines the length of the boat is what they’re required to have placard around there when everybody has their names on their boats and typically their one ports.”
Based on his years of experience, it’s often an intuition, or a gut feeling, that something may be a security threat. However, there’s also things that everyone can keep an eye out for.
“It’s very easy for even jet skis, small boats to get right up to shore. So if somebody wants to smuggle, human smuggling, narcotics, smuggle whatever they want to come across it, there’s a lot of places where it’s easy to do so that we have to just kind of monitor traffic in and out and just make sure that, our mission is handled as safely as we can do it,” Schmitz advised. “When we go out in the field for a day, we don’t know what we’ll encounter. We don’t know what we’re looking for. Just when something feels fishy, we check it out. Most of it is legitimate. But if, you know, it’s kind of like using your intuition. Like a lot of it, you know we use our training experience and our intuition that if something is out of place, we gotta check it out and further investigate it. But every day is a challenge because we don’t know what we’re going towels into and what it is. It could be nothing. And some days are chaotic, but that’s just the nature of law enforcement. It’s very unpredictable.”
A successful tool for the agency: the CBP ROAM application. It’s a free mobile application that provides an option for pleasure boaters to report their U.S. entry to CBP via their personal smart device or a tablet located at local businesses to satisfy reporting requirements.
“We have a vast amount of different resources that definitely depending on the terrain and the requirements that we have because it varies depending on the location. It definitely helps us even forces, right? It helps to get our job done,” Ramirez said.
“A lot of people know the boating rules, that they know the rules for crossing the border. It’s just how they apply them on the water. So we’re just out verifying that everybody’s doing the right thing,” Schmitz said.
Still, Border Patrol monitors its ways of transportation every day.
“Without being out on the big lake, we can watch the small marines and the ports of entry, or like the small ports in off the lake and just kind of monitor traffic and, you know, gather any intelligence that we can gather, just be there for, like I said, pubic safety is our number one priority on top of national security,” he said.
The Buffalo Sector often focuses on the Northern border, despite the team collaboration across the nation between border patrol agents and other law enforcement partners.
“The big thing is, if it’s a Canadian boat in American waters, they are susceptible to the customs law, which gives us the authority to check documents. Documentation checks are our one biggest authority on the lakes,” Schmitz explained, “We’re not out there to, you know, we’re not interrogating them. We’re questioning them. And if we need to ask some follow-up questions, we’ll ask follow-up questions. But a lot of times everybody’s in compliance. And if they have questions, we’ll be happy to answer them.”
A key skill to success on the job is a border patrol agent’s knowledge of the area. Being familiar with the area helps them spot if something seems out of place.
“The biggest thing for us too is our local area knowledge. You know, we, we come out here and train every day and, you know, we’re just observing the coastline. We’re observing marks in the water because we need to be subject matter experts of this area that we work,” he explained, “We need to be masters of our area, and just coming out and having our area knowledge of where all the assets are, where all the safety points are, any spot, there’s a dock, a Marina, a boat ramp, something where, if we have to bring an injured person to an ambulance that we can call out and say, hey, meet us at this Marina because it’s the closest place we just have to kind of know all these areas and know the trends and effectively get to that stuff that here’s one.”
The Rochester Border Patrol Station is supported by the Buffalo Sector of The U.S. Border Patrol and is often supported by its law enforcement partners.
“At any given time there’s five law enforcement agencies, plus the Rochester Fire Department, on the water. Department of Environmental Conservation, Office of Air and Marine, Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, the Border Patrol and the Coast Guard are all here in the Port of Rochester area. So anytime there is distress, anytime there is something going on on the water that needs to be addressed. You know, there’s at least somebody on the water or near the water that can rapidly deploy any emergency situation that we would have to respond to,” Schmitz explained. “Public safety is our number one responsibility when we’re out here in an inherently dangerous environment. It’s supposed to be fun, but on a Saturday in the summer, there’s hundreds, if not thousands of boats in and out of this river every day. And what can happen in a hurry and just making a, having a presence really does make things safer for everybody.”
“A big thing for us is the partnerships that we have locally. The people are immense for us, right? Lake Ontario is big, very big. And we’re always looking for a needle in the haystack and that’s very difficult just doing it by ourselves. So, I think the community plays a big part in everything that we do border security-wise. And we invite everyone to definitely provide, if they see something, say something. Right? It really does matter for us,” Ramirez added.
Public safety on the water has been easier with the help of other agencies. While each may have their primary responsibilities, Schmitz says being a good mariner is helpful for everyone in keeping the community safe.
“Where the coast guard is at the end of the day, is responsible for the rescues, for the calls, for search and rescue, that kind of stuff. It doesn’t mean as a boater out there that we’re still not responsible. Chip in and help out as much as we can. It’s just good marinership, good seamanship, and good community outreach. You know, helping that one person out, they’ll never forget that,” Schmitz smiled. “We’re just out here making sure that, you know, people are kind of being safe and if we get a call for help, call for action, it just we might, you know we’re already 20 minutes closer than the coast guard being Irondequoit Bay, maybe if they’re coming out of the river. So just having our partners spread out is just help for everybody in the boating community.”
With public safety in mind, Schmitz and his colleagues prioritize their role as people in the community, in addition to their role in uniform. Much of the agency’s success, Schmitz says, comes from being a community liaison, or peace officers.
“We come out here every day, kind of make a presence. We’re part of the community. Let everybody know that we’re out there,” Schmitz shared, “Our approach is, well like I said, community liaison related. We’re only one boat on one crew with our law enforcement partners between Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, office air and marine, and the Coast Guard in Rochester. So the more friendly people that we can go and encounter and educate them on what we’re actually looking for, we have multiple sets of eyes that, you know, we can have them report suspicious activity to us.”
The community plays a big role in keeping the border safe. Although they don’t have the years of training and experience on a federal level, the community can be as much a part of the team as a Border Patrol agent.
“They might not be, you know, looking for the drug kingpins, but if they see something that’s out of place, everybody local knows what’s normal and what’s not. And if they see something that concerns them in their community, they’re going to report it to any law enforcement. So it’s just getting the information to the right places and doing the best for the community,” Schmitz said.
“So our biggest resource is the people. Then you couple up with he technology, the infrastructure, the equipment, the training, and we try to be a force that is able to address any type of threat against the United States,” Ramirez explained. “The national security does not exist without border security. So, we always, have to be flexible, you know, in everything that we do. Use information, intelligence. Definitely our biggest resources are our people, our agents. There, they’re definitely part of the community. There they take off the uniform, and they’re coaches, and they’re part of a school and, and definitely we’re part of the community.
The agency is one with many hats. Border Patrol serves as a resource for fellow mariners on the water, an extra set of eyes and helping hands.
“People don’t think about all the different duties that are involved as an agent. We’re just, you know, not going out stopping people. We do, you know, me personally, between being a marine instructor and vessel commander, I’m also a firearms instructor. I do community outreach, I do recruiting, so we, all of us as agents, wear many hats and we kind of wear them all at the same time,” Schmitz explained. “People don’t realize how diverse the job is of a Border Patrol agent. There’s no cookie-cutter way on how we do our job. We have a big, we are very fortunate to have a lot of resources, you know, to be able to get our job done. Every station in every sector. And the patrol has different, diverse conditions and different difficulties. And we just have a very broad way of being able to do our job with our resources.”
Constant training prepares them for the real risk on the water — the unknown.
“The challenges that we have right, there’s always the unknown, right? That we try to train, we try to equip, and we try to provide as best as we can to our workforce. But at the end, it’s the unknown right? That you don’t know what to expect, so that’s definitely a challenge,” Ramirez said.
“Lake Ontario is extremely dangerous out here when the winds blow in certain directions because it gets very choppy and very deep, and there’s no timing to where the waves will hit you. So if you’re going with the wind, a lot of times if it’s out of the north, going with the wind, it’s not that bad of a ride,” Schmitz explained. “Being in an environment like this and maritime anything can happen in a hurry. And you don’t have your mind right in doing the right thing safely. If you get sideways in a hurry, even with the most experience.”
A warm summer underway has already proved to be a busy one.
“Right now, we’re 23 feet deep water right now in the river. And this is a calm, controlled environment. So obviously you don’t want to put yourself or your crew or anybody at risk of ending up outside of the boat and in the water. And when it’s congested navigational rules and kind of like the rules of the road, you know, close quarter situation and risks of collision. And the big thing is out here just making sure that everybody’s doing safe, maintaining safe speeds and, knows their emergency procedures and how to give themselves out of any situation,” he said.
Communication on the water is also a tool for all law enforcement agencies on the water, as well as local boaters.
“We do have our radio communications on our secured networks. And then we have the maritime radio. The marine radio is on the Coast Guard channels, which every boat. You should have a marine radio. It’s where they can have all their safety information, all their alerts, any weather conditions, any boater safety stuff. All comes over a marine radio. So any boat on the lake, if they get in trouble, they put their information out on channel 16. And any law enforcement boat or any civilian boat can hear their traffic. And if they’re close proximity to the area, they can go and assist,” Schmitz explained, “Whether it’s disabled vessels or it could be debris in the water that could cause injury or harm. They’ll put that over the channel. And if we’re in the area, we’ll go check it out and give them a phone call, report it back so they can establish law enforcement, conclusion to any of their safety reports.”
And in worse-case scenarios, that’s where their training comes in. Border Patrol has crews out every day to maintain their training and familiarity with the area.
“Our training standards like for Border Patrol especially to be able to run the boats when border patrol like, we have, we have to maintain our currency, maintain our hours underway. We have annual training evaluations. Our crew members are constantly being evaluated,” he shared.
Another challenge that’s become more prevalent recently: drug usage behind the boating wheel.
“It’s a huge, topic of discussion because, you know, on the federal level, marijuana is still considered a scheduled drug and not considered illegal to possess and or use. And the states have gone out, you know, gone out and legalize it recreationally and medicinally. So the state says you can be in possession and federally you still cannot be in possession. So we don’t go out necessarily looking for it. Our job isn’t drug officers, but if we’re out there doing our Border Patrol mission and encounter anything that’s in violation of federal law, we have an obligation to act on it,” Schmitz added.
“We have to always be evolving as an organization and taking all the resources that we have at hand to be able to perform that job as best as we can for the security offer nation,” Ramirez explained. “We’ve been in business for 100 years as a United States Border Patrol, and, we’ve seen things evolve throughout time and this time is no different than any other time in our history that we have addressed and stepped up to our challenges that we have. I think that we’re always evolving as an organization. In five years from now, there will be a lot of differences that we’ll be having and different types of threats that we have to be in tune of.”
Overall, Schmitz’s years on the job have taught him the simplicity of being a good neighbor on the water.
“We’re out here as law enforcement, too, and we just want everybody to make it home at the end of the day and look out for your fellow boaters. You know, people might have fishing lines out. They might be towing an inner tube or something with your kids on it. Just make sure when you’re coming through these, congested areas that you’re maintaining good speed and good lookouts and not under the influence of anything,” he explained, “A lot of it is just being a good neighbor and knowing that, hey, you know, there’s somebody else out here driving and driving your boat in a way that’s just safe for everybody that doesn’t output, you know, displace any anybody who, you know, if there’s a little fishing boat around this channel, which there normally is and somebody comes flying through on place, you know, if you’re not prepared to take that wave, that’s going to hit your boat, bad things can happen. And meanwhile, the person that did it is already halfway down the lake but he time the waves get to you… Just being a good mariner and being a steward to the environment, like it’s for everybody. It’s not just for the conservation police and, you know, lea enforcement, it’s everybody’s responsibility to just maintain boater safety out here, even if you’re trying to have a little bit of fun. You’ve got to think of other people.”
To avoid a bumpy ride, keep the country safe, and have a little fun on the water.
“At the end of the day, my job is to be on a boat. Who can complain about that?” Schmitz laughed.
The United States Border Patrol is actively recruiting for new agents. The agency is currently offering a $20 to $30,000 signing bonus for new employees. For more information, click here.
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