ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Beyond the horizon of New York waterways is the reason the U.S. Border Patrol came to be.

“As a border patrol agent, we are tasked to protect, to secure our borders in between the ports of entry and whatever comes in," said agent Juan Ramirez Jr, the patrol agent in charge of the Rochester border patrol station. "It’s open, right? You can be dealing with any kind of [threat]. And the threat is always evolving, [either] today or a hundred years ago. And we’ll see a week from now that it will keep evolving."

What You Need To Know

  • The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibited the importation, transport, manufacture or sale of alcoholic beverages went into effect at midnight on Jan. 16, 1920
  • With the passage of this constitutional amendment and the numerical limits placed on immigration to the United States by the Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924, border enforcement received renewed attention from the government
  • The U.S. Border Patrol was created on May 28, 1928 
  • Its original focus was more centered around rum smuggling during Prohibition with 450 agents around the country, now its developed around border security with more than 20,000 agents
  • Celebrating its centennial this year, Agent Juan Ramirez reflects on the differences in service within the century, and remembers the line of duty deaths that took place during that time

The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibited the importation, transport, manufacture or sale of alcoholic beverages went into effect at midnight on Jan. 16, 1920. With the passage of this constitutional amendment and the numerical limits placed on immigration to the United States by the Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924, border enforcement received renewed attention from the government. These events set the wheels of change into motion. On May 28, 1924, Congress passed the Labor Appropriation Act of 1924, officially establishing the U.S. Border Patrol.

“At that time, we had the prohibition, right?" Ramirez said. "So rum smuggling was big. And we had the methods, if you think about it, they’re consistent right to what we see today. But yes, rum smuggling was something that happened at that time. Now, the threats have evolved, have changed and, but the methods and all of the remains consistent throughout our history."

The agency has been evolving ever since. Tuesday they celebrated privately, and Wednesday the Rochester station hosted a recognition ceremony in honor of its centennial. The station in Rochester is also celebrating 20 years of service this year.

“We were born in the May 28, 1924," Ramirez said. "And during these hundred years, there has been an enormous change that we have [seen], from 450 inspectors to close to 20,000 agents. It has been exponentially grown. The technology has [gone] from horses [to] now we have drones, we have units [and] vessels. So we have a completely different environment. But I feel very happy about this. And tell you I look forward to the next hundred years. The Rochester station is 20 years this year. So we’re also very excited to be 20 years within the Rochester area and continue to look forward to continue to have a presence here in this area.”

It’s been a century of success, but not without sacrifice. Officers and the community also took moments to recognize more than one hundred line of duty deaths that have taken place across the country since the agency’s development. Several had ties to New York state.

“When we put on the uniform and we wear the badge, we accept the responsibility that you don’t know if we make it at the end of the day, but we truly accept that,” he said.

The agency continues its dedication to the work by working in honor of their legacy.

“We’re very excited for the next hundred years," Ramirez said. "And I may not be here by then, but I definitely will continue to push our strategic objectives in that and making sure we secure all right and continue to work with our partners and our community to continue to provide border security to our nation. The border patrol stands ready to assist any partner, we’re really here. There’s no way we can achieve our border security mission by ourselves. We need our partners. We need our community. We need our elected officials. It’s really a big approach to how to address reform.”