Operation Hold the Line 1993

Operation Hold the Line 1993

The image shows the U.S. Border Patrol during Operation Hold the Line in 1993. Operation Hold the Line was a preventative measure taken by the United States Border Patrol, initiated on September 19, 1993, on the United States-Mexico border in El Paso. Silvestre Reyes, who was the head of the El Paso Border Control at the time, ordered his officers to form a human and vehicle blockade along the border. There were four hundred agents and vehicles every 100 yards from one side of El Paso to the other, creating a virtual and visible human wall of enforcement, in order to prevent illegal immigration. Unlike the previous attempts, Reyes’ blockade stayed in place until the Immigration and Naturalization Service saw the success it was having and permanently funded it. It is still in effect today. The rise of illegal immigration from Mexico to the U.S. during the 1980s and 1990s was caused by the collapse of the Mexican economy due to inflation. El Paso's Border Patrol agents, which numbered 600 then, were overwhelmed by the number of migrants rushing across the border daily. The Operation was the first of its kind and represented a shift in ideology in policing illegal immigration. Previous policies focused on finding and deporting illegal immigrants who had already crossed the border. Instead, Operation Hold the Line focused on intercepting and preventing illegal entries at the border. The Operation affected El Paso and the surrounding areas instantly and in different ways: On one hand, the apprehensions in the El Paso sector dropped significantly (from about 1,500 people a day to less than 100 a day). The success of the Operation led to the introduction of legislation that focused on border security. On the other hand, the number of immigrants who die trying to cross the border has risen significantly, because they attempt to cross the border in remote desert areas, which have less security. Also, illegal immigrants, who successfully cross the border, stay in the United States longer than before, rather than risking arrest traveling back and forth from Mexico. During the first weeks of the Operation, there were protests on both sides of the border, and the Catholic bishops of Southern New Mexico, El Paso and Juárez came out against it. Hundreds of Juárez residents took part in demonstrations because they could no longer get to their jobs in El Paso. Consequently, one of the immediate effects was also that it left thousands of people from Juarez unemployed, who had been crossing the border daily for their jobs in El Paso. About a week into the operation, there was a standoff between protesters and U.S. officials at the Paso del Norte International Bridge. They threatened to pour into the north, and the Border Patrol had to shut down one side of the bridge.

Area: Central / Downtown

Source: C.L. Sonnichsen Special Collections, University of Texas at El Paso Library. Collection Name: El Paso Times 1994 Operation Hold the Line. Photo ID: PH032-9--22A-035.

Uploaded by: UTEP Library Special Collections

Comments

Add a comment
Thank you for your comment

Report this entry

Choose the most important reason for this report

Your name

Your email address

Optional detail

Thank you for your report

More from the same community-collection

High School Girls Basketball Team

The Tigers High School Girls Basketball Team known as the ...

Unknown Baseball Team

Unknown baseball team in downtown El Paso,Texas.

El Paso Baseball Team

El Paso baseball team.

John Ayoub and Salim Ayoub

John and Salim Ayoub.

Hon. Charles Davis

Mayor of El Paso, Tex., 1905-07. Burial location unknown.

President Harry Truman Visits El Paso, Texas

September 26, 1948. First person the President looked for when ...

William Yandell 1842-1900 El Paso, Texas

William Martin Yandell was born in 1842 near Murfreesboro, ...

Dr. Edward Alexander

Edward Alexander was a pioneer military surgeon in charge of the ...

Nannie, Rust Yandell, El Paso,TX circa 1895

Nannie Rust Yandell, wife of Wm. M. Yandell , El Paso, TX circa ...

Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman visits El Paso,Texas.

Post Office sorting room

Maud Doane, whose name is on the back of the photo, worked as a ...

Clerks

Maud Doane, whose name was on the back of this photographs, was ...

El Paso, Texas County Officers

These men were part of the first Commissioners' Court of El Paso ...

Tri State Accessories Corporation

Tri-State Accessories was located at 425-27 W. San Antonio. They ...

Central Hotel, 1881

The White House Department Store was eventually located at this ...

Cortez Building

The Cortez Building is located on the northeast corner of North ...

Palm Tree

The palm tree is not native to El Paso.

Kress Building

100 E. Mills: Perhaps the funkiest building downtown, this ...

Downtown Historic District

The Downtown Historic District of El Paso, Texas, is the area ...

Plaza Theater Tour

The Plaza Theatre is a historic building in El Paso, Texas. The ...

Plaza Theater Staircase

The Plaza Theatre is a historic building in El Paso, Texas. The ...

Plaza Theatre, Glyn Wyler Foyer

Glyn Wyler along with her husband, Karl O. Wyler Sr., were ...

home.search_collection