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Life's Journey Brings Border Patrol Agent to the Line

NCJ Number
166694
Journal
Women Police Volume: 30 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1996) Pages: 4-5,23-25
Author(s)
B Powers
Date Published
1996
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The daily activities and background of Andrea Roubal, a police officer for the Border Patrol of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, are described.
Abstract
Agent Roubal works on the border of the United States and Mexico. She uses a four-wheel-drive patrol vehicle, a radio, binoculars and apprehends about 20 illegal immigrants during a shift. She and her family immigrated legally to the United States from Czechoslovakia in 1986. She spoke Czech, German, and Russian and learned English in the United States. She enlisted in the army after high school graduation. She served as a battalion clerk and in a transportation unit. She left the army in 1993 and applied to become a Border Patrol agent in 1994. Her fluency in four languages helped her with the examination. She attended the Border Patrol Academy at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia. She graduated early in 1995 and reported for duty in El Paso, Tex. She says that she now can tell at a glance if a person she is apprehending is likely to give her trouble. She often works alone, but help is only a radio call away. She likes her job and believes that operation Hold the Line is effective. Photographs and summaries of Border Patrol training components and employment opportunities