4425 Demetropolis Road
Mobile, AL 36619
Phone: (251) 660-1445
Fax: (251) 660-1495
A Border Patrol station was first established at Mobile, Alabama in 1927 and except for brief periods of time in the mid-1930's and early 1980's, the station has been in continuous operation. The station was primarily established to prevent the smuggling of aliens into the United States by large oceangoing vessels and small boats from Cuba and the West Indies. The station was also responsible for apprehending crewman deserters and others who had effected illegal entry. The station's initial area of responsibility consisted of the southwestern portion of the state of Alabama.
From 1934 to 1941, the Mobile station also had enforcement responsibility for the ten counties in the extreme northwest Florida panhandle and twelve counties in southeast Alabama. That area was later assigned to the Border Patrol station at Pensacola, Florida and has since returned to the responsibility of the Mobile station upon the closing of the Pensacola station in 1981.
During World War II, the Mobile station directed its enforcement operations towards coastal security to prevent the landing of enemy agents and saboteurs by submarine along the Gulf Coast. Temporary stations were established along the coast in Baldwin County with additional manpower being added for this purpose.
Today, the Mobile station is responsible for conducting Border Patrol operations for the entire state of Alabama and the Florida panhandle, from the Florida-Alabama state line, eastward to the Apalachicola River. Although crewman control is still a vital portion of the station's mission, it is but one part of an ever-expanding enforcement role carried out by station agents. Although the majority of crewman control activities are targeted locally at the Port of Mobile, station agents are also responsible for crewman control duties at the Ports of Pensacola, Panama City, and Port St. Joe, Florida. Station operations include crewman control, transportation checks, traffic observation along major thoroughfares, employer sanctions, anti-smuggling, and the criminal alien program.