HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton Rotary Club met for its luncheon meeting on Monday March 18, at Watson Hall. Guests included Rotarian Tomi Henderson from the Mars Hill Club, and from the U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason D. Owens, Acting Division Chief Brent Conley and Staff Assistant Lugene Arnott.
Rotarian Rob Faulkner introduced his guest speaker, Houlton Sector Chief Jason Owens. Owens comes to Houlton from the Laredo Sector where he directed the CBP operations along a 171-mile stretch. Owens began his career 22 years ago after graduating as valedictorian in 1996 from the U.S. Border Patrol Academy.
Owens continued his education earning his master’s degree in accounting from Shorter University and another master’s degree in national security strategy from the National War College. He also graduated from CBP Leadership Institute, the American University Key Executive Leadership Program and completed the DHS Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program. He and his wife Doris have raised two children.
Owens introduced himself to the group with the comparative temperature illustration of leaving Laredo at 81 degrees and entering a polar vortex to arrive in subzero temperatures in Houlton. Though Owens has lived in cold climates before in North Dakota, he had never been to Maine.
By definition, Maine is a border state and the entire state is within a 100-mile radius making the entire state the responsibility of the Houlton Sector. The 300-mile coastline as the crow flies translates to 3,500 miles of area to patrol.
The land border totals 611 miles to patrol. Force multipliers are such things as fences, cameras and drones and these assist Owens’ 200 agents in their work. Many law enforcement agencies depend on backup from the Border Patrol due to the fact that local police officers could be a 45-minute drive away from the incident.
Attracting new agents is challenging, but with a friendly administration in Washington D. C. Owens hopes to see more funding for border security and “force multipliers”. Owens agreed that the increased media attention has over-simplified the needs of the CBP.
The agents that work for the border patrol are at heart public servants and care about their country and Owens works to preserve morale and good will.
Owens is amazed at the community of Houlton and said that his wife is also involved with CBP and will be joining him soon. She is from Honduras and took all the correct steps to become a citizen.
Owens explained that the people who try to jump the line, create challenges and the court system is backed up trying to deal with 76,000 cases. Claims that should be adjudicated immediately are bogged down. Owens said that the only winners in this current situation are smugglers and cartels. The people who suffer are the ones that smugglers and cartels take advantage of.
CBP has to work to save lives in the desert and the stations are overpopulated creating a humanitarian crisis. The recent risk based philosophy is transitioning to the resource based philosophy. Owens’ measure of success is the absence of crime and to keep illicit crossings at bay. He hopes to be at the table to find the best use of funds for border security.
