Ramey Sector has one station with an area of responsibility that extends 12 miles out from the shoreline to the US territorial water limits, and includes 730-shore border miles, throughout Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands.
The Ramey Border Patrol Sector is the newest of the twenty-one Sectors spread out across the United States. Encompassing the U.S. territorial islands of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, it is the only Border Patrol Sector located outside the continental United States. The Sector's entire border area is made up of coastline and its area of responsibility is made up of some 6,000 square miles of land and water area, including the twelve-mile band of territorial water surrounding the Islands.
History and Background
The Ramey Sector was established in 1987 to combat the rising tide of illegal aliens arriving from the Dominican Republic located some 90 miles to the west on the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with Haiti. Citizens and government officials alike expressed great concern in the mid-1980s to the rising tide of illegal aliens. In those days only one immigration agent from the San Juan District immigration office was tasked with processing aliens apprehended by local authorities in the western area of the island.
Since then, aliens have begun arriving from all parts of the world and use Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands as a stepping stone to the U.S. mainland. A great number of all illegal aliens arriving in Puerto Rico from abroad continue to the mainland. Puerto Rico's airports are considered to be domestic airports and immigration enforcement operations are tailored accordingly.
The Sector Headquarters and the Ramey Station are co-located. They opened on Oct. 5, 1987, on a 3.3-acre site at the former Ramey Air Force Base that had been closed in 1974.
The Ramey Border Patrol Sector is the newest of the twenty-one Sectors spread out across the United States. Ramey Sector has an area of responsibility that extends 12 miles out from the shoreline to the US territorial water limits, Its area of operations encompasses 748-shore border miles of the U.S. territorial islands of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. It is the only Border Patrol Sector located outside the continental United States.
The coin for the Ramey Sector represents the sector and our agents. We are the "Sentinels of the Caribbean," the frontline for not only Puerto Rico but the US Virgin Islands, combating terrorism, illegal immigrants and contraband trying to enter the United States. The coin shows the American Eagle representing the strength of the United States and a palm next to the beach representing the geographical area in which we work, the Caribbean. The front side of the coin has the U.S. Border Patrol emblem on it representing the Agency and Ramey Sector below it, as you can see in the picture.
