Basic Tracking

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A trail begins when tracks or sign of someone passing are located in the desert. A normal search for tracks begins on or along roads that are maintained by the agents. This is accomplished by pulling tires behind the vehicle which makes a smooth surface so footprints (tracks) can be easily seen. Undocumented aliens don't always cooperate in making this an easy task for the agents. They will try to "brush out" their sign, walk backwards, wrap their feet in carpet and use a number of other ploys to make tracking more difficult.

A poor attempt to brush out sign.

The agent will try to "age" the sign that he/she has located. There is a wide variety of ways that this can be accomplished.

A) Weathering: The effect that the weather has had on the tracks. Rain drops and wind will help narrow down the time they crossed the road. The detail of the tracks will diminish over time giving them a faded appearance.

B) Time of travel: The agent can try to determine the time of travel such as walking in daylight or during the hours of darkness (phases of the moon must also be taken into account). The tracks may walk up to a bush eventhough a more direct route is visible. This may indicate the subjects are walking at night. Lights provide a beacon for the walkers to guide on at night. These locations are usually known to the agents and can be checked to see if the aliens have reached their destination.

C) Animal sign: Animals can be help or hindrance in this process. Most desert animals move around at night, if it's 5 o'clock in the afternoon and you have a lot of animal sign in your trail, it may not be very fresh.

Several layers of tire tracks and cow tracks help to distract the attention of the sign cutter.

The same area after being dragged.

The agent must be able to describe the trail to other trackers who have not seen the the tracks. Describing twenty tracks over the air is counter productive and wastes valuable air time. The agent will locate several "distinct" tracks within the group and describe these to the other assisting agents. The other agents will "leap frog" ahead and try to find this trail on other roads that intersect the "line" or path of the trail. When they find a trail, their job is to match the sign described by the agent who originally cut the tacks. This continues until the aliens are caught or the tracks can not be followed any longer which may happen for a variety of reasons.

The light is held low to create shadows in the tracks to make them more visible

Agents use spotlights to continue sign cutting operations during the night.

Photo submitted by A. Kaul of the Naco station

The border has seen an increase in the size of groups where fifteen to twenty undocumented aliens has become the norm. Large, beaten paths such as this one found in Naco, Arizona has groups walking on top of each other. Narrowing the track description to a few prominant designs will be an important factor in the tracking operation. Many groups have been lost when the agent who locates the sign to the North assumes he has the same group. Here are some shoe prints that you can test your abilities to describe sign. Which one or two would you try to describe over the air and why? Which ones would you not describe and why? Remember you want to create a mental image of the sign you describe AND you must describe these tracks over the air which means you can't take all day doing it.

This is how I would describe the above tracks to you.

Track #1: A cowboy boot with fine lines in the sole and a plain heel. Not a good track to use because it has little detail and can be found in a wide variety of trails. The fine lines may not show up well and can become a hindarance in matching up tracks.

Track #2: A shoe with ball bearings (or circles) in the sole and a plain heel. A good track to use because the circles are distinct and will show up easily, the plain heel is in direct contrast to the sole and I would not expect this to be in another group any time soon. It would be my second choice.

Track #3: A wire mesh tennis shoe with a plain edge. A label in the heel. I don't like this one and have a hard time describing it.

Track #4: A running w tennis shoe with an egg shaped design in the sole and a nike label in the instep. I would consider this track as a third choice because the running w design is common but the egg shape design is distinct. I wouldn't rely on the label in the instep, usually it's the sole and the heels that show up the best.

Track #5: A wavy line tenny with a very large circle and nike swoosh in the center of the circle. Very distinct and I would use it as my first choice.

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