Customs completes $8M reno of Border Patrol facilities
The 16,000 square feet of renovations and new construction began in late 2012.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Administration Facilities Management and Engineering recently announced the completion of an $8 million renovation of the Border Patrol Ramey Sector headquarters and station, located in the western town of Aguadilla.
The16, 000 square feet of renovations and new construction began in late 2012. These renovations utilized the “Master Plan” design, a concept that consolidates several construction requirements into one project while considering short and long term facility needs, following similar efforts for the Border Patrol Detroit, Laredo, Rio Grande Valley, and Tucson Sectors.
The renovations provide new conference rooms, a kennel, ATV storage and improved lighting, and increased parking throughout the entire campus. These efforts will improve the security and safety of agents, visitors, and employees, the agency said during a recent ribbon-cutting event.
Customs partnered with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers for the construction design and utilized Puerto Rico-based Caribbean Project Management and Marnit Inc., creating approximately 50 local jobs, to complete the construction and renovations.
In the 1980s, due to the non-stop influx of illegal migrant traffic from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico, the United States Congress approved the establishment of a Border Patrol Sector on the island.
Ramey Border Patrol Sector is the smallest of the three Coastal Border Sectors. Initially known as the Mayagüez Border Patrol Sector, the name was later changed to Ramey to reflect its actual location.
The Sector headquarters and the Ramey Station are co-located in Aguadilla, which opened on Oct. 5, 1987, on a 3.3-acre site at the former Ramey Air Force Base, which opened in 1937 and was deactivated and closed in 1974. A total of 17 agents and two pilots were originally assigned to the station.
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 12-mile band of territorial water surrounding the Islands. The Sector has a total of 730 linear border miles.
