Hi,
I am just curious,

What is the difference between the US Border Patrol who work on the highway border in texas and the CBP officers who work at the airport in the customs hall?

Thanks
Ben

The difference? Where they work and how they pursue it. It's the same general job and the same agency.

Border Patrol is part of CBP, like the ATF is part of the DOJ.

Dont forget about ICE.

ICE, ICE baby.........

Small history lesson for ya'...

Prior to the formation of DHS, you had the INS, the Customs Service, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the USDA. All had Inspectors and Special Agents. The former worked at ports of entry, processing people and things entering the country. The latter worked all over the country doing investigations. The INS also had the Border Patrol, which apprehended people entering the US between ports of entry (illegally).

In March of 2003, DHS was formed. The not-so-bright idea was to merge the two agencies into several different agencies. The Inspectors (renamed as Officers) went to CBP. The Border Patrol did as well, but remained semi-autonomous. (A good comparison would be the Marine Corps being a part of the Navy.) The Special Agents (except for USDA) went to ICE, where they were joined by the Federal Protective Service and, for a time, the FAM's. The "service" side of the INS went to a new agency called CIS.

So, the short version:

CBP -- uniformed presence at ports of entry
Border Patrol -- uniformed presence between ports of entry
ICE -- plain clothed investigators nationwide

This is partially correct and partially incorrect.

They are both in the CBP.

The main difference isn't where they work, it's the laws they enforce. A CBP officer in the airport utilizes exclusions to keep people out, whereas a BP agent is dealing with someone who has already made an entry (albeit an illegal one) and must therefore use deportation statutes or some form of voluntary return (VR).

So in San Juan, where the officers stand on the jetway and inquire about the citizenship of passengers boarding a flight to New York, which function are they performing? It's a domestic flight.

Sometimes they ask everyone but yesterday they only asked those who didn't look the part of "citizen." Completely unprofessional clown-like behavior, if you ask me. Ask everyone for their papers or ask no one should be the SOP.

The are not doing what used to be called II(Immigration Inspector) work but USBP work. This would be the flying equivalent of a border patrol checkpoint.

And I tend to agree with all - ask all or none.

I'm afraid that's not really the case. It really is more the place in which they work. At the risk of boring most of the forum with the details of immigration law, of over-simplifying a bit, and of not knowing your background in immigration law...there are two types of removals from the United States as you mentioned: inadmissible aliens are removed under Section 212 of the INA, and deportable aliens are removed under Section 237 of the INA.

Thus, a person who has not been admitted to the United States is subject to the 212 grounds when they are encountered. Such a person includes not only those encountered at the ports of entry, but also a typical EWI (Entry Without Inspection) who crossed the border illegally. The vast majority of BP apprehensions are for EWI's and thus utilize the same set of laws. Additionally, the BP is also now executing Expedited Removals (as Inspections has done for years) so that they can remove aliens administratively without requiring an Immigration Judge.

The Deportation grounds are mostly used by ICE's Investigations and Detention & Removal branches.

I do agree with your premise, however, that the BP uses VR's and Inspections does not. Inspections does have a very similar tool (in some situations) in which a person withdraws their application for admission and agrees to return from whence they came.

While this is technically correct, and BP agents are using more ERs these days, the core of BP work is deportation oriented rather than using exclusions.

You're forgetting OTMs, BORCAP, 1326s, etc.

This is correct, IMO. I should correct my earlier post to say that BPAs are more likely to utilize deportations in practice but, bottom line, you're correct.