section_path: History/Border controls
section_name: Border controls
paragraph_text: Border controls
  
  As early as 1904, mounted border watchmen were employed by the US Immigration Service to prevent illegal southern border crossings. Texas Rangers were also often employed along the Texas border with Mexico.
  
  The US Border Patrol was also officially created in 1924, with its duties in 1925 broadened to include guarding the sea coast. Illegal entry into the United States became a particular problem during Prohibition, when bootleggers and smugglers would illegally enter the country to transport alcohol.
  
  The debate over illegal immigration has continued amongst the fear of potential terrorist attacks in the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001 and the lack of an effective Mexico–United States barrier. President Donald Trump enacted a travel ban from seven Muslim-majority countries, which was struck down as unconstitutional and replaced by a narrower version drafted by the Justice Department, which Trump described as "watered down, politically correct" and which was subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court. During his election campaign, Trump promised to make Mexico pay for a new border wall. The Mexican government refused to do so, and US taxpayers paid for the wall. The federal government entered a partial shutdown from December 22, 2018, to January 25, 2019, in a standoff over Trump's demand for $5.7 billion in funding for the wall.