Banding together to soften their image

Banding together to soften their image / In southern Texas, Border Patrol agents perform songs to connect with the Hispanic community

On weekends, the Border Patrol Agents perform in Spanish.
They play love songs and Mexican ballads, crooning about pain and heartbreak, paus- ing to remind their audience who they are.
“We are Customs and Border Protection,” says lead singer Man- uel Maldonado, putting down his accordion, a pistol holstered in his belt. “Sí, somos de a deveras.”
“Yes, we are real.”
Down here, close enough to Mexico that you can throw a foot- ball across the Rio Grande, the officers who chase migrants through ranches and across high- ways are not especially popular. Federal agents needed a way to soften their image. So they formed a band. More precisely, they formed a conjunto band.
Their name? Los Federales. Read the full story here