LOS ANGELES—The U.S. Border Patrol is exploring ways to involve citizen volunteers in creating “something akin to a Border Patrol auxiliary,” Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner said.

The move, disclosed Wednesday in an Associated Press interview with Bonner, would be a significant shift in rhetoric after a high-profile civilian campaign this spring along the Arizona-Mexico border. Bonner said his agency has focused on citizen involvement after noting how eager volunteers were to stop illegal immigration.

“It is actually as a result of seeing that there is the possibility in local border communities, and maybe even beyond, of having citizens that would be willing to volunteer to help the Border Patrol,” Bonner said. “But with some training and being organized in a way that would be something akin to a Border Patrol auxiliary.”

“We value having eyes and ears of citizens and I think that would be one of the things we are looking at is how you better organize, let’s say, a citizen effort,” he said.

Bonner said he was not making any formal announcement, adding “it’s an area we’re looking at.” Questions such as what kind of authority volunteers would be given _ for example, would they be deputized to make arrests _ haven’t been answered.

“This is what we need to study,” said Bonner, who was in Los Angeles to discuss port security.

In April, hundreds of volunteers converged on a 23-mile stretch of the Arizona-Mexico border. The Minuteman Project generated international attention and criticism _ and spawned similar campaigns, including one now under way east of San Diego.

Border Patrol officials have generally criticized civilian efforts to police borders, saying that was the job of trained law enforcement officers. President Bush has expressed his opposition to border “vigilantes.”

“The Border Patrol does this every day, and they are qualified and very well-trained,” Bonner said in February, noting that the Minutemen planned to carry firearms. “Ordinary Americans are not. So there’s a danger that not just illegal migrants might get hurt, but that American citizens might get hurt.”

Customs and Border Protection had yet to tell Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and other top departmental officials of its discussions, though they would be briefed once the agency came up with a proposal, said CBP spokeswoman Kristi Clemens.

“All proposals are being considered, including clerical work by volunteers that would free up more agents to secure our borders,” Clemens said.

Among the volunteer groups the agency would examine as models were auxiliaries for the local sheriff’s department and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Bonner said.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has 5,000 volunteers, who do paperwork and occasionally direct traffic at crime scenes, as well a 750 reserve deputies, some of whom carry guns and make arrests, said spokesman Steve Whitmore.

The Coast Guard Auxiliary has 30,000 members who are trained to help with non-law enforcement programs such as public education, vessel safety checks, safety patrols, search and rescue and maritime security, according to its Web site. Auxiliary members don’t carry guns and have no more right than regular citizens to detain someone, said Coast Guard Lt. Commander Jeff Carter.

Immediate reaction to Bonner’s idea was generally skeptical.

Told of Bonner’s statements, a labor leader who represents Border Patrol agents questioned their wisdom.

“If he’s sanctioning something akin to the Minuteman Project, it would be irresponsible to place ordinary citizens in harm’s way,” said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council and no relation to Robert Bonner.

Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist said he liked Bonner’s idea, but doubted it would happen. If it did, he would want to make sure volunteers don’t replace full-time law enforcement officers.

“Until we actually see these programs and laws enacted _ or the existing programs and laws actually enforced _ there’s nothing to be happy about,” said Gilchrist, who lives in Orange County. “It’s just another head fake.”

Immigration advocates were opposed.

“It’s a recipe for disaster,” said Enrique Morones of Border Angels, a San Diego group that gives water to migrants who cross the California-Mexico border. “You’ll have all of these unqualified yahoos being given license to promote hate.”

Bonner has alluded to citizen involvement before.

Testifying before Congress in May, he said if the government were to “better and more effectively harness the citizen volunteers,” it would need to provide “some insights, possibly even training.”

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Associated Press writers Laura Wides in Los Angeles and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.