A Border Patrol agent became the victim of a frightening assault near Sunland Park, New Mexico, as he attempted to apprehend a migrant for crossing the border alongside several others. The migrant punched and bit the Border Patrol agent as he was being led to a transport vehicle on Thursday.
In the El Paso Sector alone, agents have seen the number of assaults rise from 46 in 2021 to more than 70 this year since October.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed to Fox News that the agent “was physically assaulted and bitten” by one of the migrants. One suspect was arrested for the assault and taken to a hospital for medical evaluation. In the Fox News report on the incident, CBP says Mexican officials assisted in apprehending part of the migrant group that managed to flee to Mexico.
According to CBP, the injuries sustained by the Border Patrol agent were non-life threatening. The suspect, who remains unidentified, was arrested for the assault and illegal entry into the United States. The New York Post reports the migrant allegedly “took a bite” out of the agent’s face.
Although migrant crossings along the southwest border have fallen significantly since December, assaults on border agents have not dropped. In RY 2023, more than 90 assaults on Border Patrol agents were reported within the El Paso Sector, according to CBP. Since October, 73 assaults have been recorded despite apprehensions falling more than 60 percent since December, from 33,966 apprehensions to 13,282 in August.
A CBP source tells Breitbart Texas the drop in apprehensions does not mean assaults on agents will drop as well. “The demographic of migrants that are prone to assault agents are smugglers, criminal migrants, and those who know they will be returned to their home country, we are still dealing with these folks daily,” the source explained.
The source says migrants who surrender by the hundreds, knowing they will be released into the United States to pursue asylum claims, are generally peaceful at the time of arrest.
“There’s no reason to fight if we are just going to let you go once you are processed. If, on the other hand, you’ve paid a smuggler thousands of dollars to get to the border and you know we are sending you back, the fight is on,” the sources told Breitbart Texas.
The slowdown of migrant crossings began in late December after significant press coverage of thousands of migrants crossing daily into the small town of Eagle Pass, Texas, received substantial media coverage. As reported by Breitbart Texas, after a series of meetings between the Biden-Harris administration and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador (AMLO), along with other measures, authorities in Mexico all but halted the use of the Bestia train system in Mexico used by the migrants to reach the U.S./Mexico border.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.