Marcos Rodríguez-Perez admitted his role as one of five Mexicans who illegally entered the U.S. through a hole in the border fence and lured, trapped, and killed a young U.S. Border Patrol agent, Robert Rosas, Jr., all because they wanted to rob him of his night-vision goggles.
The killing happened in 2009, but it took nearly two years for Mexican authorities to arrest and extradite Rodríguez-Perez to the U.S. He finally pleaded guilty and admitted his role, according to a recent press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The killers allegedly traveled by car in Mexico to a remote area of the U.S./Mexico border for the deadly scheme. This raises concern due to the apparent Border Patrol leadership’s strategy of only placing boots on the ground in high population areas; Border Patrol agents are often left alone in secluded areas to perform their duties and service in protecting America.
Further concern is raised by Border Patrol plans to cut the work hours of many Border Patrol agents, reducing the protection by up to one-third in some places along the border. The National Border Patrol Council, a voluntary union advocating for border security and the border agents who keep us safe, has proposed the Border Patrol Pay Reform Act. They believe the legislation will stop the severe cutbacks to agents’ ability to properly secure the border and help reduce the dangers many of their agents face in remote areas.
“Not only would our proposal save the tax-payers around $20 billion over ten years, but it is vital to reduce the risk of more of our Border Patrol agents being killed in remote areas as happened in this tragic and heartbreaking case,” said Border Patrol Council Vice-President Stu Harris of El Paso’s Local 1929. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to Agent Rosas’ family and we appreciate the hard work of the U.S. law enforcement community in bringing these killers to justice.”