During fiscal year 2005 there were more than 750 assaults against Border Patrol agents, an increase of 108 percent from the previous year. In the San Diego area alone, there were more than 80 incidents since the beginning of the fiscal year. During a three-day period in January, there were three separate shootings in Laredo, Texas. While injuries have been kept to a minimum, there are numerous “near misses,” instances of an agent moving just before a bullet penetrates the seat of his car or a vehicle being hit with 23 rounds without anyone being injured.

Photo Credit: Gerald Nino

Border Patrol agent parks his vehicle next to one of many fences erected to protect the agents against rocks thrown by Mexican nationals.

Rock throwing incidents have shown the greatest increase and are especially dangerous. Agents are pummeled with rocks sometimes wrapped in rags, dipped in gasoline, and set on fire. These are not playground pebbles but flaming grapefruit-size rocks that can cause serious injury.

“As larger areas of the border come under operational control, we can expect violence to increase as smuggling operations can no longer operate with impunity and do not have unfettered access to the border for their criminal activities,” said CBP Border Patrol Chief David V. Aguilar in recent testimony before the Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Investigations and Border Incursions and Border Violence. It is ironic that this explosion of aggression is an indicator how desperate and angry drug and human traffickers are at the increasing disruption of their smuggling routes.

A smuggling tactic
While recognizing the illegality of their activity many border crosser are economic immigrants who will not resort to violence. Border Patrol agents have many encounters with illegal aliens who, on being apprehended, are submissive and compliant. But organized crime does not just use violence as a response to “getting caught.” It is a smuggling tactic. They may actually stage attacks on Border Patrol agents to create a diversion to allow alien groups to move across the border undetected. More aggressive violence such as ambushing agents or active assaults like ramming vehicles and attempting to run down agents are means of intimidation. Placing contracts and bounties on agents is the last bit of strategic violence and the most damaging. This type of threat is intended to create fear, foster uncertainty and undermine the effectiveness of our agents’ enforcement resolve.

Tightening the screws
CBP Border Patrol agents are prepared to meet this growing threat. Agents receive training from the outset of their careers on use of force and the rules of engagement in order to respond and protect themselves in violent situations. CBP is taking steps to ensure the increased safety of our agents by continuing to clamp down on the border and increasing enforcement efforts.

Increased use of detection technology and improving infrastructure such as building access roads, and adding lighting and fencing are also employed as tactics under the Secure Border Initiative (SBI). Through SBI, state, local, tribal and other federal law enforcement agencies coordinate their efforts to increase control of the border. By integrating efforts, SBI intends to create a comprehensive border security system that will increase the integrity of our border and reduce illegal entry.

Organized crime is being countered with organized law enforcement efforts. Along the border federal, state, and local law enforcement have come together to target the drug cartels battling over turf and access routes into the United States. Since January, the Border Enforcement and Security Task Force (BEST) has arrested 31 cartel members and seized weapons, drugs, and $1 million in cash. Included in the seizures were dynamite, grenades and bombs. BEST teams rely on coordinated collection and analysis of intelligence of smuggling organizations. The task force includes agents from CBP, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the FBI, the U.S. Marshal Service, the U.S. attorney’s office, and state and local officials.

Law enforcement coordination does not stop at the border. The government of Mexico is also working with the United States to reduce the violence against CBP Border Patrol agents. They have sent almost 300 Mexican law enforcement officers to the border between Mexicali and Tijuana, an area that is under siege, so that both sides of the border are being patrolled and traffickers can be stopped before they cross onto United States soil. San Diego, the Rio Grande Valley and the area around Laredo are also seeing increases in resources. In addition, Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) representatives are coordinating with Mexican law enforcement agents to increase prosecution of those caught in smuggling activities.