Naco, Arizona - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers apprehended an illegal immigrant who was attempting to make entry into the United States by avoiding inspection. As the officers attempted to gain control, the assailant kicked the officer in the face in an attempt to escape.
On August 23, at approximately 8 p.m., CBP officers were screening traffic when they noticed a man in the outbound pedestrian lane that directs traffic into Mexico. The man was attempting to go north into the U.S. undetected. As the CBP officers responded to where the man was, he began to climb a security fence in order to avoid apprehension. When the CBP officers attempted to apprehend the man he resisted by kicking one of the CBP officers in the face.
CBP officers secured the man and turned him over to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further investigation and prosecution. The man was charged with Assault on a Federal Officer.
A criminal complaint is simply the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt
The Office of Field Operations is responsible for securing our borders at the ports of entry. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers' primary mission is anti-terrorism; they screen all people, vehicles, and goods entering the United States, while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel into and out of the United States. Their mission also includes carrying out traditional border-related responsibilities, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration law, protecting the nation's food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases, and enforcing trade laws.
While anti-terrorism is the primary mission of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the inspection process at the ports of entry associated with this mission results in impressive numbers of enforcement actions in all categories.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.