Speeches and Statements

Tucson, Ariz.-On February 11, 2023, at approximately 5 p.m., Border Patrol agents assigned to the Willcox Station observed a red 2003 Toyota Corolla depart the Highway 191 Checkpoint, located approximately 29 miles north of Douglas, Arizona, without being inspected. A Douglas Station agent, also working at the checkpoint, activated the emergency equipment on his marked Border Patrol unit and initiated a pursuit of the Corolla.

On March 14, 2023, at approximately 6:18 p.m. a U.S. Border Patrol remote camera operator observed multiple suspected undocumented migrants load into a BMW sedan, approximately one mile north of the Port of Entry at Sasabe, Ariz. The camera operator transmitted the information to Border Patrol agents in the area via radio.  

On January 14, 2023, the Caribbean Air and Marine Operations Center detected a suspected target of interest north of Fajardo, Puerto Rico, and continued to monitor the suspect vessel as a CBP vessel from the CBP marine docks in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, was dispatched to intercept it. Three CBP Marine Interdiction Agents and a Puerto Rico Police Department task force officer on board the CBP vessel departed the docks in Ceiba at approximately 11:30 p.m. 

On February 6, 2023, at approximately 12:05 a.m., a black GMC Yukon SUV approached the U.S. Border Patrol immigration checkpoint located near mile marker 26 on State Highway 185, approximately 23 miles northwest of Las Cruces, N.M. The vehicle stopped at the primary inspection point and a Border Patrol agent approached the vehicle. While inspecting the vehicle, the agent noticed multiple people laying on the floorboard of the vehicle. The agent suspected the individuals laying on the floorboard of the vehicle might be undocumented migrants.

On February 25, 2023, at approximately 3:35 a.m., Laredo Border Patrol Sector Communications personnel broadcasted information via radio to Border Patrol agents indicating that a remote camera operator spotted a group of suspected undocumented migrants near Rio Bravo, Texas. Agents heard the notification and responded to the area.

On January 13, 2023, at approximately 11:00 a.m., Border Patrol agents assigned to the Ajo Border Patrol Station apprehended seven undocumented migrants approximately 39 miles northwest of the Lukeville, Arizona, Port of Entry. One of the migrants, later identified as a male citizen of Mexico, sustained an injury to his left ankle while attempting to elude apprehension. Agents contacted Tucson Sector radio communications and requested medical assistance for the injured migrant via radio at 11:08 a.m.

On January 15, 2023, at approximately 10:52 p.m., Border Patrol agents assigned to the El Paso Station responded to a sensor activation approximately four miles east of The Bridge of the Americas Port of Entry. The first agent arrived in a fully marked United States Border Patrol transport van via the Loop 375 Border Highway and walked to a chain link fence on the elevated levy road. From this position, the agent, using a flashlight, observed a man in the All-American Canal located between the chain link fence and the International Border Barrier.

On January 8, 2023, at approximately 10:50 p.m., Border Patrol agents working approximately five miles north of the Santa Teresa Port of Entry in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, observed a white Nissan Sentra sedan, suspected of human smuggling, travel east on Strauss Road. Another agent working in the area observed the driver of the Nissan Sentra turn north onto Pete Domenici Highway.

On Feb. 3, 2023, at approximately 10:57 p.m., a Minnesota National Guardsman, assigned to the U.S. Border Patrol and working as a camera operator, spotted a group of suspected undocumented migrants scaling the International Border Barrier, approximately 2.5 miles east of the San Ysidro Port of Entry. The camera operator transmitted the information via radio to Border Patrol agents in the area. An agent responded to the area to interdict the migrants at approximately 10:58 p.m..

On December 30, 2022, at approximately 6:30 a.m., Border Patrol agents assigned to the El Paso Sector Intelligence Unit Evidence Collection Team encountered a male subject approximately four miles northeast of the Bridge of Americas, near El Paso, Texas. The male, a United States citizen, was walking in the middle of Airway Boulevard unclothed from the waist down and posing a traffic hazard to traveling vehicles. Intelligence Unit agents approached the man in their unmarked vehicle, with their emergency lights activated, but the man refused to leave the roadway.

On January 2, 2023, Border Patrol agents assigned to the Eagle Pass Border Patrol station apprehended a woman, a Cuban national, approximately two miles south of the Eagle Pass, Texas International Bridge II. Agents transported the woman to the Firefly Soft Sided Processing Facility located in Eagle Pass. The woman was booked into the processing facility at approximately 10:33 a.m. The woman was medically screened at approximately 11:44 a.m., and she informed the Border Patrol processing coordinator that she had high blood pressure and was taking prescribed medication.

*Please note there was an internal delay in the posting of this statement. Notifications to Congress were completed in a timely fashion. In an effort to fulfill our responsibilities and commitment to transparency and accountability, we are completing our public post at this time.

The following statement concerns an agent involved shooting which occurred near Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, on Thursday, November 17, 2022. The information is based on a preliminary review by U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility and may be updated with additional information.

La siguiente declaración se refiere a un agente involucrado en un tiroteo que ocurrió cerca de Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, el jueves 17 de noviembre de 2022. La información se basa en una revisión preliminar realizada por la Oficina de Responsabilidad Profesional de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza de EE. UU. y puede actualizarse con información adicional. 

On November 11, 2022, at approximately 1:45 a.m., an off-duty Border Patrol Agent arrived and parked his personal vehicle in the lot of an apartment complex in San Antonio, Texas. The agent began walking through the parking lot heading to an apartment after parking and exiting his vehicle and spotted two individuals who appeared to be breaking into a Dodge Ram pickup truck. The agent then confronted the two subjects and told them to leave the premises.

On November 6, 2022, at approximately 11:20 a.m., a Border Patrol remote camera operator spotted a group of five individuals climbing up the International Border Barrier, approximately 4.2 miles southeast of the Veterans International Bridge, near Brownsville, Texas. The camera operator broadcasted the information via radio to Border Patrol agents assigned to the Fort Brown Border Patrol Station. Agents responded to an area known as “Shrivers”, located approximately 75 yards north of the border barrier, where they encountered and apprehended two individuals.

The following statement pertains to an agent involved shooting that occurred near San Luis, Arizona, on Sunday, October 30, 2022. The following information is based on a preliminary review by Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility and may be updated with additional information.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus issued the following statement following an incident in El Paso on October 31, 2022:

“I am monitoring reports surrounding events in El Paso in which several hundred migrants attempted to enter the United States without authorization along the Rio Grande River International Boundary, near downtown El Paso.

On September 25, 2022, a Border Patrol agent assigned to the Uvalde Border Patrol Station and two Army National Guardsmen on federal duty were conducting freight train inspections at Yucca Siding in Knippa, Texas, approximately 14 miles northeast of Uvalde, Texas. The National Guardsman observed several suspected migrants on the east bound freight train at approximately 6:14 a.m.

Miami – A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer working at the agency’s weapons range was injured while on duty and pronounced deceased Oct. 19.  CBP is cooperating with the investigation which is being led by the Miami-Dade Police Department. For information, please reach out to Angel Rodriguez from the police department at 305-216-7956 or via email at aar@mdpd.com.

On August 24, 2022, at approximately 1:40 p.m., Border Patrol agents assigned to the Carrizo Springs Border Patrol Station apprehended three undocumented migrants from Mexico. The group was apprehended approximately 1.25 miles east of the Carrizo Springs Border Patrol Station along Texas Highway 85.  Border Patrol agents transported the migrants to the Carrizo Springs Border Patrol Station, arriving at approximately 2:10 p.m. 

On October 4, 2022, at approximately 10:40 a.m. and about 3.4 miles northwest of the Ysleta Port of Entry, Border Patrol agents encountered a suspected undocumented migrant, a male citizen of Mexico. Agents apprehended the man and transported him to the Ysleta Border Patrol Station, which is located in El Paso, Texas and booked him into the Ysleta Border Patrol Station at 11:12 a.m.

SANTA TERESA, N.M. - On August 15, 2022, at approximately 4:45 a.m., U.S. Border Patrol agents driving unmarked vehicles were conducting anti-smuggling operations in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, when they observed a Ford Escape and an Acura sedan sitting stationary at a green traffic light on Industrial Road.

On October 2, 2022, at approximately 3:58 p.m., a Border Patrol agent assigned to the Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue team encountered three individuals on the shoulder of Interstate 8 in Imperial County, Calif., near the Imperial Sand Dunes, approximately two and one quarter miles north of the U.S./Mexico border. Upon the initial encounter, one of the individuals fled in a grey Mercedes and was subsequently apprehended by another Border Patrol agent.

On September 2, 2022, at approximately 12:21 p.m., an off-duty Border Patrol agent observed a group of suspected undocumented migrants located approximately 17 miles west of Winterhaven, Calif. The off-duty agent notified El Centro Sector Border Patrol Communications and Border Patrol agents were dispatched to the area. At approximately 12:30 p.m., a Border Patrol agent located a group of three individuals, including an unresponsive woman, later identified as a citizen of Mexico.