Assaults on Border Patrol Agents Up 103 Percent

Assaults on Border Patrol agents by illegal aliens continue to increase at an alarming rate. During the first four months of Fiscal Year 2017, assaults on agents increased by 103 percent over the same period in the previous fiscal year.

Illegal aliens assaulted nearly 250 agents since the fiscal year began on October 1, a report from U.S. Customs and Border Protection revealed. The report details assaults of 242 agents through the end of January – up from 119 assaults during the same period in FY 2016. The report indicates an increase of 103 percent, officials stated.

The disturbing report shows increases in each of the past three fiscal years. FY 2014 left 373 agents assaulted. Assaults increased to 477 in FY 2015 and 585 in FY 2016.

Border Patrol agents are assaulted more often than any other federal law enforcement agency, then-Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan testified to the Senate Homeland Security Committee in November, Breitbart News reported. Acknowledging the more that 200 percent increase in assaults on agents at that point in the new fiscal year, Morgan testified that Border Patrol agents are “the most assaulted federal law enforcement (agents) in the United States.

The trend continued after this report when a Yuma Sector agent received minor injuries in an assault by a group of foreign nationals throwing large rocks across the border, striking the agent’s vehicle. The window of the SUV shattered causing minor injury to the agent. The suspects quickly fled and were not apprehended by Mexican authorities.

Last week, a previously deported criminal alien assaulted an agent in the Tucson Sector. As the agent attempted to take the man into custody after he illegally re-entered the U.S., the man kicked and fought with the agent and then fled. Agents apprehended the Honduran national after he became exhausted from running.

Punishment of criminal aliens assaulting Border Patrol agents is rare, according to National Border Patrol Council officials. When prosecutions happen, the penalties handed down are often low compared to the punishment for assaults on other law enforcement officers.

An exception to this occurred last week, when a U.S. citizen in Laredo, Texas, received a sentence of 235 months (19 years and seven months) for assaulting an agent while smuggling drugs, Breitbart Texas reported.

In June 2016, two Salvadoran nationals received light sentences after violently attacking and injuring a Border Patrol agent. During a struggle, the two illegal aliens attempted to choke him. They then reached for his sidearm and baton. Either of those weapons could have been used to take the agent’s life. Fearing the worst, the agent drew his pistol and fired at the illegal aliens–shooting one while the other fled.

Despite the “dangerous and willful acts,” the judge sentenced Carlos Enrique Campos-Carcamo to 27 months in a federal prison. His accomplice, Saul Ernesto Carcamo-Henriquez, received a slightly stiffer penalty of 63 months in prison.

Border Patrol agents are frequently assaulted by rock throwers from Mexico, Breitbart Texas reported in April 2014. Many of these assaults lead to serious injury or even death for the agents. “The reality being far from the false narrative of ‘kids throwing pebbles’,” the piece noted, “the life-threatening rock attacks against Border Patrol agents often occur in remote areas when a solitary Border Patrol agent may be up to a 90-minute drive from their nearest backup.” The article reveals photographic proof of many of the injuries received by agents during these assaults and the size of the “rocks” used in the assaults.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.