Border Patrol Agent’s Death “Magnifies The Dangers Out There”

On Sunday, Border Patrol Agent Rogelio Martinez was killed while on patrol in a known drug trafficking corridor in the Big Bend area in Texas. His partner, who has yet to be identified was injured, and remains in the hospital in serious condition.

The news of the assaults shocked the nation, but it shouldn’t – assaults on Border Patrols agents have been on the rise, and rarely are the perpetrators punished.

On Monday, Art Del Cueto, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council said that injuries from which Agent Martinez suffered “were the kind you see when rocks are used,” in an interview on the James T. Harris radio show. “We’re going through rough times in the Border Patrol right now,” said Del Cueto. “He was one of ours. He is a brother behind the badge. This just magnifies the dangers agents have to deal with on a daily basis.

[Listen to the interview here]

ASSAULTS AGAINST CBP PERSONNEL
(Oct 1, 2015 -Aug 31, 2016 and Oct 1, 2016 – Aug  31, 2017)
Incidents Assaults
FYTD16 FYTD17 % Change FYTD16 FYTD17 % Change
Air and Marine Operations 16 6 -63% 27 10 -63%
Office of Field Operations 34 31 -9% 56 39 -30%
U.S. Border Patrol 278 285 3% 403 671 67%
Total 328 322 -2% 486 720 48%

Del Cueto discussed the frustration felt by agents due to the fact that there appears to be no consequences for the attackers. “The reality is the amount of agents throughout the country – the amount of agents just alone in the Tucson Sector that consistently get assaulted and attacked by illegal aliens and we do not see a prosecution against them. I’m not talking about a simple ‘let’s go and charge them with an illegal entry,’ I’m talking about a true prosecution because they have assaulted the men and women of Border Patrol, who are defending our country. And that’s frustrating.”

“I have a couple of friends who were assaulted a couple of months ago on the Tohono O’odham Reservation a couple months ago,” said Del Cueto, “and the individual was not charged. To this day, one of those agents is still in a light duty position, and he still can’t go out there and work because of the injuries he suffered from in that attack. That is just unsatisfactory. How can that happen? How can we let agents be consistently attacked and there are no consequences for that?”

Del Cueto asked, “Does it take this for the country to open up their eyes? An agent as to actually lose his life? That is what’s frustrating.”

Harris asked Del Cueto about the ICE agents’ recent complaints about the Trump administration not doing enough to secure the border. “Listen,” responded Del Cueto, “we’re grateful we have a president, who is at least making some kind of statement concerning the issues.”

Del Cueto said that in reality, it doesn’t “matter what politicians say. At this point, agents are out there on the ground. We are our only back up at this point. That is the message I want the agents out there, who are listening especially in the Tucson Sector, to hear. Take care of yourself. Watch your six. It doesn’t matter what politicians are saying. The bottom line is when we are out there and we have that uniform on, our lives are on the line. And we are the only back-up we truly had. We need to take care of ourselves. We need to watch our own backs.”

“Do they really have our backs,” concluded Del Cueto, “when agents are being attacked and no consequences are coming to the people who attack us?”

The Trump administration seems intent to change the government’s response to the attack. On Sunday, President Trump tweeted: “Border Patrol Officer killed at Southern Border, another badly hurt. We will seek out and bring to justice those responsible. We will, and must, build the Wall!”

Trump is not alone. On Monday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott authorized a reward up to $20,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent and the serious injury of another. All tips are guaranteed to be anonymous.

“We owe a great deal of gratitude to the brave men and women of the United States Border Patrol who serve every day to protect our homeland,” said Governor Abbott. “As authorities continue their investigation, it is important that they receive any and all information to help apprehend and deliver swift justice to those responsible.”

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