U of A students harass, curse Border Patrol agents invited to speak on Career Day

student who wanted "safe space" for students throws hate at student for being white

March 22, 2019 Loretta Hunnicutt
University of Arizona student Denisse Moreno Melchor appears to dislike law enforcement officers and the government.

TUCSON —  Denisse Moreno Melchor, a University of Arizona student, set off a firestorm Wednesday when she livestreamed her hysterical reaction to the presence of two Border Patrol agents who were invited to speak to a group of criminal justice majors.

It was Career Day and the agents were invited by the university’s Criminal Justice Association.  Moreno Melcher, of Glendale, was one of several students involved in a demonstration against the Border Patrol.

Moreno Melchor, listed as a Spanish translation and interpretation major on her Facebook page, disrupted the agents and students while standing just outside the room in which they were meeting.

“I don’t know who allowed the murder patrol,” said Moreno Melchor while filming the agents through the doorway. “They allow murderers to be on campus where I pay to be here. Murderers! On campus. Murderers! On campus.”

She expressed her desire for the university to be free of anyone who might offend a student.

“This is supposed to be a safe space for students but they allow an extension of the KKK into campus. An extension of the KKK into campus!” Moreno Melchor continued, “There are students that pay to be here, pay to be here, that need this to be a safe space for them and we have the KKK and their supporters right here at the U of A.”

When a member of the criminal justice group attempted to diffuse the situation and invite Moreno Melchor in, she responded, “Great, I can sit in the entire time, I’ll just be saying that they’re murderers the entire f—ing time because it’s the truth. They are murderers and you as a club should be more conscious of the rest of the students on this campus.”


Moreno Melchor claimed she did not “feel safe with them here.”

Moreno Melchor then launched into a rant about the “white woman,” referring to the criminal justice student who had invited her to join them.


According to her Twitter feed, Moreno Melchor, the daughter of a Phoenix Valley hairdresser, has disdain for “white people,” “white people who use their LGBTQ+ identities to overstep,” “cops,” “ICE,” and the “government.”

In support of Moreno Melchor, ASUA Student Body President Natalyn Masters, ASUA Executive VP Matthew Rein, and ASUA Administrative VP Kate Rosenstengel signed a letter calling for Border Patrol to stay off campus and demanded that they never return unannounced:

Earlier this week U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) was present at a career fair host at the University of Arizona. Although we recognize their attendance was solely to recruit students to join their workforce, the presence of uniform to USBP agents on our campus, especially without warning was, is, and will always be immensely harmful to our DACA and undocumented community.

As the Associated Students of the University of Arizona, we have an obligation and a responsibility to protect, support and speak out for all Wildcats, including our DACA and undocumented students. Simply put, unannounced visits by the U.S. Border Patrol are unacceptable. The same day USBP agents were present on campus, a Tucson family was arrested and detained by USBP only mere miles from the UA. The concerns students have of USBP presence on campus are real, they are valid, and they need to be heard.

We want to stress the importance of notifying students, especially our DACA and undocumented students, in advance of visits by USBP. It is also necessary to understand the mere presence of USBP on campus creates an environment which negatively impacts our DACA and undocumented community.

Every single UA student, faculty, and staff deserves and has the right to feel safe within our campus community. ASUA will work with the UA Administration as well as the entire campus community to take necessary steps to ensure all Wildcats feel safe and supported on campus. These steps include assessing changes to UA policy and procedures that better support our students.

We want to thank every single student and campus member who has raised their voices for our incredible community of DACA and undocumented Wildcats.

In solidarity,

In an interview on KFYI’s James T. Harris show, Art del Cueto, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council and President of Local 2544 said he “was pretty upset when I saw the video myself. I have learned that these agents were invited to help explain things about the criminal justice system. People need to understand that they were invited there,” said del Cueto with emphasis. “It was an actual invitation and obviously they had this individual – I would say lady, but she didn’t act like much of a lady – and she started yelling at the Border Patrol agents. They’re calling them ‘Murder Patrol’ calling them ‘baby killers.'”

According to del Cueto, Moreno Melchor followed the agents “all the way down the hall to their vehicle. She used some pretty disturbing language; obviously spoken Spanish. She used some very dirty words. She was screaming obscenities. Hats off to the agents though for keeping their cool the entire time, but it’s upsetting because I think that the UofA does not accept this type of behavior. I know they have issues with stalking and harassing students at their facilities, and I think that is exactly what this individual did. She was stalking. She was harassing Border Patrol agents and they did not provoke her in anyway.”

When asked by Harris if DACA students should fear Border Patrol, del Cueto responded, “That is what is the funniest thing. Perhaps if these individuals, who wrote this letter, would have allowed Border Patrol agents to remain there and talk to the class and answer questions – their fears would have subsided. They might have learned something instead of writing an ignorant letter where it says that they fear for the DACA students. Well we can’t arrest the DACA students as agents. We can’t send them back unless obviously they commit some kind of crime other than being here illegally. They are a protected class right now so it is ridiculous.”

“I believe the letter goes on and says that they need to be told when agents are going to be on campus. Well they (agents) were invited there, but listen – I’ll do this – I’m going to be the nice guy and hope that someone from the Student Body can hear me,” continued jokingly. “Going forward, you guys can send me the names of the illegal aliens at the school and their addresses and I will be glad, on behalf of the Border Patrol union, to send them any kind of information when agents are going to be at their school. All they need to send me the name and address and I’ll take care of it myself.”

Later it became apparent that the Student Body does not speak for all UofA students, when del Cueto posted on Facebook a note an agent received from a student: