U.S Border Patrol agents were recently shot at from Mexico while detaining a group of illegal immigrants near Otay Mountain in San Diego, California. They were escorting the group to a vehicle approximately 250 yards north of the border when they heard gunfire and gunshots in the area. Agents immediately ordered migrants to take cover behind the bushes while they sought shelter.
The Marina Air Operations and the tactical unit responded to the area but could not locate the subjects of the gunfire. They requested the assistance of Mexican authorities, who reported seeing several people from their side flee the area in a pickup truck and motorcycle. No other information has been obtained about the incident.
The incident also comes just three days after another shooting was reported by Border Patrol Agents in El Paso, Texas. Surveillance cameras captured two subjects who had used high-caliber rifles to fire towards the North American side of the Rio Grande. One agent was fired upon 20 times by criminal members who were attempting to smuggle more drugs and people into the U.S. The shooters fled and the agent was uninjured.
Incoming border patrol chief Raul Ortiz said they have taken these threats and acts of violence against the men and women of the Border patrol very seriously. He said they would do everything in their power to bring those to justice who have sought to harm others.
The agency has not released any details regarding the number of incidents or whether they are related to the surge of migrants at the border. On top of Border Patrol agents had to work in territories more dangerous than usual, there have also been problems with understaffing.
Ortiz pointed out how 300-400 Border Patrol agents are out of work every day due to quarantine requirements. He went on to say that they are experiencing high levels of COVID-19 threat due to the surge of unaccompanied children, family units, and migrants. Agents not only have to deal with tremendous flows of migrant traffic but the flow of infection as well.
“At any given day, I may have between 300 and 400 Border Patrol agents that are in a quarantine status and, as you know, I wear this black badge over my — this black band over my badge because we’ve lost eight Border Patrol agents in the line of duty to Covid or to other events, and one is too many. In my thirty years, this is the most complicated situation I have ever experienced,” Ortiz said.
There have been a total of 415 assault incidents on CBP agents for the 2020 fiscal year, with 388 currently for the 2021 fiscal year (which started in October 2020). The majority of the attacks have been physical, either by throwing rocks or random objects. Only four individuals were reported using firearms.
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have tried to demonize voter ID, drawback on immigration laws, and stop the border wall from being built. This has only led to more drug cartels and coyotes that abuse women and children pouring through the border. And now, our hardworking Border Patrol agents are in more danger than ever. There was a time when the border was under control and agents were secure. Then Biden took office.
