Border Patrol agents in San Diego have come under fire twice in a week at the U.S.-Mexico border, including as they were aiding an injured, abandoned four-year-old boy who had been dropped over the border wall.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement that agents near the San Ysidro port of entry on Monday aided an injured 4-year-old who had been dropped over the primary border barrier by an illegal immigrant.
“Agents reported hearing both the impact and ricochet of gunshots off of the secondary border barrier just north of their location,” the CBP statement said.
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Agents directed everyone, including medical services and the San Diego Fire Department to take cover, and a CBP chopper responded to provide support, along with CBP’s Office of Field Operations Special Response Team. Mexican law enforcement also responded after being alerted by authorities.
The shocking incident came just days after a Border Patrol agent on Saturday reported coming under fire in the San Ysidro mountains. According to CBP, air assets responded and saw a number of individuals just south of the border. One appeared to be carrying a rifle.
“Border violence is a significant threat to public safety and to the Border Patrol agents charged with securing our nation’s borders. This is another example of the inherent dangers that agents face every day,” San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke said in a statement.
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“We are taking these events very seriously and are working with law enforcement partners in the U.S. and Mexico to identify the source of the gunfire,” he said.
The incidents highlight not only the risks that agents face, but also the criminals and smugglers that agents have to deal with — and prevent from entering the U.S.
Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said on Friday that 18 Border Patrol agents had been assaulted in the span of a week, while agents had apprehended 8 sex offenders and 4 gang members.
MIGRANT NUMBERS AT SOUTHERN BORDER EXCEEDED 200,000 IN APRIL, PRIOR TO TITLE 42’S EXPIRATION
Fox reported this week that Border Patrol agents encountered 16 people who are on the FBI’s terror watch list attempting to enter the U.S. illegally at the southern border between ports of entry in April.
CBP stats show that 16 people — more than all four years of fiscal years 17, 18, 19 and 20 combined — were stopped by Border Patrol agents in the month of April.
It means there have so far been 98 encounters at the southern and northern borders between ports of entry in FY 23 so far. That’s the same as all of FY 22. There were 16 in FY21, 3 in FY 20 and FY19, 6 in FY18 and two in FY12.