Border Patrol El Paso Sector honors agents who died in the line of duty
Heriberto Perez Lara
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector honored the lives of 161 agents who have fallen in the line of duty during a memorial ceremony held in Far East El Paso on Thursday.
Family members of some of the fallen agents, members of Border Patrol, CBP and BORTAC, among other local law enforcement agencies, gathered today at the Socorro Independent School District Student Activities Complex (SAC).
“It just reminds me how important what we do is and I want them (family members of the fallen agents) to know that when we say never forget, we mean it; never forget,” said CBP Commissioner Rodney S. Scott. “But it’s also looking forward and making sure that agents that are in that audience today, and the families that are watching this, understand that we really respect the service that their loved ones are providing and that we have their back and we’re going to take care of them if anything unfortunately does happen to them.”
ABC-7 also spoke with Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent in El Paso Sector, Jesse D. Muñoz, about the lives the agency has lost in the field and the message they have for the families of those lost.
“I’m so proud of the Border Patrol, I think we do so many things great, but I think the thing that we do best is how we take care of the families of our fallen agents,” said Chief Patrol Agent in the El Paso Sector, Jesse D. Muñoz. “Family members that were here or that were not here, I just want them to feel like they’re still part of the family and if they need anything, El Paso Sector is going to take care of them.”
CBP Commissioner Scott also spoke about the current decrease in migrant encounters on the border.
“We do have the most secure border that we’ve ever had in this country, but the cartels want to make money, and they’re getting more and more desperate every day and throughout my career, anytime we really lock down the border and impact the bottom line of the cartels, we found out they start acting out,” CBP Commissioner Scott added. “The violence that we always see on the south side of the border starts to come north, whether it’s rockings or people that fight more, or literally taking pot shots at our vehicles from the south side of the border; I fear all of that is coming again as we lock down the border, history is an indicator, it will and I want to make sure our agents, all law enforcement agents, are prepared for that mentally.”
According to CBP Commissioner Scott, without massive illegal immigration, his agencies can still see the cartels, but can respond more. “We’re going to be arresting them, going after them and that creates more friction points,” he added.
“Talking about border security, one thing that I always try to relay is that if you have a secure border, you have a safe border; the more secure the border is, the fewer people are dying,” CPA Muñoz added.
According to CBP, since its inception on May 28, 1924, the U.S. Border Patrol has seen the passing of 161 agents in the line of duty, 28 of whom were from the El Paso Sector.
During the ceremony, all 161 names were read aloud, followed by the somber ringing of a bell and a 21-gun salute.
Today’s memorial featured the following honors for those 161 agents:
The U.S. Border Patrol Special Operations Group and the El Paso Air Branch of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations (AMO) performed an honorary freefall.
The aerial tribute was followed by the rhythmic hoofbeats of a riderless horse, to which all uniformed personnel rendered honors.
The ceremony concluded with the retiring of the colors by the U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector Honor Guard.
The El Paso Sector commemorative ceremony honoring fallen agents is an annual event held on or near the anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Border Patrol; the first U.S. Border Patrol station was established in El Paso.