Two border agents working the Calexico border station in California were assaulted within a week of each other, as the number of assaults against U.S. Customs and Border Protection continues to rise amid a surge in illegal immigration.
CBP officials said late Monday that a border agent was struck just below the eye by an illegal alien who’d been seen climbing over the fence between the United States and Mexico.
At approximately 8:40 p.m., a Border Patrol agent parked on First Street next to the International Boundary fence, observed a man illegally enter the United States by climbing over the fence.
When the agent attempted to arrest the man, the man resisted and struck the agent’s left orbital eye socket with his elbow.
The man ran away from the agent to avoid being arrested. The agent soon caught the man and a scuffle ensued. The agent quickly subdued the man and placed him under arrest.
…The agent suffered a contusion to his left eye, a laceration to his left elbow, and possible injury to his left shoulder.
Last week, another border agent with the Calexico station was hit with a concrete brick thrown from the Mexican side of the border as he tried to apprehend a man who’d already crossed into the United States illegally.
CBP reported a total of 408,870 illegal aliens were apprehended crossing the Southwest U.S. border in FY2016, up from the 331,333 aliens that were apprehended the year before. And as the wave of illegal immigration continues to flood into our border states, so does an increase in attacks against border patrol.
MRCTV reported earlier this month that assaults against border patrol agents are up 23 percent over last year, according to CBP. An average of two agents were assaulted per day at the U.S. border and ports of entry in August. The vast majority of these attacks were committed against agents tasked with apprehending illegal aliens at the border. In fact, based on the number of reported assaults, FY2016 was the most dangerous year for border agents since 2012.