Assaults on Customs and Border Patrol Agents Up from Same Period a Year Ago Michel Marizco - Fronteras Desk
go to original December 25, 2016

In this mini-doc shot in a high-traffic smuggling corridor, watch a "coyote" moving undocumented workers through the woods, listen to a Guatemalan teenager recount her long journey to South Texas, ride along with a busy team of U.S. Border Patrol agents, roll through a Mexican border town wracked by cartel violence and listen to a rancher explain the rules of border survival. (Subhan Bluesy)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents reported being assaulted 159 times in October and November this year.

That’s a spread of nearly 20 assaults a week and far more than a reported 51 attacks on agents over the same time last year.

"Every incident is unique. Some involve U.S. citizens. Some involve illegal aliens. Some involve smuggling and various aspects of that," says Assistant U.S. Border Patrol Joshua Devack.

Federal data shows that it’s predominantly Border Patrol agents who’ve come under attack, officers at the ports of entry absorbed nine of the 159 attacks. The report also shows how often agents have so far fired their weapons once in that same two-month stretch.

See the original at Fronteras Desk

Related: Life as a Mexican American on the Border Patrol: 'The System Is Not Broken' (The Guardian)

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