Border Patrol agents outraged after CBP discloses plan to clear immigrants from El Paso
Anna Giaritelli
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EL PASO, Texas — Border Patrol agents are upset with leadership at U.S. Customs and Border Protection for publicizing its secret plans to send police into a part of downtown that has become overrun with a couple of thousand illegal immigrants living on the streets.
CBP, the agency over Border Patrol, announced late Monday that starting Tuesday, it would “conduct a targeted enforcement operation” in El Paso but gave no further information. Approximately 2,500 immigrants who slipped into the country undetected have set up residence on the streets outside Sacred Heart Church and turned city blocks into slums.
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“I’m not sure why CBP did that. So much for the element of surprise,” one official based in Washington wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner.
The National Border Patrol Council, the organization’s union, also criticized the move and compared it to a “PR stunt.”
“Nothing like publicly announcing that dangerous people will be arrested, while warning them ahead of time exactly where to run and hide to avoid arrest,” the union tweeted late Monday. “This entire operation is a sad joke – another pandering PR stunt. Serious law enforcement leaders don’t behave this way.”
The first unnamed official and a second senior-level official both said that rank-and-file agents on the ground feared that carrying out what could become a highly publicized, even violent event if people fight law enforcement would demonize agents.
The only thing worse, the two said, would be if Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz did not adamantly defend agents for this action, particularly because the idea and decision to do so was made in Washington, not agents in the field merely forced to carry it out.
“Many agents on the ground don’t feel [Ortiz] or [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas] will support them after Del Rio,” the first official said in reference to a 2021 incident where border agents on horseback were wrongly accused of whipping immigrants. “So they won’t engage very much.”
Immigrants living on the street are mainly teenage boys and men from Venezuela. Unlike Central American families and Mexican adults who seek work in the United States, border officials are concerned that trying to move these people will be radically different than if they were dealing with other demographics.
“They know the Venezuelans will get violent but they don’t trust Chief Ortiz to support them,” the same official said. “Agents feel like they were following orders in Del Rio and were not backed up.”
Law enforcement was to begin messaging Tuesday for immigrants to surrender to Border Patrol, giving people the chance to come forward before any enforcement action is taken by federal agents and officers.
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The federal government is moving to clear the streets ahead of the pandemic public health policy Title 42 ending late Thursday evening and would process immigrants outside the church to be expelled from the country or face immigration proceedings.
“Noncitizens who pose a threat to national security or public safety will be transferred to ICE for detention,” CBP warned.