By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Manuel Padilla Jr., a native of southern Arizona and long-time federal authority, has been appointed chief of the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, the Arizona Daily Star reports. Padilla, who has worked with Border Patrol for 26 years, was serving as the acting chief at the office since October 2012; before that…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A van being pursued by the Border Patrol this weekend flipped over and killed five people in southern Arizona, the Associated Press reports. Authorities found 22 people in the van Saturday between Tucson and Benson, Ariz., the AP reported. The remaining 17 were rushed to a hospital for a variety of injuries….
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Border Patrol agents are willing to give up increased overtime pay in exchange for not being furloughed as part of the mandated federal spending cuts, the Washington Post reports. “The reform I have just proposed saves tax dollars, reduces overtime pay and brings about financial certainty to both the Border Patrol…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com New unmanned spy aircraft that flies over remote stretches of desert shows the U.S.-Mexico border isn’t as secure as the agency has claimed, the Center for Investigative Reporting reports. Records show more than 7,000 border crossers were detected by drones, but only 410 people were apprehended. Of those, 52 led to arrests,…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Two Border Patrol agents accused of forcing drug smugglers to strip and eat marijuana are on trial this week on civil rights charges, the Huffington Post reports. Authorities said the border patrol agents left the four undocumented immigrants, wearing nothing but their underwear, to fend for themselves in the cold desert…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A former Border Patrol agent pleaded guilty Tuesday to helping smuggle an undocumented Mexican immigrant into the U.S. in exchange for a bribe, the El Paso Times reports. In a Las Cruces federal court, Gabriel Burke, 42, admitted he was persuaded to violate his official duty between December 2011 and February 2012….
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com An excessive force case against a Border Patrol agent goes to trial this week, the San Diego Union Tribune reports. Agent Luis E. Fonesca is accused of kicking and choking an unauthorized immigrant until he was unconscious. Prosecutors say they have a videotape that proves their case. Fonesca has pleaded not guilty…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The family of a Border Patrol agent who was killed in a car crash on his way to work March 22 is getting help from residents in the Imperial Valley of California. The two-car collision, which is under investigation, killed Agent Francisco Puga, 26, a Calexico native who had been recently married….
