Homeland Security Arrests 3 In Killing of US Border Patrol Agent

Three people were arrested at a hospital in San Jose Friday in connection with the killing of a Border Patrol agent in San Diego County Thursday night.

Agents with the Department of Homeland Security surrounded the hospital and arrested two men and one woman.At least one suspect wanted for the murder of U.S. Border Patrol agent Robert Rosas was reportedly injured during the attack and may seek medical attention on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities said Friday.

Some news reports indicated two men and one woman were taken into custody, Bay Area law enforcement sources confirmed only one person was arrested at the hospital Friday by agents from U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, a division of the Department of Homeland Security. FBI agents provided backup. The suspect was released from the hospital and was in custody Friday night.

Authorities said they traced the cell phone of one of the people arrested.Investigators checked hospitals and medical facilities in hopes of finding whoever shot and killed the 30 year old agent.Rosas spotted a suspicious group in a remote area near Campo near the Mexican border Thursday night and called for backup, according to Border Patrol spokesman Daryl Reed. When the suspicious group split up, Rosas went after some suspects by himself. Other agents lost radio contact with him.

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Original Story -Border Patrol Agent Shot, Killed Near San Diego

UPDATE: Man Arrested In Tecate Mexico Carrying Border Patrol Issued Weapon

Police in Tecate, Mexico, announced late Friday that they had arrested a man walking near the crime scene with a Border Patrol-issued weapon shortly after the shooting. The man, Ernesto Parra Valenzuela, 36, was injured and was taken to a hospital, according to a news release.

Border Patrol Agent Shot, Killed Near San Diego

A U.S. Border Patrol Agent was shot and killed in the Campo area Thursday night while investigating a group of people presumed to have crossed into the country illegally.

An agent on patrol spotted the group sometime between 8:30 and 9 p.m. in the remote and rocky terrain south of state Route 94 off Shockey Truck Trail not far from the border, Agent Daryl Reed said.

He called for other agents who split up and began to trail the group, Reed said.

At about 9:15 p.m. agents, who had lost radio contact with their fellow agent, heard multiple gunshots and rushed to the area where they found the agent had been shot, Reed said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. San Diego police said the agent was shot in the head.

Several agencies responded to the shooting including the Sheriff’s Department, the FBI and Cal Fire. A large-scale search by land and air was conducted but no one in the group was found, Reed said.

Mexican authorities also were notified and conducted a search on their side of the border, Reed said. It’s unknown if the group was smuggling humans or drugs or if the people fled back into Mexico.

A FBI press conference is scheduled for later today.

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Border – Gunmen Open Fire On Arizona Fish And Game Employees

The Arizona Game and Fish Department is reviewing procedures on work near the Mexico border after three government employees were fired on east of Arivaca Lake last week.

Two Game and Fish employees and an employee with Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation, were fired at Thursday by a group of men while scouting for a land access project.

“This is the first time in recent history that our employees have been fired at on the border,” said Leonard Ordway, supervisor for Game and Fish’s Southern Arizona region.

The incident happened about eight miles east of Interstate 19 just south of Tumacacori, and about 15 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. None of the agency employees was injured.

According to Game and Fish, the three were riding all-terrain vehicles through a small canyon area about four miles east of Arivaca Lake when they came across at least four Hispanic males dressed in camouflage.

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Passports Become Mandatory at Mexico, Canada Borders

New rules requiring passports or new high-tech documents to cross the United States’ northern and southern borders are taking effect Monday, as some rue the tightening of security and others hail it as long overdue.

The rules are being implemented nearly eight years after the Sept. 11 attacks and long after the 9/11 Commission recommended the changes. They were delayed by complaints from state officials who worried the restrictions would hinder the flow of people and commerce and affect border towns dependent on international crossings.

In 2001 a driver’s license and an oral declaration of citizenship were enough to cross the Canadian and Mexican borders; Monday’s changes are the last step in a gradual ratcheting up of the rules. Now thousands of Americans are preparing by applying for passports or obtaining special driver’s licenses that can also be used to cross the border.

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TSA Warns Truckers Of Violence In Mexico

Drivers in cross-border operations to Mexico and along the U.S. Southwest border are being advised to take precautions to avoid being caught in the drug violence in the region, a Transportation Security Administration contractor said.

According to Total Security Services, Inc., which operates TSA’s Highway Information Sharing and Analysis Center, the violence among Mexican drug cartels has killed more than 200 Americans since 2004, and truckers may be victims of crimes ranging from hijacking and kidnapping to murder.

The Highway ISAC is recommending that drivers with deliveries in Mexico keep in scheduled contact with dispatchers and report in at every scheduled and non-scheduled stop. Drivers also should avoid unsafe highways, and establish a verbal “duress code” to use on the phone when they in the presence of people who may have criminal intent.

Interested parties may receive a copy of the report “Border Violence” by calling the ISAC at 1-703-563-3275

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Homeland Security Has Plan If Mexico Drug Violence Spreads To US

If Mexican drug violence spills across the U.S. border, Homeland Security officials say they have a contingency plan to assist border areas that includes bringing in the military.

“It’s a common sense extension of our continued work with our state, local, and tribal partners in securing the southwest border,” DHS spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said Friday. Read more