An illegal immigrant who crossed the US border bit a Border Patrol agent in the face while in custody, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed to Fox News on Friday.
The agency said agents encountered a group of illegal immigrants crossing the border near Sunland Park, New Mexico, on Thursday.
While detaining them, one of the staff members was “physically assaulted and bitten” by one of the illegal immigrants. Authorities said one suspect was arrested on suspicion of assault and taken to hospital for a medical examination.
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CBP later confirmed to Fox News that an officer was bitten in the face by an illegal immigrant and that three of the four migrants in the group were returned to Mexico.
Mexican officials were nearby and intercepted the group as they crossed the border, then took them to the edge of the border where they could be viewed by Border Patrol agents, the agency said.
Texas National Guard members monitor more than 1,000 migrants who crossed the Rio Grande River from Mexico overnight, Dec. 18, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. (John Moore/Getty Images)
“There has been a significant risk of recent attacks on Border Patrol agents,” Customs and Border Protection said in a press release. In the El Paso sector of the border, where the latest attack took place, 66 agents have been assaulted so far this year, compared with 104 agents last year.
Sunland Park has become a key crossing point for migrants on the southern border, but apprehensions in that area have fallen this year compared to last, which agents say is due to increased technology and surveillance, as well as existing border barriers.
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Immigration and border security have become top issues in the US ahead of the 2024 presidential election. The Biden administration has noted that border apprehensions have recently fallen by more than 50% since President Biden signed an executive order restricting immigration in June. It has also called for Congress to pass a bipartisan border security bill to provide additional funding and resources to the border.
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Border Patrol agents escort migrants who crossed into Shelby Park into Border Patrol vans to be transported to a processing center in Eagle Pass, Texas, on February 4, 2024. (Photo: Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images)
Republicans have blamed the administration for creating the historic border crisis in the first place, arguing that the end of Trump-era policies and expansion of “catch and release” prompted millions of migrants to travel to the border and then be released inland.
Get the latest updates on the ongoing border crisis from the Fox News Digital immigration hub.
