border patrol agent Zachary Apotheker He faces an ongoing internal investigation and could be fired as a result of publicly raising concerns about how open borders policies are fueling the child trafficking crisis in the country. .
Apoteker started his career as a Border Patrol agent on the southern border and moved to the Swanton area on the northern border last year.
Since sharing his concerns in podcast appearances and interviews with news outlets, he says Customs and Border Protection has retaliated against him despite whistleblower protection laws.
“There are many ways to defeat the enemy,” Apoteker warned. [immigration] His biggest concern is the alarming rise in child trafficking.
“I think they're going to fire me.”
He noted that there are limits to Border Patrol's ability to check the criminal backgrounds of foreign nationals who cross the border.
“They have no criminal history,” Apoteker told Blaze News.
“Adults may not show up with documents, in which case children may not show up with documents or may have false documents. “We're just taking them at their word that they're people's children, which means they're their biological parents,” he said. Said. “We don't even know if the adults with them are criminals.”
“We can't say for sure and we can't track them,” he continued. “Now imagine if they were unaccompanied. [minors]. ”
“We're just sending them somewhere, so it might be a relative's house. How do we know it's a relative's house? And who's tracking it?” ” he asked.
In early September, Apoteker appeared in an interview with “.Fresh & Fit Podcast” shared how illegal immigrants are exploiting current border policies to smuggle humans and drugs into the United States.
Shortly after the podcast's release, he received a cease and desist letter from Customs and Border Protection.
Around the same time, Apotheker was also featured in a James O'Keeffe documentary.line in the sand”, he spoke out about child trafficking.
In the film, Apotheker references the gruesome murder of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old University of Georgia nursing student who was killed while jogging near campus. The man charged with Riley's murder is a 26-year-old Venezuelan national who was living in the United States illegally and is a suspected member of the transnational gang Torren de Aragua.
Apotheker told O'Keefe, “When you have a girl like Laken Riley jogging around, she's at the top of her class when it comes to nursing, and we sign that fucking file, hey, it's ours.'' It's blood on my hands.''
“How would you feel if it were your mother, your sister, or your aunt?”
He told Blaze News that CBP asked him about appearing in the documentary film.
Mr. Apoteker responded to CBP officials by saying, “Like many other Border Patrol agents, I participated in the Line in the Sand film while in uniform.”
In the film, several other Border Patrol agents spoke with O'Keefe while on duty.
“We do not provide any CBP information to non-CBP personnel,” he added, “and we do not provide any non-public information.”
Apothekar said the “only reward” he received for participating in the film was a “free, pure and clear” conscience.
“I spoke the truth to the American people and fulfilled my duty to the Constitution of the United States,” he said.
In his letter to CBP officials, Apotheker emphasized that the Department of Homeland Security acknowledges that more than 300,000 children are missing. He also noted that CBP does not collect children's biometric data, making it “virtually impossible” to accurately identify children.
According to Department of Homeland Security“Regulations currently exempt certain foreign nationals, including those under the age of 14 and those over the age of 79, and individuals in certain visa classes from biometric collection, so CBP will verify the traveler's identity in these cases. We do not use fingerprints to
Apoteker told Blaze News that government agents stripped him of his government-issued firearm the same week he was questioned.
“It's like a little mind game trick. … They found a way to do something that can't be proven.
On October 11, he received a memo from the head of the CBP division informing him that he was “currently under investigation…for allegations related to serious violations of our integrity and/or security policies.”
“It is in CBP's best interest to temporarily revoke the individual's authority to carry a government-issued firearm,” the agency's memo said. However, he insisted that the firearm revocation was “not a disciplinary action.”
Apoteker, who was not armed with a firearm, was escorted from the scene and told to report to work in “business casual attire.”
The memo bore the illegible handwritten signature of the Swanton district division chief. No corresponding printed name was listed to identify the individual.
Image source: Zachary Apotheker
“They pulled out my gun and I was kicked out of the scene. I can't do my job,” Apoteker told Blaze News.
“It's unusual for someone to take a gun away for no other reason and then say it's not disciplinary but not take away their law enforcement credentials,” he added.
Shortly after receiving the memo, Mr. Apoteker was served with another notice compelling him to testify under oath before a Department of Homeland Security special agent on October 17th.
Mr Apoteker was informed that he would be questioned regarding his “general misconduct/disruptive conduct”.
He attended a mandatory administrative hearing, but was advised by his legal representative not to answer any questions.
“I feel I did nothing wrong,” Apoteker said. He admitted that he violated Border Patrol policy by wearing a Border Patrol uniform during his podcast appearance. But he explained that he only did so after filing a whistleblower report through the DHS Office of Inspector General and speaking with members of Congress, and that “nothing was done.”
“I acted carefully,” he said. “The country needs to recognize this.”
He explained that the legal adviser: Citizenship Journalism Foundationinstructed them not to participate in CBP's “retaliatory investigation.”
“We didn't want to legitimize that meeting,” he told Blaze News. “I don't think I should be investigated. Rather, I think I should be asked what I know and how to resolve it.”
The day after the hearing, Mr. Apoteker received a notice informing him that his law enforcement privileges had been revoked due to “failings.”[ure] To answer questions during an administrative interview conducted by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Professional Responsibility. ”
“His refusal to participate in the mandatory interview calls into question his ability to perform his law enforcement functions as a Border Patrol agent,” the memo said.
Apothekar was asked to turn over the rest of his Border Patrol equipment, including badges, bulletproof vests and radios.
“You will therefore be placed in a management position immediately,” the memo continued. “Access to buildings and computer systems will be modified to be restricted to only those areas necessary to perform assigned administrative duties. You will not be performing law enforcement duties and will be required to wear a uniform.” will follow business rather than “casual dress code'' standards. ”
The memo again states, “While this is not a disciplinary action, we note that given the nature of the allegations against you, it is a necessary step to maintain the confidence of the public we serve.'' Please.
The memo was signed by the same department head, but again, his name was not printed.
Image source: Zachary Apotheker
Apothekar told Blaze News that the agency changed his schedule and drastically reduced his work hours.
“Not only did they cut my overtime pay (which was a lot of money), but by switching me from night shift to morning shift, basically what they were trying to do was reduce my overtime pay by 10% at a time. “It's to put financial pressure on me because of the difference. After 6 p.m.,” he said.
Apothekar said his salary was cut by at least $25,000 to $35,000 because of “all the tricks they did.” He feels the change was “100% retaliation,” despite the agency's claims to the contrary.
“They will do everything to make it difficult for me,” he said.
“We’re going to fight this.”
Even before his equipment was confiscated and his law enforcement privileges revoked, Apoteker said his superiors were making his workday more difficult, including placing him in the department's most remote areas. He said it seemed like he was going out of his way to help. After driving for hours to get to his assignment, he said he would soon be called back for a last-minute meeting.
“They sent me to the furthest part of our area. I drove out there for two hours, and they called me back. Now it's consistent. “It happened,” he said. “Every day I knew I would be called over the radio to attend another meeting. I could have called the meeting right then and there.”
“It's like a little mind game trick,” Apothekar added. “They found a way to do something that couldn't be proven.”
He explained that before he left the southern border and moved to the Swanton area, he was “known as someone who wasn't happy with what was going on in Arizona.”
“And when I came here, I felt like it followed me. I spoke out against what was happening, instead of staying silent and silent about what was happening. He is a man with a reputation for being,” Apothekar added.
He said he got the impression that the leadership “wanted to let me know that this will not be tolerated here.”
Apotheker told Blaze News that Border Patrol agents “work harder on the northern border than on the southern border because there are fewer agents per capita who can do as many jobs.”
“We have a lot of drive-throughs here, which means people are physically getting into their cars and driving from Canada to the United States. This should be a massive crime, not just crossing. , you're driving across the border,'' he explained. “When you're a family, sometimes you get chased.”
The Swanton area is the busiest northern border area and covers 24,000 square miles.
In October, Swanton District Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said, “Border Patrol agents in the Swanton District have arrested more than 19,222 subjects from 97 countries since October 1, 2023, which is the most in the past 17 “This is more than all fiscal years combined.”
Apothekar is concerned that CBP's internal investigation could ultimately lead to his firing.
When asked what he would do next, Apoteker told Blaze News: “We're going to fight this.”
“I think they're going to fire me,” he continued, but said “a number of things could happen.”
“I don't want it to be about me,” Apoteker added. “I wanted the theme to be about what's been going on in the last three and a half years that everyone knows about, and I want to expose the people who are trying to eliminate me for telling the truth. I'm not going to give in. ”
Neither CBP nor DHS-OIG responded to Blaze News' requests for comment.
