With a budget of $17.5 billion in fiscal year 2023 and more than 63,000 personnel, Customs and Border Protection is the largest law enforcement agency in the country. More than 85 percent of the agency's Border Patrol agents (i.e., 16,878 of 19,648) are concentrated on the southern border.
Most of the agents are honest and ethical law enforcement officers, but some are not.
According to the CBP, there were 186 alleged incidents of sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, and/or sex discrimination committed by or perpetrated against Border Patrol agents between 2000 and 2022. This information was obtained through a FOIA request and lawsuit brought by investigative reporter Erin Siegal McIntyre writing for Mother Jones. Her article is “Crossing the Line: The Border Patrol’s Culture of Impunity Enables Bad Behavior – And Sometimes Keeps it from the Public View.”
McIntyre’s story closely examines an alleged rape at the agency’s training academy in New Mexico in 2019 by an instructor and agent. While the student refused to press charges against the man, the incident speaks to the impunity the agency operates with.
In September 2018 Laredo was rocked when a Border Patrol stationed in the Texas border city went on a killing spree.
Juan David Ortiz, a ten-year veteran of Customs and Border Protection, was a serial killer with four murders to his name.
From September 3 through September 15, 2018, Ortiz lured four victims into his white Dodge truck and drove them to the outskirts of town where he violently executed them, leaving them dead or dying on the sides of dark, rural roads. Melissa Ramirez, Claudine Anne Luera, Guiselda Hernandez, and Janelle Ortiz were four marginalized women striving to make ends meet as sex workers.
The new book “The Devil Behind the Badge” uncovers the hunt for Ortiz and the agent’s descent into bloodthirsty darkness. Along the way, it raises serious questions about the border crisis, the abuse of law enforcement, and the challenges of a federal agency to police its own ranks.
Guests:
Erin Siegal McIntyre is an investigative reporter.
Rick Jervis is the author of the new book “The Devil Behind the Badge.”
"The Source" is a live call-in program airing Mondays through Thursdays from 12-1 p.m. Leave a message before the program at (210) 615-8982. During the live show, call 833-877-8255, email thesource@tpr.org.
*This interview was recorded on Wednesday, August 7, 2024.
