Exclusive: Mayorkas, in memo, commits to working with DOJ to prosecute threats against CBP agents

The DHS Secretary returned last week from a trip to the border during which CBP agents expressed their frustration with his leadership.

Published: February 8, 2022 9:50am

Updated: February 8, 2022 11:05am

In a memo exclusively obtained by Just the News, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas offers his support to Customs and Border Protections agents against whom assaults and threats of violence are being lodged.

The memo, which contains the subject line "Prioritizing Prosecutions of Criminal Conduct Directed at CBP Agents and Officers," informs Chris Magnus, the CBP commissioner, that DHS is working with leadership at the Justice Department to ensure that "assaults on CBP and other federal law enforcement personnel are referred for prosecution as appropriate and treated as a priority."

"During my recent travel along the Southwest Border, I received reports from CBP Agents and Officers that they are experiencing assaults, threats of violence, and criminal interference in the performance of their duties. This is unacceptable," reads the memo.

For months, there have been reports of CBP agents being targeted by criminal attacks along the U.S. southern border as they work to apprehend those in a record number of illegal crossings. 

During his recent trip to the border, leaked audio and video footage confirmed several tense interactions between Secretary Mayorkas and CBP agents frustrated by the elevated number of unlawful crossings and lack of resources available to deal with the influx of migrants. 

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