Border Patrol: Assaulted on the Front Line

Assaults on Border Patrol agents up 73 percent in 2017, prosecutions low

A Border Patrol agent leads an illegal alien out from the brush after capturing him near the U.S.–Mexico border at La Grulla, Texas, on Dec. 10, 2015. John Moore/Getty Images

WASHINGTON—Border Patrol agents routinely face drug traffickers, cartel and gang members, human smugglers, and other criminals crossing illegally into the United States. They get rocks thrown at them; they’re shot at, punched, kicked, and beaten.

The agents are the first line of defense against the illegal flow of people and contraband—most of which crosses the 2,000-mile southwest border.