Border Patrol Agents Told to Not Chase All Vehicles That Flee
KINNEY COUNTY, Texas—Border Patrol Under new rules that were unveiled in January, and which will take effect in May, agents will be restricted in their pursuit of vehicles fleeing from them.
Agents have to decide if vehicular pursuits qualify. “necessary and objectively reasonable” under These are the rulesYou have the right to end any pursuit at any point without fear of being questioned by your superiors.
Agents are told they need to consider factors like “the seriousness of the reason” for a pursuit and weather conditions when deciding whether to chase a fleeing vehicle that failed to stop at a checkpoint or port of entry—the official places to enter the United States from Mexico and Canada.
“A Vehicular Pursuit is considered Necessary when an Authorized Officer/Agent concludes there is an immediate need to apprehend a subject as part of their enforcement duties based on the totality of the known facts and circumstances,” The rules are clear.
The pursuit meets the “objectively reasonable” standard when the government’s interest in apprehending the persons or people in the fleeing vehicle “clearly outweighs the Foreseeability of Risk to the public, officers/agents, other law enforcement, and vehicle occupants,” The rules are clear.
Agents must weigh the risks and benefits of following a fleeing vehicle. During the chase, they should continue to evaluate the situation. Supervisors must also be alerted “as soon as feasible” If the supervisor doesn’t authorize the pursuit to continue or gives an order to stop it, immediately end it.
Agents are required to pull their vehicles over to notify the public or the fleeing driver that a chase is over. They must notify their superiors. They will then be able to drive in the direction that the vehicle fled from and check for any changes. “crashes, potential flight on foot, to determine if the Subject Vehicle was abandoned, or for any other incident.”
The rules offer other options than vehicular pursuits like tracking with an airplane.
Troy Miller was named acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner in late 2022. The ouster of Chris MagnusAccording to, vehicular pursuits are prohibited. “pose inherent risks—to members of the public, officers and agents, and vehicle occupants” That is the new policy “acknowledges these risks and shifts our Agency’s overall approach to a risk-based model when it comes to pursuits.”
Magnus stressed that the policy doesn’t prohibit vehicular pursuits, but “provides a clear framework” You must weigh the risks of following your passion against the potential benefits.
Agent: ‘Codifying What Has Already Been Done’
Although the policy was not as strict, agents were being instructed not to pursue any fleeing vehicles, according to a Border Patrol agent.
“They’re codifying what has been already done,” said the agent, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
According to the agent, while the pursuits slowdown began under former President Donald Trump it has increased significantly since President Joe Biden became president.
“Under Biden, they don’t want us to do jack squat,” The agent stated. “And really it plays with their narrative, because their narrative is: the only thing that’s happening are refugees, asylum seekers, family units, and UACs. So why would we need to go into a pursuit if that’s what’s happening?” UACs are unaccompanied minors. They are children who cross the border without an adult.
Historic numbers of illegal immigrants have crossed the U.S.–Mexico border under Biden. There have been no signs of an end to the crisis.
The agent also worries that the new rules encourage agents not to complete their job and will transfer pursuits of local and state officials.
“They’re incentivizing us to not do anything, which places everything on sheriffs, local law enforcement, and DPS,” The agent was referring to Texas Department of Public Safety. “This is just another step in the way of destroying the sovereignty of this nation.”
Brad Coe, Kinney County Sheriff, was a Border Patrol agent who served 31 years. He said that the new policy will result in no Border Patrol-led pursuits.
“That’s going to be a zero pursuit policy,” The Epoch Times was told by Coe.
If Border Patrol doesn’t commence a chase, then more pressure will be placed on sheriffs and other law enforcement entities, Coe said.
Kinney County extends to the border with Mexico in a portion. County officials have recorded jumps in high-speed pursuits—from 61 in 2020 to 139 in 2022—and arrests of human smugglers—from 169 in 2020 to 741 in 2022.
Through Jan. 27, 44 smugglers were already arrested.
ACLU Welcomes Change
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) welcomed the change in Border Patrol policy.
“Preserving human life is paramount, and this policy makes that a central consideration by adopting many widely accepted best practices,” Rebecca Sheff was a senior staff lawyer at the ACLU of New Mexico. She released a statement.
“While our office will be closely analyzing these policy changes and robust training and oversight will be essential to ensure compliance with this new policy, this is an important step forward for our border communities who have borne the brunt of CBP’s deadly pursuits,” Sheff was also added.
Some Border Patrol pursuits ended in crashes. Others left behind illegal immigrants.
An ACLU tracker shows that there have been 93 deaths as a result of such crashes since 2010. Illegal immigrant deaths overall Biden has seen his popularity soarAccording to The Epoch Times data, it is.
While most of the deceased were here illegally, others were U.S. citizens and agents.
Two people were killed and eight other were injured in a chase that took place in southern New Mexico on Jan. 8. After an agent, the chase began. Shot.
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