Border Patrol Chief Chavez transferring to El Paso
IMPERIAL — The U.S. Border Patrol El Centro Sector will have a new acting chief patrol agent as of Monday.
Current Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez has been reassigned to serve as interim chief in the El Paso, Texas, Sector, Special Operations Supervisor Miguel A. Garcia confirmed in an email. Current Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Ryan Scudder will serve as acting chief patrol agent.
That is as much information as Garcia could confirm on Thursday, as the Border Patrol had yet to release an official statement on the transfer. However, according national media reports, Chavez will be taking over for current El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Hull, whom the Washington Examiner said has been reassigned to a “temporary duty assignment” as chief patrol agent of the Detroit Sector.
“Multiple members of the Border Patrol’s senior leadership team are currently rotating on TDY assignments in both Headquarters roles and senior field positions nationwide,” according to a Customs and Border Protection statement quoted by the Examiner.
The El Paso Sector reportedly has faced heavy scrutiny and criticism over its handling of detained immigrants. The El Centro Sector under Chavez’s watch, which began in April 2018, has largely avoided such negative attention.
Chavez’s new assignment will include overseeing approximately 2,400 personnel, approximately double the personnel in the El Centro Sector.
She first entered duty with the U.S. Border Patrol on May 14, 1995, and was first assigned to the front lines as a Border Patrol agent at the Imperial Beach Station, San Diego Sector.
Chavez excelled at many diverse leadership assignments in the field, which enabled her to be promoted to U.S. Border Patrol Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
There, she managed border security training missions and coordinated the deployment of U.S. Border Patrol agents to foreign countries across the globe.
Additionally, she led several bilateral negotiations with the government of Mexico on policy and training agreements on behalf of CBP.
In 2007, she returned to the Southwest border as an assistant chief patrol agent overseeing the communications and community engagement departments for the San Diego Sector.
Chavez assumed her first station command as the patrol agent in charge of the Chula Vista Station, San Diego Sector in 2008. She then promoted to chief patrol agent and assumed command of the Spokane, Wash., Sector in 2010.
There she commanded seven Border Patrol stations along the U.S.-Canada border. In 2015, Chief Chavez was promoted to the Senior Executive Service position of deputy chief for the Law Enforcement Operations Division, Washington, D.C., overseeing operations and intelligence programs for 20 Border Patrol sectors nationwide.
Chavez said in a 2018 interview with Valley Women magazine that her goal when she accepted the El Centro Sector post was to focus on making El Centro Sector the best sector possible.
“I just want to be here and do the best I can,” she said. “I take this position very humbly. I see myself in a stewardship role where I can support the agents to train them well to provide them the equipment and the resources they need.”
During Chavez’s time here, the sector played host to visits from Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump.