Agents in video try to dump man
A video released Wednesday shows two uniformed Border Patrol agents trying to dump an injured man across the U.S.-Mexico border at Calexico, California, in violation of federal policies on repatriating foreign nationals from the United States.
The six-minute long video dates to 2017, according to NBC News, which obtained the footage from U.S. Customs and Border Protection after a whistleblower contacted the network about its existence.
The video, filmed from the Mexican side of the border, shows the two agents holding on to each of the man’s arms as they walk him toward the international boundary near one of the border crossings. The man has his hands tied behind his back and is walking barefoot, wearing loose khaki pants and has his shirt only around his neck,
with his torso exposed.
As the three approach the border, Mexican border officials walk up to the boundary and tell the agents in Spanish that they first have to go through the Mexican Consulate in the United States.
At one point, one of the Mexican officials asks one of the agents, “Are you new?”
The agent replies in Spanish, “No, I’ve been doing this for 20 years,” adding a few seconds later that “I’m doing him a favor,” alluding to the man.
As the Border Patrol agent argues with Mexican officials over whether or not the man is in their custody, the man is seen sitting on the ground, with his hands tied behind his back, and showing slightly erratic behavior, grunting and repeatedly rubbing his right leg and foot as if he’s injured.
During the exchange with Mexican officials, the unidentified Border Patrol agent tells them that if he left the man alone, he would have killed himself, and that the Mexican authorities should call an ambulance for him. But officials on the Mexican side continue repeating that the man is on the U.S. side of the border and that if he’s being repatriated, they must first go through the Mexican Consulate, if he’s Mexican, to which the agent repeats, “He looks Mexican.”
The entire exchange lasts approximately three minutes, after which the man walks off toward the international border crossings, unimpeded by the two agents, past southbound traffic. At that same time, the two agents walk away from the border in the opposite direction.
NBC News reported the man was dropped off at a nearby park. But agents encountered him again one month later, and this time around processed him through the Mexican Consulate. They found out the man had previously been deported 16 times. Two agents shown in the video were reprimanded, according to NBC News, but still kept their jobs.
The United States follows certain policies when it comes to repatriation, or deportations, of foreign nationals from the country. This incident appears to show the two agents ignoring those policies.