Tag: border patrol

Cellphone Seizures & the Courts

After years of conflicting decisions by federal district courts across the country on whether Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents can search your cell phone and laptop at ports of entry, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that, “the routine inspection and search of a traveler’s electronics, or for that matter, any other type of property, at the border may be conducted without a warrant, probable cause, or even individualized suspicion of wrongdoing.”  

In reaching the decision, the court agreed with several other circuit courts, but put itself at odds with others and many (lower) federal district courts around the country. 

The issue moved quickly to the Supreme Court, which upheld the Seventh Circuit’s decision this month.  This is, sadly, despite the fact that the Fourth Circuit ruled earlier this year that “CBP agents need at least reasonable suspicion of a crime to search cell phones” and the Ninth Circuit agreed with that ruling.  

The present case stems from the 2016 arrest of Marcos Mendez at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.  Mendez is most certainly not the poster boy for protection of Americans’ civil liberties, but this is the hand that civil libertarians have been dealt in the case. 

Mendez arrived at O’Hare following a trip to Ecuador.  Along with his luggage, he carried a personal cellphone, a work cellphone and a work iPad.  

Because Mendez had been convicted in 2010 on a charge of indecent solicitation of a child, and because he had a history of international travel to countries where there are weak protections for children, CBP agents pulled him aside and searched his belongings. 

Agents used a technology called DOMEX to extract the contents of his phone, where they found thousands of images of child pornography.

Mendez was promptly arrested and charged with multiple counts of possession of child pornography.  His attorneys moved to suppress the photos, arguing that they were illegally obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment. 

The federal district court for the Northern District of Illinois denied the motion and, in the end, Mendez pleaded guilty to one count of producing child pornography and was sentenced to six years in prison, but he preserved his right to appeal.  The Seventh Circuit now has denied that appeal and the Supreme Court has upheld the conviction.

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Border Patrol Whistleblower in James O’Keefe’s “Line In The Sand” Film Has Firearm Revoked

Zachary Apotheker, the Border Patrol whistleblower who appeared in James O’Keefe’s film titled, “Line In The Sand” had his firearm revoked!

“Undercover journalist James O’Keefe goes to the front lines of the migrant industrial complex using hidden cameras and raw testimonials. O’Keefe reveals the shocking reality of the U.S. border crisis like never before: Mexican freight trains, cartel tunnels, and U.S. funded child detention camps. Watch this gripping exposé of a corrupted system that demands change,” the film’s description reads.

Click here to watch “Line In The Sand”

Zachary Apotheker said his government-issued firearm was revoked.

“I am Border Patrol Agent Zach Apotheker. Just one day after my appearance in James OKeefe’s film “Line in the Sand,” now streaming on the TCNetwork, my government-issued firearm was revoked. The reason? Alleged breaches of security and integrity policies,” the whistleblower said.

“But here’s the stark contrast: while I’m rendered weaponless, thousands of illegal alien convicted murderers and rapists, as openly admitted by the Department of Homeland Security DHS, remain at large and free,” he said.

“I took an oath to defend our Constitution and to protect the American public. This has been the greatest honor of my life. Yet, when you’re truly over the target, you become the target,” he said.

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Border Patrol Whistleblower in O’Keefe’s “Line In The Sand” Film Receives Memo From US CBP Demanding Answers – Whistleblower Responds with Fire

Zachary Apotheker, the Border Patrol whistleblower who appeared in James O’Keefe’s film titled, “Line In The Sand” received a memo from US Customs and Border Protection demanding answers about his involvement in the documentary.

“Undercover journalist James O’Keefe goes to the front lines of the migrant industrial complex using hidden cameras and raw testimonials. O’Keefe reveals the shocking reality of the U.S. border crisis like never before: Mexican freight trains, cartel tunnels, and U.S. funded child detention camps. Watch this gripping exposé of a corrupted system that demands change,” the film’s description reads.

Click here to watch “Line In The Sand”

The memo reads:

You are hereby instructed to provide a detailed memorandum responding to the questions below no later than the end of your shift on October 9, 2024. You will be provided time during your shift to complete your memorandum.

Background: It has come to management’s attention that video clips to the movie “Line in the Sand” have aired on social media and or the internet and you have been observed in these video clips in uniform and in a USBP service vehicle.

Did you participate in any filmed interview, meeting or discussion for the movie “Line in the Sand”?
a. If yes, did you participate while you were on duty?
b. If yes, did you participate while you were in CBP-issued uniform?
c. If yes, when did you participate in these interviews? Please provide any and all dates of filmed interviews, meeting or discussions.
d. If yes, were any of these interviews filmed on USBP property?
i. If yes, which locations and when?
e. If yes, did you receive any compensation or benefit for your participation in these interview(s), meeting(s) or discussion(s)?

Did you participate in any filmed interview, meeting or discussion for the movie “Line in the Sand,” from inside a USBP service vehicle?
a. If yes, were you on duty during the filming of this interview, meeting or discussion?
b. If yes, did you transport any non-USBP employee in a USBP service vehicle?
i. If yes, for what purpose did you transport a non-USBP employee in a USBP service vehicle?

Have you provided any CBP information to any non-CBP employee in connection with “Line in the Sand”?
a. If yes, what information did you provide?
b. If yes, to whom did you provide this information?
c. If yes, did you obtain this information by accessing CBP systems?
i. If yes, what systems did you access?
ii. If yes, when did you access these systems?
iii. If yes, what information did you obtain?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, did you receive supervisory approval in advance of your actions?
a. If yes, from who did you receive supervisory approval?
b. If yes, when did you receive supervisory approval

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Second Border Patrol Agent Blows the Whistle on Border Crisis – “Cartels Are Running the Border”

A second Border Patrol Agent blew the whistle on the border crisis: ‘My Conscience Will Be Clean, That’s Way More Important Than My Pension’

James O’Keefe last Tuesday evening announced his new film on the migrant industrial complex dubbed “Line in the Sand” premieres October 10th on the Tucker Carlson Network.

“Undercover journalist James O’Keefe goes to the front lines of the migrant industrial complex using hidden cameras and raw testimonials. O’Keefe reveals the shocking reality of the U.S. border crisis like never before: Mexican freight trains, cartel tunnels, and U.S. funded child detention camps. Watch this gripping exposé of a corrupted system that demands change,” O’Keefe Media Group said.

A second Border Patrol agent told James O’Keefe that the cartels are running the border in Arizona.

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Kamala Harris’ Border Visit Backfires Before She Even Arrives – Border Patrol Union Releases Statement

The last place Vice President Kamala Harris should be going with just over a month to go before Election Day is the border.

It doesn’t take a savvy campaign strategist to figure out this is the place where she is the weakest after her time in office has seen millions of illegal immigrants flood the country — after Harris was charged by President Joe Biden in 2021 with dealing with the illegal immigration’s “root causes.”

Any thinking person knows this, but apparently Harris doesn’t, as her planned trip to the border in Arizona on Friday shows.

Harris was scheduled to speak Friday evening in Douglas, Arizona, but ahead of that visit, the Border Patrol union put out a statement in which National Border Patrol Council Vice President Art Del Cueto went absolutely scorched earth on her.

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US Border Agents Find RPGs & IEDs Near Southern Border Amid “Internal Alert” Of “Drastic Escalation” In Weaponry Used By Cartels

An alarming battle between rival factions of the Sinaloa drug cartel has unfolded in northwestern Mexico, near the Biden-Harris administration’s open southern border. The risk of spillover continues to increase as US Border Patrol agents recently discovered a weapons cache of shoulder-fired rocket launchers and improvised explosive devices just across from the Arizona border. 

“4 RPGs and 8 IEDs along with a large amount of ammo discovered in a scout site in Mexico just across the Arizona border which butts up against the Ajo area of operation within the Tucson Sector,” NewsNation’s border correspondent Ali Bradley wrote on X on Monday afternoon. 

Bradley said, “Border Patrol agents are being warned of the “drastic escalation” in weaponry being used on the south side of the border—According to an internal alert obtained through sources.” 

“The fighting within the Sinaloa cartel, spilling over the border with multiple instances of armed men showing up to the southern border in the same area fleeing into the US for safety,” she added.

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Two Border Patrol Agents Arrested, Accused Of Working With Unnamed Drug Cartel

Two officers with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations have been working with an unnamed drug cartel for a number of years, federal prosecutors have alleged.

According to court documents, the officers allegedly allowed the organization to move large amounts of fentanyl, methamphetamines, cocaine, and heroin through their inspection lanes on the southern border.

Jesse Clark Garcia and Diego Bonillo have been named as the two CBP officers referenced in an indictment filed by the U.S. Southern District of California. The two agents are accused of drug trafficking and drug trafficking conspiracy, and both men have been in custody since May.

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‘They lie about what’s happening at the border’: Border Patrol Union leaders reiterate they never endorsed Biden

Following President Joe Biden’s claims during the first presidential debate that border patrol had endorsed him for president, the Border Patrol Union has clarified that they have not endorsed Biden and never will. 

During the debate, President Biden spoke about immigration where he claimed that his administration had significantly increased the number of asylum officers. He went on to say that the Border Patrol endorsed him and endorsed his position on border security.  

This statement prompted a strong reaction from the Border Patrol Union, which immediately posted, “To be clear, we never have and never will endorse Biden.” Brandon Judd, president of the Border Patrol Union, appeared on Fox News to set the record straight on Biden’s debate claim and border policies. 

“The border can be secured tomorrow if we would go back, and we would look at the policies that were in place that President Trump built. They were great policies,” Judd said. 

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Mysterious deaths of two US Border Patrol agents as one is found dead in vacation hotel room after prostitute tryst – and the other kills himself days after trip

The deaths of two US border patrol agents after their Colombian vacation is being investigated by the FBI. 

Jaime Eduardo Cisneros, 54, and Alexander Ahmed, 54, traveled to Colombia together in late May. 

But before they returned home, Cisneros was found dead in a Medellin hotel after a tryst with a woman described locally as a prostitute. 

Ahmed then killed himself on American soil after returning home from the trip, before FBI agents had the chance to interview him about his friend’s death. 

Cisneros’ cause of death remains unknown. The woman he’d been with was seen waving goodbye to him and leaving his room, according to local outlets. 

US investigators spent days in Medellin working with Colombian officials to piece together how he died. 

Officials discovered that his phone and other valuables were missing from the hotel room where his body was found, and his clothes and suitcase were in ‘total disarray’. 

His wallet had also been emptied.  

After his death, Ahmed returned to Texas alone, but killed himself days after. 

Ahmed’s body was discovered June 4 in El Paso. 

Both men were assigned to the Clint station, just outside Texas’ sixth largest city, and were nearing retirement eligibility.

US Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of US Border Patrol, did not immediately respond to a request for comment by DailyMail.com. 

In December, the US Embassy in Bogota issued a travel alert after eight American men died in a span of two months in the South American nation under ‘suspicious’ circumstances.

To date, 28 tourists, including Americans, have died in Medellin this year, Colombian authorities admitted.

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TSA director arrested by US Customs and Border Protection

An official with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been arrested on an outstanding warrant, according to local reports.

TSA Assistant Federal Security Director Maxine McManaman was arrested in Atlanta by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Dec. 28. 

McManaman had a warrant for her arrest posted by the St. Lucie County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office, which claimed she and an alleged accomplice named Delroy Chambers Sr. exploited a relative suffering from dementia by falsifying documents in their name, according to Port St. Lucie Police.

The Florida authorities allege that the duo forged signatures on a quitclaim deed transferring ownership of a property in the relative’s name over to themselves.

The relative whose property was transferred to McManaman and Chambers allegedly could not have signed the quitclaim deed, because the individual was found to have been in Atlanta on the date listed, according to police. 

Chambers was previously arrested on Dec. 20 in Port St. Lucie, charged with two counts of exploitation of an elderly or disabled adult, simple neglect and two counts of forgery. He eventually bonded out of jail. 

McManaman is facing a third-degree felony charge of forgery.

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