Thread: Border Patrol Marfa, 2008

C.B.P. News Release

Enhancements, Honors Mark FY 2008 for Marfa Sector

(Friday, October 17, 2008)

Marfa, Texas – A look back on fiscal year 2008 for the U.S. Border Patrol’s Marfa Sector reveals manpower enhancements, a high honor for a sector employee and increased collaboration and cooperation with other agencies. The U.S. Border Patrol is part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection whose fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30.

Marfa Sector received over 80 additional agents during the year. Some were experienced personnel transferring from other sectors but most were newly hired interns. They will be stationed throughout the sector. Interns are sent to the U.S. Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, N.M. They spend 11 weeks learning Border Patrol skills including law, firearms, physical fitness and others. Those who don’t speak Spanish remain at the academy for an additional eight weeks. Once they return to Marfa Sector, they receive on-the-job training and formal training throughout their internship.

The Border Patrol is continuing its aggressive recruiting program into fiscal year 2009. Individuals interested in a Border Patrol career can call 1-888-536-6204 to talk to a recruiter.

Marfa Sector Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Dan M. Harris, Jr., received the Border Patrol’s highest award for courage, the Newton-Azrak Award. Harris’ award came as a result of his actions during a shooting in east Texas in May, 2007. After addressing a group gathered for a law enforcement memorial, Harris went to assist local officers called to the scene of a shooting. Two local sheriff’s deputies were shot and killed and another was wounded. Harris, an emergency medical technician, crawled to the wounded deputy and began to administer aid at the risk of being wounded or even killed. The wounded deputy has since recovered and returned to duty.

The award is in honor of Theodore L. Newton and George F. Azrak. Both were Border Patrol agents on duty in San Diego County, Calif. On June 17, 1967, the two were ambushed and kidnapped while conducting a traffic check near Oak Grove, Calif. Two days later Newton and Azrak were found handcuffed together and brutally murdered in a remote shack near Anza, Calif. Four men were eventually found and prosecuted for the murders. All four served or are serving prison sentences. They had been attempting to smuggle 800 pounds of marijuana into the country when Newton and Azrak stopped them.

Numerous collaborative efforts with other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies were evidenced by fewer apprehensions and drug seizures within the sector area of responsibility.

“Joint operations have become the norm rather than the exception and there is now a free flow of information between Marfa Sector and its partners,â€

Good job BP! As an amatuer astronomer, I go out to a friends house on top of a 6,000ft mountain 2 miles away from McDonald observatory which isn't far from Marfa. Everytime I go I see the huge white blimps they use to patrol the area. When I was there in September, the Fort Davis news paper had a story about the decline of students in the Marfa schools because of the deportations. I hardly see any illegals down there. The hispanics that I do see are legal English speaking business owners.