A Border Patrol agent was assaulted and even bitten by a migrant who was part of a group attempting to illegally cross into the United States at the southern border Thursday afternoon, federal officials said.
The agent confronted the border-crossers at Mount Cristo Rey near Sunland Park in New Mexico around 12:50 p.m. when the skirmish broke out, US Customs and Border Protection said, according to Nexstar Media’s Border Report.
One of the migrants allegedly attacked and bit the agent, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The law enforcement officer was taken to a local medical facility for evaluation while the suspect was arrested for assault, the federal agency said.
The Sunland Park area is often one of the more hectic corridors along the border where migrants attempt to sneak into the country. Local dispatchers field frequent emergency calls when asylum seekers fall from the border wall near the Monte Cristo Rey monument and stumble on the rocks below, according to Border Report.
Three of the four migrants in the group who tried to enter through the corridor Thursday ran back into Mexico following the violent encounter and were taken into custody by Mexican authorities, the outlet reported.
One of the migrants was then brought to US Border Patrol agents so he could be identified, according to the publication.
So far, 413 border agents have been assaulted this fiscal year, according to data from the US Customs and Border Protection.
