Steve Neavling

A 19-year-old man Guatemalan pleaded guilty Wednesday to illegally crossing the U.S. border and stabbing a Border Patrol dog in the neck, the Associated Press reports.

Luis Gilberto Cruz-Solis could be sentenced up to a year in prison next month.

He pleaded guilty to willfully and maliciously harming a police animal and to entering the U.S. illegally.

The Border Patrol dog, Dinie, was hiding in some brush while investigating people crossing the border illegally, the AP wrote.

The dog survived.

A Border Patrol agent was rescued after tumbling down a 15-foot bluff while on solo patrol in remote mountains in San Diego County, ABC 10 News reports.

The agent suffered head, arm and leg injuries around 7 a.m. Tuesday and radioed his colleagues for help.

Fellow agents rushed to his side and stabilized him while a sheriff’s helicopter was en route.

Authorities said his injuries don’t appear to be life-threatening, ABC 10 News reported.

Steve Neavling

Federal prosecutors released video of a Border Patrol agent accused of beating a Mexican immigrant while in custody, CBS 8 in San Diego reports.

The agent in the video was found not guilty by a jury last month on excessive force charges.

The video shows Agent Luis Fonseca repeatedly choking and kicking the man until he fell to the ground.

The man, Adolfo Ceja-Escobar, had been deported several times.

Steve Neavling

The head of the U.S. Border Patrol told senators Tuesday that rules of engagement are too constraining and making it difficult to combat armed drug cartel spotters while atop U.S. mountains, the Washington Times reports.

Cartels traditionally send out spotters on U.S. territory to inspect border protection. 

Border Patrol Chief Michael J. Fisher said his agents can’t shoot the spotters like U.S. troops could in Afghanistan, for instance. The rules of engagement are much stricter on U.S. soil, Fisher said.

“The rules of engagement, what we call our ‘use of force,’ applies to individuals on the street or whether they’re up on a mountaintop,” he told the Senate panel.

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Steve Neavling

The federal government has no way to determine whether foreign exchange students are in the U.S. legally, New York Congressman Peter King told CNN.

CNN reports that Border Patrol and ICE monitor different parts of the visa – one confirms a student has a visa, the other checks to see whether the visa is in compliance. 

There’s no technology to link both agencies’ records.

The Department of Homeland Security ordered CBP to verify that students entering the U.S. have valid student visas.

Steve Neavling

It was a long, fruitful day for Border Patrol Monday. 

The Action 4 News reports that agents criss-crossed the Rio Grange Valley, raiding houses where 230 immigrants were found in about a half day.

Border Patrol was tipped off of a suspected human smuggling operations by the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office. 

Agents found the immigrants scattered across the area.

The illegal immigrants will be returned to their country, Action 4 News reported.

By Steve Neavling

Manuel Padilla Jr., a native of southern Arizona and long-time federal authority, has been appointed chief of the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, the Arizona Daily Star reports.

Padilla, who has worked with Border Patrol for 26 years, was serving as the acting chief at the office since October 2012; before that he served as deputy chief.

The Tucson Sector is critical to border safety because it has more than 4,500 employees who are tasked with securing 262 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border.

Padilla replaced Chief Richard A. Barlow, who took a job as chief of Strategic Planning, Policy and Analysis Division at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

“Tucson Sector remains committed to serving the communities” and “our agents are dedicated to maintaining a safe and secure border environment,” Padilla said.

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Steve Neavling

A van being pursued by the Border Patrol this weekend flipped over and killed five people in southern Arizona, the Associated Press reports.

Authorities found 22 people in the van Saturday between Tucson and Benson, Ariz., the AP reported.

The remaining 17 were rushed to a hospital for a variety of injuries.

Details of the pursuit remained murky Monday.