An illegal immigrant attacked a U.S. female border patrol agent while she was making an arrest in Tucson, Arizona on Saturday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources told Fox News that the female border patrol agent was taking the male illegal immigrant into custody when he attacked her, causing injuries to her face and arms.

The female CBP agent assigned to the Tucson Sector was able to struggle until backup arrived and subdued him. 

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Female Border Patrol Agent in Arizona Assaulted

The CBP released a statement, saying that the assaulted female border agent was brought in for medical treatment, while the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has started a probe into the assault on a federal officer.

Aside from the FBI, the Cochise County Sheriff's Office is also investigating the matter. CBP's data showed that the officials encountered more than two million arrests in the fiscal year 2022, a significant increase compared to the previous year

The CBP reported in February that the agency has been seeing more than 180 assaults on border agents in the last five months.

Former U.S. Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott noted that agents were "facing real threats out there every single day" as they do not know what they will be encountering until they walk up on it, according to News Nation.

CBP data showed that border patrol agents had experienced 185 assaults on their force since the 2023 fiscal year, which started in October. Out of that number, 22 assaults were reported in just a single week.

Scott added that those who do not attack CBP agents are people who are "actually fleeing from fear" and persecution in their homeland, aiming to claim asylum in the U.S. The former chief said those people usually walk up to the first agent they see and surrender.

Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said that the number of assault encounters had become a problem, adding that the Justice Department provides support to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted.

Scott encouraged agents to file a report if they are assaulted while on the job, as it can help build a case if the person assaults another CBP agent.

U.S. Illegal Immigration

Sources told Fox News that migrant encounters at the southern border have already surpassed the one million mark for the fiscal year 2023.

The total migrant encounters as of February 25 were 1,008,217, with 87.8% of those being single adults. On the other hand, just 328,454 were expelled under Title 42. In 2021, there were more than 1.7 million encounters, while there were 2.3 million in the fiscal year 2022.

A Gallup poll showed that 63% of Americans, who participated in the survey, said they were dissatisfied with immigration, while overall satisfaction with immigration was at 34%, the Voice of America reported.

Lydia Saad, the director of the analytics and advisory company, said they know the numbers have increased with the COVID-19 pandemic and "everything happening at the border."

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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