Border Agent Murdered By Drug Smuggler Entering US Illegally

Luis Aguilar, 32, who was assigned to the Yuma, Arizona, border patrol station, died Saturday, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner W. Ralph Basham said in a statement.

"Agent Aguilar's death serves as another stark reminder of the risks our front-line agents and officers face each day," Basham said.

Aguilar was trying to place spike strips in the path of two vehicles believed to have illegally entered the country from Mexico when one of the vehicles hit him, agent Michael Bernacke, a spokesman for the agency's Yuma sector, told The Associated Press.

Both vehicles drove back across the border into Mexico, the AP said.

The fatal incident occurred in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area near Andrade, California, Basham said. Andrade is just over the California state line from Arizona.

The area is popular with off-road vehicle enthusiasts but also is frequently used by smugglers carrying people or drugs, the AP said.

Once again, lawlessness and mayhem is caused by criminals who cross the border into the US. Agent Aguilar was murdered by drug smugglers who treat the US border as nothing more than a line in the sand that can be crossed with impunity.

Will the US government take further action to secure its borders, or will it simply pay lip service to the family of Agent Aguilar, who will be left to grieve the lost of their husband, brother, and father. Given past performance, I would count on more lip service. I wish I'd be wrong on that count.