EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A Venezuelan woman is facing federal charges after allegedly assaulting a Border Patrol agent at an El Paso migrant processing center.
Border agents on June 30 detained Maria Alexandra Louze Flores at an Interstate 10 checkpoint in Sierra Blanca, Texas. That, and other checkpoints 20 to 40 miles north of the Mexican border serve as a second line of defense to stop drugs and migrants who make it past the border wall.
The agents found the woman ineligible to proceed to the interior of the United States and placed her on a Border Patrol van headed to the processing center at 12501 Gateway South Blvd. in El Paso. Court records show Louze was escorted out of the van to the intake area of the facility.
A Border Patrol agent by the last name of Miranda proceeded to ask her questions and set aside her belongings for storage. That’s when things began to go wrong.
According to a criminal complaint filed by an FBI agent, Louze walked away from the interview and attempted to retrieve her belongings. The Border Patrol agent tried to stop her and eventually grabbed her arm. That prompted the woman to pull away and take a swing at Agent Mendoza’s face.
What followed was a struggle that included the agent trying to restrain her and Louze using her hands to strike Miranda several times in the face, according to the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
Two other federal officers came to Miranda’s help and placed Louze in handcuffs. The Border Patrol agent sustained “visible injuries” on his face, neck, ear and hands, the complaint alleges. He was treated and released by medical staff at the processing center.
Louze was charged with assault on a federal officer. She made an initial appearance Monday in a federal courtroom in El Paso before U.S. Magistrate Robert Castaneda. The magistrate read her the charge, told her she has the right to remain silent, to hire a lawyer or request a public defendant and to have her country’s consulate notified of her detention. He ordered her back to court on July 8.
Border Patrol officials have told Border Report that migrant belongings are usually placed in plastic bags and catalogued. The bags accompany the migrants to processing or detention centers and are returned once the migrant is released or removed.
However, the American Civil Liberties Union for several years has accused federal agencies of trashing migrants’ personal belongings, including medicine and religious gear.
U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona, who represents much of the Mexico-Arizona border, in 2022 asked for an investigation of how federal agencies handle the migrants’ possessions.
The Government Accountability Office in May issued a report recommending that Border Patrol clarifies its guidance to agents regarding what property may and may not be discarded. GAO also recommended the Border Patrol set up a monitoring mechanism for each sector and facility, and that its parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, provide migrants written instructions on how to recover stored or misplaced items.