U. S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Statement Provides Some Details Concerning Death of Texas DPS Special Agent in Eagle Pass, Texas While Supporting Operation Lone Star
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2022
The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a press release on Saturday, January 22, 2022, providing a statement concerning the tragic death of Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Special Agent Anthony Salas as a result of an accident on Friday, January 21, at approximately at 7:30 p.m. near Eagle Pass, Texas.
The CBP Press Release states “On Friday evening, January 21, a U. S. Border Patrol agent was involved in a single-vehicle accident with injuries near Eagle Pass, Texas. At the time of the accident, the agent was transporting six undocumented migrants with the assistance of the Texas Department of Public Safety. A Texas DPS trooper was seriously injured during the accident and has passed away.”
The CBP statement adds that the “Texas Department of Public Safety and Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility are investigating” the accident. “The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General was notified,” says the CBP statement.
The CBP statement is general and vague, failing to identify the name of the deceased DPS Special Agent as Anthony Salas, age 37, of El Paso, Texas, does not state where DPS Special Agent Salas was riding at the time of the single vehicle accident such as a front passenger or rear passenger, what injuries were sustained by the Border Patrol agent driver of the vehicle, what injuries were sustained by DPS Special Agent Salas, and what injuries were sustained by the six Undocumented Migrants being transported inside the vehicle and what medical treatment were they provided and by whom.
The CBP statement fails to provide how the accident happened, where did it happen, whether the vehicle hit a ditch or water canal or lateral, were the driver and passengers wearing a seat belt, the extent of the injuries sustained by the driver and passengers, was speeding involved, was their mechanical failure of the vehicle, was their negligence on behalf of the Border Patrol Agent driver, and many more questions.
What the CBP statement does clarify is that DPS Special Agent Anthony Salas was not the driver of the vehicle involved in the accident.
The public has many questions concerning how this tragic accident occurred and who is at fault for the accident that cost the life of DPS Special Agent Anthony Salas.
The CBP statement also fails to acknowledge that the accident involved the U. S. Border Patrol and CBP BORTAC in a joint tactical operation with the Texas DPS and that DPS Special Agent Salas was working in support of Operation Lone Star.
DPS Special Agent Salas was provided medical treatment at the scene of the accident and transported by the Eagle Pass Fire Department EMS Ambulance to Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center in Eagle Pass and later airlifted to University Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, where he succumbed to his injuries on Saturday, January 22, 2022, at approximately 11:30 a.m.
