DHS Corrects Media Misrepresentation of Border Patrol Encounter with Criminal Illegal Aliens

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DHS corrects media reports identifying apprehended individuals as criminal illegal aliens, not firefighters.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a statement correcting what it describes as false reporting by media outlets concerning an encounter between U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and two individuals apprehended near a fire incident. According to DHS, the individuals were not, as some media reports suggested, firefighters responding to an emergency. Instead, they were identified as criminal illegal aliens with prior arrests for serious offenses.

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One of the apprehended individuals, identified as Jose Bertin Cruz-Estrada, a citizen of Mexico, has a history that includes charges for the delivery and sale of methamphetamine. Border Patrol had previously encountered this individual 15 times. Cruz-Estrada also has a final order of removal dating back to April 2015 and was last removed from the United States on February 27, 2016, prior to his alleged illegal re-entry. The second individual apprehended also reportedly had prior charges for illegally carrying a concealed weapon.

DHS clarified that the two individuals taken into custody were not engaged in firefighting activities. The contracted work crews present on the day of the arrests were reportedly in a support role, involved in cutting logs into firewood, and were not assigned to actively combat the fire. DHS asserts that the firefighting response continued without interruption throughout the incident. The department emphasized that no active firefighters were questioned and that U.S. Border Patrol’s actions did not impede or interfere with any personnel actively involved in firefighting efforts.

Article by Mel Anara, based upon information from the Department of Homeland Security

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