Jim Chilton has long warned the government about the few strands of barbed wire that separate Mexico from the U.S. on his Arizona ranch.
He says the lack of a serious barrier, combined with the Border Patrol’s enforcement decisions, have effectively ceded miles of U.S. territory to the Sinaloa cartel, which has put scouts on his hilltops and blazed smuggling trails across his land.
On Tuesday that combination of weak barriers and few agents ended in violence, he said, after a Border Patrol agent was ambushed and wounded on Mr. Children’s property in what authorities labeled a “shooting incident” — and which has raised anew the thorny questions of border security.
The agent, who wasn’t identified, was patrolling alone about 4:30 a.m. when the shooting occurred.
He was shot in the hand and leg, and took some rounds to his body armor as well, Mr. Chilton said, citing an email he received from the Border Patrol. The agent was taken to a hospital and was expected to recover.
“Thanks goodness for the vest, he survived,” the rancher said. ...
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