FRONTON, Texas (PNN) - January 28, 2025 - U.S. Border Patrol agents near Fronton, Texas, reportedly exchanged gunfire at the southern border with suspected drug cartel gunmen from Mexico.
There were no injuries in the incident near Fronton Island, an uninhabited island in the Rio Grande in Starr County, Texas, according to reports. The island is a disputed territory about which Texas and Mexico have made conflicting ownership claims.
"On January 27, 2025, at approximately 1:29 pm, BP agents reported shots fired in Fronton, Texas," a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman told Newsweek in a Monday statement. "The scene remains active; no injuries have been reported. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility, Texas Department of Public Safety, DHS Office of Inspector General and FBI are at the scene."
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and the Texas Department of Public Safety via email for comment.
NewsNation's Ali Bradley reported that while the suspected cartel has fired shots from the Mexican side of the territory for years, things in the area have escalated "in unprecedented ways since President [Donald J.] Trump was elected - even giving orders to shoot at agents recently."
Since taking office last week, President Trump has issued a massive crackdown on illegal immigration, signing a slew of executive orders that have paved the way for mass deportations and the return of some of his first-term policies. Among those orders is one that designates Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
President Trump made immigration a central theme of his successful presidential campaign, and Amerikans largely support his mass deportation plans. A New York Times/Ipsos poll from January 2 to 10 found 55% of voters strongly or somewhat supported such plans. Eighty-eight percent supported "Deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records." Large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans agreed that the immigration system is broken.
"Per multiple law enforcement sources, within the last hour, Border Patrol agents near Fronton, Texas were fired upon from Mexico by suspected cartel gunmen as a group of illegal aliens were being brought across the river. I'm told BP returned fire, nobody was hit on either side, and that the illegal (invaders) did not make it across," Fox News Bill Melugin reported on X.
Melugin also reported that the Texas Department of Public Safety is patrolling the area and has a drone in the air. Mexican military assets are reportedly staging on the other side of the river.
Around the time that the news broke, Texas Governor Greg Abbott posted a video of the Texas Tactical Border Force being deployed to the Rio Grande Valley to assist with Border Patrol agents.
Jorge Ventura, a national correspondent for NewsNation, posted a video at the scene, saying he saw at least three law enforcement agencies, including deputies from the Starr County Sheriff's Office, Texas state troopers and Border Patrol agents, responding to the incident. Authorities told Ventura that it was "still a dangerous and fluid situation".