Border Patrol Chief takes lessons learned in El Paso to new job leading Rio Grande Valley

KTEP | By Angela Kocherga

Published October 17, 2022 at 6:13 PM MDT

Migrants wait under tents at a mobile Border Patrol processing center set up near the Rio Grande in El Paso. — Migrants wait at a Border Patrol mobile processing center set up near the Rio Grande. An increasing number of people from Venezuela have crossed the border into El Paso seeking asylum since September.

El Paso Border Patrol Chief Gloria Chavez reflects on her years leading El Paso and how agents have adapted to growing migration and changing conditions in the field.

Border Patrol Chief Gloria Chavez is the highest ranking woman in the Border Patrol. The 27-year year veteran is now is now in charge of the busy Rio Grande Valley sector in south Texas. Chavez held the top job in El Paso for more than three years. She arrived during a spike in migration in 2019 as a growing number of people from Venezuela cross the border. During a departing interview with KTEP's Angela Kocherga she talked about the evolution of the Border Patrol and lessons Chavez takes with her. They talked at a mobile processing center set up near the banks of the Rio Grande where hundreds of migrants a day from Venezuela are arriving. In October alone about 2100 migrants from Venezuela day crossed the border into El Paso seeking asylum.