Chief Patrol Agent Manuel Padilla Jr. is leaving Tucson Sector to assume a new role as chief patrol agent of the Rio Grande Valley Sector, located in Edinburg, Texas.
Chief Padilla was selected as the chief patrol agent of the Tucson Sector in April 2013, and is credited for making significant progress in improving the safety and security of Arizona’s border region.
While serving in Tucson, Chief Padilla’s responsibilities included overseeing approximately 4,400 uniform and non-uniform personnel deployed to eight Border Patrol stations along 262 linear miles of border.
A native of southern Arizona, Padilla says he always felt a sense of community and made it his purpose in life to reduce cross-border criminal activity while improving the quality of life for Arizona’s residents. Agents sat that Padilla is a “good man and that it is a shame he couldn’t stay in Tucson.”