EXCLUSIVE — A once-in-a-century celebration commemorating the Border Patrol’s 100th anniversary later this month has been canceled over concerns stemming from an internal investigation into several top agents’ connection to Mexican businessmen.
The Border Patrol’s national chief, Jason Owens, announced late Thursday that the gala in El Paso, Texas, next weekend would no longer take place despite several years of planning.
“The gala event planned for May 25th in El Paso celebrating the Border Patrol’s 100 years of history has been canceled. All other events will proceed as planned,” Owens wrote in a post.
Three insiders involved firsthand in the investigation told the Washington Examiner that the investigation into Owens and Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Gloria Chavez has been blown out of proportion and no wrongdoing had been done.
One insider said the gala was canceled “due to a last minute opinion from Chief Counsel” at Border Patrol’s overseeing agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The event was canceled out of an abundance of caution and to avoid even the appearance of impropriety, according to CBP. However, a slew of other events, including golf tournaments and soirees, will still take place.
CBP added that the decision to cancel the gala was made by career Border Patrol leadership, and political appointees from the Biden administration were not involved. Any assertion that the gala was canceled for political reasons is false, CBP said.
Party of the century
A Centennial Committee spent two years planning events leading up to May 25, when current and former agents from around the country would descend on El Paso to commemorate the organization’s 100 years since it was formed in 1924. Chavez sat on the planning committee.
The five days of festivities kicks off Tuesday, May 21, with the Border Security Expo, an annual conference and demonstration aimed at CBP employees and government contractors. The expo is a huge draw for agents to see the newest surveillance technology and meet with colleagues.
A centennial baseball game, two golf tournaments sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Retired Border Patrol Officers and the Border Patrol Foundation, a soiree and centennial sunset salute at the Hotel Paso Del Norte, a fallen agent memorial event, a capsule ceremony at the Border Patrol museum, and awards ceremony run through Friday.
A parade is schedule for Saturday morning, which was supposed to be followed that evening with the now-canceled Centennial Gala from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Convention Center.
Failure to launch
The planning committee worked with the CBP chief counsel’s office to ensure that the centennial events were compliant with applicable law and agency policies, according to insiders.
Ultimately, the Border Patrol centennial week events posed unique ethical considerations, as several entities, including nonprofit organizations, private corporations, elected officials, and others, planned to attend various events, according to CBP.
The gala website listed ways for sponsors to donate to the event, with levels that ranged from $5,000 to $100,000 for a table at the gala.
Insiders questioned why an event that had been planned for so long was suddenly being canceled and wondered if the Biden administration was involved.
“Why is it OK for the [Defense Department] but not the Border Patrol?” one insider said, adding that the Marine Corps and Army hold annual galas that are paid for by nonprofit organizations and sponsors who have government contracts. “This is the administration coming after the Border Patrol.”
One person said the CBP chief counsel only made a fuss out of the gala after the Owens-Chavez story was published last week.
Owens and Chavez were pictured in an NBC News report while vacationing in Mexico, where a Mexican tequila maker surprised them with the bottle of a special edition tequila bottle that commemorated the Border Patrol anniversary.
CBP officials feared that by agents attending an event where funding was viewed as questionable, it could set up agents to ethical investigations. As a result of pressure from CBP’s chief counsel, sponsors pulled out funding of the gala, leaving the event unfunded.
By Friday afternoon, the website had been updated to alert attendees that the gathering had been canceled.
Actor Mario Lopez had even been booked as host of the gala, according to two insiders.
How everything fell apart
NBC reported on May 9 that a small group of current and former senior Border Patrol officials and their spouses traveled to Mexico to party with a Mexican tequila maker and did not disclose the travel plans, triggering the internal investigation.
Two people who were on the trip have now told the Washington Examiner following the publication of the NBC report that the investigation was launched because the trip came up during a separate inquiry into someone else and that the trip to Mexico was being picked over with a fine-toothed comb to ensure it was above the books.
International personal travel by senior federal law enforcement executives must be disclosed before and after the trip. Agents in the Senior Executive Service of government may not accept gifts or money from foreign entities.
NBC’s report alleged that the group “partied with” Francisco Javier Gonzalez at Tequila Casa de los Gonzalez at his family’s distillery complex, and officials are being investigated for whether they violated ethics rules.
“Jason will be cleared for all of this. The trip was approved, documented, and personal leave taken,” one person who was on the trip said. “We paid for everything. We have receipts for everything.”
The group of roughly 15 friends traveled down to Tequila, a town in the Mexican state of Jalisco, for a weekend trip to celebrate Owens’s birthday roughly five months ago, according to two people on the trip who requested anonymity in order to speak freely.
“I know for a fact that he reported the trip prior to us leaving because we had security there, the Mexican government was aware that we were there,” the second person on the trip, who said the trip was personally disclosed, said. “We both have security clearances. Everybody was aware that we are going and were aware and reporting after the fact of contacts that you made. We all did that and he did.”
A third person who is a senior federal law enforcement official and has firsthand knowledge of the investigation said Owens provided receipts for airline tickets.
They chose to visit several tequila distilleries in the region, including the town of Tequila, for a tequila-style version of a Napa winery excursion and spent a couple of days visiting tequila makers’ facilities in the region, including a stop at the Gonzalez site.
A planning committee for the Border Patrol’s 100th-anniversary gala in May 2024 had been in talks with the tequila maker to create a special edition bottle for the occasion.
While at that property, Gonzalez gave Owens a cigar, birthday cake, and a glass of wine as the group enjoyed a meal together.
“Gonzalez brought out stuff, but I was literally standing right there and Jason didn’t want to embarrass him in front of everybody and say, ‘I can’t accept any of these things,'” the second person on the trip said. “You can’t say that when you’re handing them to you.”
At the end of the meal, the group boarded their bus and Owens stepped aboard without the gifts from the tequila maker.
Owens and Chavez were also named in a subsequent NBC News report that alleged they had attended a party for Mexican American businessman Eduardo Garza. Garza owns Uni-Trade, a company that consults with international companies about global transportation, foreign trade, and customs.
When news of the internal investigation into the Tequila trip came out last week, senior management began to face pressure from the CBP chief counsel and its Office of Professional Responsibility to cancel the main gala, according to the three people who spoke with the Washington Examiner.
Agents had viewed the celebration as a bright spot in a difficult few years with more immigrants coming across the southern border than at any time in history.
CBP maintained that the gala’s cancellation was justified.
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“Consistent with our commitment to accountability, we thoroughly investigate all allegations and take appropriate action to address any issues identified throughout the course of investigations,” a CBP spokesperson said in a statement. “CBP will continue to reinforce our commitment to the agency’s standards at all levels. CBP Office of Professional Responsibility personnel lead all investigations with the highest standards of integrity.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.
