EXCLUSIVE: Border Patrol K-9 Handler Freddie Vasquez was called to Anthony, Texas, a small town north of El Paso in West Texas, on February 12, 2021, about four illegal immigrants who had just been detained in a vehicle by local police.
It was a relatively routine encounter for the 19-year Border Patrol veteran, aside from the fact that it occurred during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic and increased levels of migration along the southern border.
About 36 hours later, Vasquez began to feel unwell. He was admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 a few days later, then was put on a ventilator within a week.
“Seeing him waste away, that was heartbreaking,” his wife, Inez Vasquez, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “Before all this, he was a very peppy person. He was a sociable person, very sociable. Honestly, this man never met a stranger. He was someone who could strike up a conversation with anyone anywhere.”
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Freddie Vasquez, a US Border Patrol K-9 handler, contracted COVID-19 in the line of duty and died in May 2021.
(Inez Vasquez)
Freddie developed pneumonia and died on May 8, 2021, nearly three months after battling an illness that has claimed the lives of at least 63 other Customs and Border Protection employees.
“Even with a very real threat of COVID, they didn’t back down,” Inez said.
“It takes a very special person, and not just Border Patrol. But I think, in general, any law enforcement officer that puts on that uniform, and every time he puts on that uniform and goes out, it’s the people that run to danger while the rest of us are running for safety.
“It takes a very special person, and not just Border Patrol. But I think, in general, any law enforcement officer that puts on that uniform, and every time he puts on that uniform and goes out, it’s the people that run to danger while the rest of us are running for safety.
Freddie’s commitment to his work was exemplified in June 2020, when he saved a woman in danger of drowning in the American Canal, which flows along the Rio Grande River near downtown El Paso.
“In the face of great danger and personal risk of bodily harm, you heroically saved the life of a woman who would otherwise have perished on the American Channel,” a supervisor said at a socially distanced awards ceremony in the summer of 2020.
Freddie Vasquez received two awards for courage after saving people from the American Channel on two separate occasions in the summer of 2020.
(Inez Vasquez)
Freddie followed suit the following month, saving another person from the same channel in July 2020.
“Even [during] COVID, he was in very close contact with these people,” Inez said. “He knew the risk and we knew that this was a possibility. But then again, if my husband had the chance to do this all over again, I know I wouldn’t change a thing.”
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The CBP commissioner and an executive panel reviewed Vasquez’s case and determined that his death occurred in the line of duty as he contracted COVID-19 from migrants on the job, giving his family the ability to receive benefits survival equal to 45% of your salary for Inez. and 15% for each of her two children.
Freddie Vasquez and his wife, Inez Vasquez.
(Inez Vasquez)
For Inez, it was a welcome relief, given that the couple’s two children were just 8 and 10 when their father died.
“At the very least, I thought, okay, they gave me financial peace of mind through that,” Inez said.
A CBP spokesperson declined to share any personal records about Vasquez’s service.
Freddie Vásquez’s youngest children were just 8 and 10 years old when he died of COVID-19.
(Inez Vasquez)
As the family began trying to navigate the world without her husband and father, Inez’s world was turned upside down yet again in early 2022 when she found out about it from the widow of another Border Patrol agent on a duty. commemorative that those benefits would actually expire in a matter of years. .
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Under the American Bailout Act, signed into law by President Biden in March 2021, benefits for surviving family members of federal employees who have died from COVID-19 will end on September 30, 2030.
“Now this peace of mind has been ripped away,” Inez said. “We find ourselves trying to fight to keep our benefits like any other surviving spouse who lost a spouse in the line of duty.”
Freddie Vasquez’s younger children at a memorial for their father.
(Inez Vasquez)
Inez can start collecting at Freddie’s retirement in 2030, but her husband was in his early 40s when he died, and their children will not be financially independent when benefits expire.
“He was a very dedicated agent. Ultimately, he gave his life for this country,” Inez said. “But it is an injustice what is happening to us at this point, and I know that he would want me to fight for this.”
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“He was a very dedicated agent. Ultimately, he gave his life for this country.”
The Department of Labor, which is responsible for distributing benefits for federal employees affected by COVID-19, did not respond to a request for comment. Fox News also contacted CBP and the Department of Homeland Security.
In a May 2021 tweet, US Border Patrol Chief for the El Paso Sector, Peter Jaquez, expressed his condolences on the loss of Freddie Inez.
“Today, we will bury our friend and brother, Border Patrol Agent Freddie Vasquez. We will never forget the impact you have had on our lives and we will always honor your legacy. We will miss you, Freddie. Honor comes first.” Jacquez tweeted.
