A new bill proposed by Congressman Tony Gonzales (TX-23) will add stronger protections to elite Border Patrol Tactical Groups deployed to enhance security at public events or assist with law enforcement responses to mass shootings or other mass casualty terror events. The Homeland Threat Response Act Gonzales proposes comes as hundreds of U.S. Department of Homeland Security personnel deploy in advance of Sunday’s Super Bowl.
The Homeland Threat Response Act proposes to add language to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the wake of the September 11 attacks. In the act, language authorizes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the United States Secret Service to deploy personnel and resources during critical incidents involving mass shootings or other violent events across the country.
The bill introduced by Gonzales will now include U.S. Customs and Border Protection into the existing language of the Homeland Security Act to end any bureaucratic or legal obstacles for Border Patrol tactical group such as the agency’s BORTAC and BORSTAR teams, that routinely assist state and local law enforcement in responses to critical threats and violent incidents, including mass shootings and acts of terrorism.
Breitbart Texas spoke to Gonzales, who says the Border Patrol’s BORTAC and BORSTAR teams are headquartered in his district and should not have to put themselves in harm’s way and not have the unquestionable legal authority to do so when it comes to keeping Americans safe. “Although BORTAC and BORSTAR are not specifically named in the current law that provides authority for the responses, the team is frequently requested to assist across the United States due to their specialized skills,” Gonzales emphasized.
Border Patrol’s BORTAC and BORSTAR teams are part of the agency’s Special Operations Group (SOG). The BORTAC team consists of Border Patrol agents who received extensive training in tactical responses. The Search Rescue and Trauma (BORSTAR) team members are agents certified as emergency medical technicians or certified paramedics.
Gonzales told Breitbart Texas that the teams need to focus on their mission when they deploy to assist other law enforcement agencies in responding to mass shootings or establishing security for large public events, as they will at this Sunday’s Super Bowl. “These agents don’t need to be caught up in administrative nonsense after they complete their mission; this bill makes sure that doesn’t happen,” Gonzales added.
Although many law enforcement agencies have tactically trained SWAT groups, like the Border Patrol Special Operations Group BORTAC and BORSTAR team, the unique tactical human tracking skills possessed by the groups make them highly sought after when suspects or fugitives are on the loose. The BORTAC team is also trained and equipped to conduct other high-risk operations, including counterterrorism and hostage rescue, and has historically been deployed across the United States and abroad.
As reported by Breitbart News, in June 2025, the BORTAC team played a significant role in the capture of a former police chief and convicted killer known as the “Devil in the Ozarks” after he escaped from an Arkansas prison after a nearly two-week-long manhunt.
A team mostly comprised of off-duty BORTAC team members was also responsible for entering a classroom at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, to neutralize a school shooter in 2022. During that mass casualty event, a gunman entered the school in the small Texas town, killing 19 students and 2 teachers before the Border Patrol BORTAC-led team engaged the gunman, killing him in the ensuing gunfire.
The team has famously participated in responses to the manhunt and capture of Michael Burham, who escaped in Warren County, Pennsylvania, after committing multiple murders, and Danilo Cavalcante, an illegal alien who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison following a murder conviction.
Other mass shooting responses include the August 2019 Walmart mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, and the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, in which Robert Card killed 18 people.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
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