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Border & Immigration

CBP officer resigns after pleading guilty to unreasonable force at San Ysidro crossing

People using PedWest to cross into the U.S. San Ysidro, Calif. Jan., 9, 2023. After nearly three years, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reopened a pedestrian crossing from Tijuana into San Diego. The PedWest crossing was closed at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, but when the travel restrictions were lifted it was not reopened. Thousands of asylum seekers made a makeshift camp on the Mexican side of the PedWest crossing hoping to be some of the first to cross when the crossing reopened. Mexican authorities eventually cleared the camp and moved the asylum seekers to other parts of Tijuana. Few people used PedWest to cross into the U.S. Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, but authorities expect that to increase as more learn the crossing is now open.
Matthew Bowler
/
KPBS
People using PedWest to cross into the U.S. San Ysidro, Calif. Jan., 9, 2023.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer pleaded guilty today to using unreasonable force on a woman at the San Ysidro Port of Entry and has agreed to resign from law enforcement as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

Andre Maurice Chevalier, 41, admitted to pulling a woman out of a vehicle and throwing her into a primary inspection booth at the port of entry on April 23, 2022, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The woman struck her face on the booth and Chevalier then shoved her against her car and handcuffed her, prosecutors said. A news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office does not detail why Chevalier pulled the woman out of the vehicle or why he detained her.

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Chevalier pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor count of deprivation of rights under color of law and, as part of his plea agreement, has resigned and agreed not to seek employment with any federal law enforcement agency, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

In a statement, San Diego U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said: "Mr. Chevalier's conduct was inexcusable. His guilty plea and resignation mean he no longer has authority over, or the opportunity to abuse, those entering the country."