LAREDO, Texas – Laredo Sector Border Patrol welcomes Joel Martinez as Acting Chief Patrol Agent of the Laredo Sector.

On March 1, Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Joel Martinez of the Rio Grande Valley Sector assumed command as Acting Chief Patrol Agent of the Laredo Sector. Chief Martinez, a 31-year veteran of the U.S. Border Patrol, began his U.S. Border Patrol career in 1992, at the Laredo South Border Patrol Station.

 A San Benito native, Chief Martinez has held several key leadership positions to include Assistant Chief-Southwest Border Operations Division (now Ops East/Central) at U.S. Border Patrol Headquarters in Washington, D.C., Deputy Patrol Agent in Charge, and Acting Patrol Agent in Charge of the Brownsville Station.  He was later promoted to Patrol Agent in Charge of the station where he began his career at the Laredo South Station, before his ascent to the Director-Alliance to Combat Transnational Threats (ACTT).  

In May of 2019, he became the Deputy Chief Patrol Agent of the Laredo Sector, before later assuming the duties as Deputy Chief Patrol Agent of the Rio Grande Valley Sector.

Chief Martinez is a graduate of the CBP Leadership Institute-University of Maryland-Smith School of Business and holds a bachelor’s degree in Homeland Security and Emergency Management from Ashford University. He completed the U.S. Naval Post Graduate studies, Fleet Seminar (Strategy & War) at NAS-Ft. Worth in May 2018.

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the comprehensive management, control, and protection of our nation’s borders, combining customs, immigration, border security, and agricultural protection at and between official ports of entry.