CBP welcomes San Diego sector's first female Chief Patrol Agent

For the first time ever, the U.S. Border Patrol is naming a woman as Chief Patrol Agent of the San Diego Sector, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Thursday. 

The agency selected Patricia McGurk-Daniel, a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Border Patrol, to lead the San Diego sector, which encompasses the California coast from Mexico to Oregon and the border between San Diego County and Mexico. She will oversee around 2,300 agents assigned to the sector.

“I am honored to serve the Border Patrol agents and mission support staff of the San Diego Sector who have dedicated themselves to protecting our great nation,” said the new Chief Patrol Agent.

“San Diego Sector has one of the most complex and challenging border environments in the United States, and partnerships with local, state, federal, tribal, and foreign agencies are an integral part of securing that environment. I look forward to working with those partners to create a unified front against the transnational criminal organizations that operate in the California corridor and beyond.”

The San Diego Sector’s new leader has had a long career with the CBP, starting in 1999 at the Nogales Border Patrol Station in the Tucson Sector and moving on to other sectors, such as the El Paso, San Diego, El Centro, and Spokane Sectors. 

She has also served in critical roles such as the Commander of the CBP Migration Crisis Action Team, Patrol Agent in Charge of the Brown Field Station, Deputy Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol Academy, acting Chief Patrol Agent of the Spokane Sector, and Deputy Chief Patrol Agent of San Diego Sector.

McGurk-Daniel is replacing Aaron Heitke, who was named Chief Patrol Agent of the San Diego sector in February 2020. Heitke retired after 25 years of service, according to the special operations supervisor in the San Diego Sector’s Information and Communication Division, Eric C. Lavergne.