A border agent killed a migrant who crossed into Starr County. Eight months later, it's still under investigation.

Shortly before Christmas last year, a Border Patrol agent shot and killed Isaias Sanchez Barbosa, a 31-year-old Mexican, after he crossed the Rio Grande with a group of other migrants into Starr County. [KSAT 12]

A shooting along the Texas-Mexico border in late December remains shrouded in official secrecy eight months later, underscoring broader questions about accountability when federal immigration agents use deadly force.

Border Patrol Agent Armando Flores fatally shot Isaias Sanchez Barbosa, 31, in Starr County after the Mexican national waded across the Rio Grande with other asylum seekers. According to Flores' account, the shooting occurred in self-defense during a physical altercation that erupted as agents attempted to detain the group of migrants who were retreating back toward Mexico. Court records and an autopsy report, recently obtained through public documents, confirm the fatal encounter took place the week before Christmas.

Federal and state authorities launched parallel investigations into the shooting, with both the Customs and Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility and the Texas Department of Public Safety examining the circumstances. However, neither agency has disclosed substantive details about what transpired, citing the ongoing investigations. Both have declined to release body camera footage, dashboard video, radio transmissions or detailed incident reports, claiming the inquiries remain active.

A Starr County grand jury determined in June that insufficient evidence existed to charge Flores criminally, closing the matter from local prosecutors' perspective. "From my office's perspective, the criminal investigation is closed," Starr County District Assistant Attorney Gocha Ramirez told The Texas Tribune. Yet the federal investigations continue without public resolution or transparency.

The case has received minimal public attention despite growing national concern about immigration enforcement officers' use of lethal force. It preceded other high-profile fatal shootings by federal agents in 2024, including the killing of construction worker Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, in Houston, where agents also cited self-defense. Salgado Araujo, who had resided in Texas for more than 30 years without prior deportation or criminal history, was shot by officers in unmarked vehicles who trapped his van.

The delayed filing of court documents in Sanchez Barbosa's case raised additional questions. A Texas Ranger failed to submit a search warrant to the court until inquiries prompted its discovery. State officials attributed the lapse to clerical oversight, though county authorities suggested the error originated with the ranger.