Hipolito Acosta: The Shadow Catcher

Marfa Border Patrol Sector—between Marfa and Valentine, Texas—with a group of undocumented immigrants that Border Patrol Agent Jimmy Harris and Hipolito Acosta tracked for several groups. (Jimmy Harris/The Shadow Catcher)

17-year-old Hipolito Acosta in the U.S. Navy. (The Shadow Catcher)

Hipolito Acosta and wife Terrie, wedding day in 1975 in El Paso, Texas. (The Shadow Catcher)

Hipolito Acosta standing in front of what was a human smuggling drop house in El Paso, Texas. In 1982, it was the agency's largest infiltrated human smuggling operation, Operation Villasana. (The Shadow Catcher)

Hipolito Acosta and his mother in 1972. (The Shadow Catcher)

Medina Case: November 1978, after arriving in Chicago. In the basement parking lot of the federal building. Hipolito Acosta is pictured in the middle. (The Shadow Catcher)

Medina Case: The Marquez Family: For their safety and to prevent abuse by smugglers, Consuelo Marques (kneeling in front) kept her family close. Seven family members were smuggled by the Medina’s in a U-Haul truck to re-join their father Pedro in Chicago. (The Shadow Catcher)

The house where the Medina family operated a human smuggling operation. Acosta was kept here for three days before their departure in the back of a U-Haul truck to Chicago. (The Shadow Catcher)

In 1979—In Chicago following the seizure of hundreds of counterfeit legal resident cards, several handguns, and almost $15,000 in case from a counterfeit document distributor on Chicago’s South side. (The Shadow Catcher)

In 1982: Acosta (left) and Special Agent Gilbert Wise on the day they took down Operation Villasana in El Paso, Texas. Credit: Dionisio Lopez (The Shadow Catcher)

In 1984—Houses where undocumented immigrants were housed called “wetshacks.” Acosta spent several days in this one at a tree farm north of Dallas where the owner kept about ten undocumented workers cutting trees and refused to pay them their due wages. Credit: Doug Keim. (The Shadow Catcher)

In 1984—Acosta on left, with colleagues Tony Sifuentes (middle) and Special Agent Gilbert Wies (right) during an operation. Credit: Dionisio Lopez. (The Shadow Catcher)

Acosta (upper left) with colleagues Gilbert Rodriguez, Noe Dominguez, and Henry Aguilar after taking down a forty-five pound cocaine case in Miami. (The Shadow Catcher)

Acosta receiving Commissioner Challenge Award from Immigration and Naturalization Services from Commissioner Doris Meissner. (The Shadow Catcher)

In 2008--Acosta in front of the Castillo residence in Compton, Calif., a headquarters for a major immigrant smuggling operation. He spent several days there after being smuggled from Tijuana and then transported to Chicago. (The Shadow Catcher)