Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is investigating the attack on two agents in Mexico on Tuesday. The shooting, which left one agent dead, was the latest in violence south of the border of the United States.

ICE said on Wednesday it is working closely with Mexican officials to capture the gunmen behind the attack. Two special agents assigned to the agency’s attache office in Mexico were shot while they were on their way to Monterrey, about 400 miles south of Mexico City.

One agent, Jaime Zapata, died from his injuries while the other agent is in stable condition at an American hospital recovering from wounds to an arm and a leg.

President Barack Obama spoke to the parents of Zapata by phone early Wednesday. The president assured them that the American people are grateful for their son’s contributions to the nation, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

ICE honored its fallen agent the same day. “May the work we continue to do as an agency be worthy of a sacrifice as great as the one made by Special Agent Zapata,” director John Morton said.

Zapata joined the agency in 2006. He entered federal law enforcement as a member of the U.S. Border Patrol in Yuma, Arizona.

Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano has assured, “Let me be clear: any act of violence against our ICE personnel – or any DHS personnel – is an attack against all those who serve our nation and put their lives at risk for our safety.”

There are growing concerns in the United States that violence from drug cartels will spillover from the border. More than 30,000 people in Mexico have died, with some being brutally beheaded, from drug-related incidents since 2006, when Mexican President Felipe Calderon began his crackdown on cartels.

The United States has appropriated at least $400 million to help Mexico fight drug cartels. The funds are part of the the Merida Initiative, a joint security program that lets Washington provide equipment and training in criminal investigative technologies and prison reform.

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