Roll of Honor
Roel De La Fuente
Incident
Officer Roel De La Fuente died after contracting COVID-19 as the result of presumed exposure at the Pharr Commercial Facility in Hidalgo County, Texas.
Officer De La Fuente had served with the United States Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations for 19 years.
COVID-19 and Law Enforcement
Officer Roel De La Fuente died on July 13, 2020 of COVID-19 contracted in the line of duty. He was 49.
He is one of 884 officers honored here, and one of 29 at United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations.
Beginning in early 2020, law enforcement officers across the country contracted COVID-19 in the course of their duties. While much of the nation sheltered at home, they kept answering calls, making arrests, transporting prisoners, and working face to face with the public. There was no distance to be had from the job.
Corrections officers were hit hardest. Confined facilities and large populations meant constant, close, unavoidable exposure.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and two children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FED-35AC8060- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
The country locked its doors. You kept working.
Officer De La Fuente gave the United States Department of Homeland Security 19 years.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer De La Fuente.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Officer Roel De La Fuente is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In DC, 137 of 1,419 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 9.7% of this state's fallen. That is 0.6 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.
At United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations, 30 of 39 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 76.9% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Roel De La Fuente's cause is highlighted.
How Roel De La Fuente Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Roel De La Fuente is highlighted in Jul.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
38 officers from United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
