A series of bills signed into law on Thursday by President Joe Biden work to provide critical support to members of local law enforcement — and one of them came as the result of a killing more than ten years ago.

Brownsville native Jaime Zapata was a special agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement when he and agent Victor Avila were attacked by Mexican cartel members. 

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Of the seven people who were charged in connection to that attack, two of them were found guilty on several federal charges, including murder of a federal law enforcement officer.

But in 2017, that was overturned on an appeal because the killing happened outside U.S. soil.

The Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila Federal Officers and Employees Protection Act closes that loophole, so that in the event anything like this happens again, those charged will have convictions that stay.

“That's always very, very disheartening as the years have continued to pass by, but I haven't given up in fighting for justice,” said Victor Avila. 

Speaking more than ten years after a deadly attack in Mexico that left him critically injured, Avila has also encountered the challenges of what it takes to hold those responsible for his fellow agent’s death.

“The reason they are looking at life now is because of the weapons charge that they also have,” Avila said.

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Avila is pushing for life with those charges because in the language of the statute, murder of a federal law enforcement officer was not considered a crime. It's a loophole that was exposed when two convictions from 2017 were overturned in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Both Zapata and Avila’s names are on the bill that would prevent those kinds of legal challenges in the future. 

“This bill is going to protect agents serving abroad and send a message to drug cartels, terrorists, and criminals wherever they operate, that if you attack our agents, you will not escape our justice,” President Joe Biden said. 

In a statement, the mother of Jaime Zapata said that the moment is bittersweet, though they hope it will positively impact law enforcement members across the country.

Read her full statement below: 

"Today is a bittersweet moment for our family. While the Zapata-Avila bill may be a little late for Jaime, I pray that it will bring a positive impact for law enforcement across our country. We would like to thank Victor Avila and all those who worked hard at bringing this issue to light and getting the bill signed into law."

"If this kind of tragedy would happen again, they wouldn't have been able to prosecute these individuals under that statute, so this new law settles that and really is now puts everyone at ease," Avila said. 

It's a small sense of relief for a former agent still dealing with loss.

Avila said that neither he nor the Zapata family were given enough notice to actually attend Thursday's signing in person in Washington D.C.

Channel 5 News reached out to the White House for comment, but we have not heard back.