# Mexican Soldiers Freelancing for Drug Cartels on US Soil



## Boondocksaint375 (Dec 28, 2006)

*Nothing new, but an interesting article nonetheless*

*Mexican Soldiers Freelancing for Drug Cartels on US Soil* 
By Kevin Mooney
CNSNews.com Staff Writer - December 21, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - Gun-toting members of the Mexican military are crossing regularly into U.S. territory, where they are partnering with drug cartels and criminal gangs to protect sophisticated smuggling operations, according to Texas sheriffs and lawmakers.

Some of the Mexican infiltrators are suspected to have been trained by the U.S. military.

U.S. Border Patrol agents and local law enforcement officials operating along the southwestern border have come under attack from the Mexican side in recent months, with automatic gunfire frequently erupting, Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) told Cybercast News Service.

Mexican military units and drug cartels have access to weaponry and communications equipment far more advanced than resources made available to U.S. officials on the state and federal level, Culberson said.

"The U.S. Border Patrol is telling its agents to just lay low and report on what they see," he said. "They are instructed to determine the size of the [Mexican military] unit, the number of personnel, the direction of travel."

The U.S. ambassador to Mexico has sent diplomatic notes to the Mexican government complaining about incursions into U.S. territory by "individuals dressed in military uniforms," according to a congressional report.

Culberson plans to meet with the Mexican ambassador to discuss border issues early in the new year.

More than 200 incursions by the Mexican military of the U.S. southern border have been documented since the late 1990s, Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) said in an interview.

"Our federal government denied it occurred until the Texas sheriffs took photos," he said. "There is no nation in the world that would allow this invasion to occur except for the United States."

Mexican military personnel have been observed crossing the Rio Grande into Hudspeth County, Texas, in an apparent effort to safeguard drug shipments.

On one occasion early this year, deputies in pursuit of suspected drug dealers encountered "heavily armed soldiers in a Humvee," while trying to apprehend individuals driving "load vehicles" for drug shipments, Hudspeth Sheriff Arvin West told a congressional hearing subsequently.

Although some of the narcotics were seized, the deputies were forced to suspend their pursuit once the Mexican soldiers intervened, according to West's testimony.

Sheriffs in neighboring parts of Texas are also familiar with the techniques used to protect drug shipments in Hudspeth.

According to Sheriff Leo Samaniego of El Paso County, Mexican soldiers perform "flanking maneuvers," forcing deputies into defensive positions.

"They are very involved in safeguarding these drug shipments," he said of the Mexican troops.

Samaniego said he was in contact with farmers in the area who reported witnessing such incidents regularly.

Samaniego recalled another Mexican military incursion he said had taken place in Santa Teresa, N.M., located across the state line from El Paso. Mexican soldiers in two Humvees "chased after" a U.S. Border Patrol agent until backup arrived while another U.S. agent also came under gunfire, Samaniego told Cybercast News Serviceguns.

"Mexican officials gave the excuse that it was a new military unit that got lost and didn't know it was in the U.S.," he said. "But I find this hard to believe."

'Trained in the US'

Some of the Mexican soldiers collaborating with drug cartels were trained at one time at the *School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Ga.*, said Sheriff Rick Flores of Webb County.

Although they were trained to combat "narco-terrorism" many such soldiers are ultimately lured by the fact they can make substantially more money working with the cartels, Flores said in an interview.

"We train people to fight bad elements and help restore order but they end up defecting," he said. "Then we end up fighting them after we train them."

The power and influence of the drug cartels is difficult to overstate, Flores contended. They are in control of almost "every type of business" in Mexico and boast almost unlimited resources.

Webb County has also experienced an influx of Mexican soldiers who appear to be working on behalf of the cartels and other criminals, Flores said.

"Our drug enforcement taskforce came across soldiers dressed in black clad uniforms near Highway 83. They were marching in cadence and pretty much scared the hell out of our people. They had fully automatic AK 47s wrapped around their arms and they were carrying duffle bags with their free arms. It was pretty freaky," Flores said.

A report on security threats to the southwestern border, provided by the House Homeland Security Committee's subcommittee on investigations, refers to a growing nexus between drug cartels, criminal gangs and Mexican military personnel.

Some of the gangs mentioned in the report include the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), the Mexican Mafia, and the Texas Syndicate.

Zapata County Sherriff Sigifredo Gonzalez told Cybercast News Service the cartels were equipped with a military grade arsenal and an intelligence network that poses a threat to American local and federal officials.

Cybercast News Service reported previously that some cartels have the ability to eavesdrop on U.S. law enforcement agencies' communications.

Last July, deputies from Hidalgo - two counties away from Zapata - responded to an emergency call and found themselves targeted by "300 to 400 rounds of automatic gunfire from the Mexican side, for about 10 minutes," Gonzalez reported.

With such incidents continuing along the border, the Zapata sheriff said in time there would inevitably be casualties on the U.S. side. In just the past few weeks, he added, U.S. National Guard members had come under fire in neighboring Starr County.

'Cartels diversifying'

There are also signs the criminal gangs are becoming bolder.

Rick Glancey, the interim executive director of the Southwestern Border Sheriff's Coalition, says drug cartels have diversified operations and are now smuggling both narcotics and humans.

According to the congressional committee report, the Texas-Mexico border includes 18 points of entry into the U.S. that are attractive to drug cartels and other criminal enterprises.

Further complicating security concerns, Gonzales pointed out that an extensive train system, with trains ranging from 90 to 160 cars, also travels from Guatemala, through Mexico and ending adjacent to the Texas border.

The train system enables the smuggling operations to access major interstate highways in Brownsville, McAllen, Laredo and El Paso that serve as a gateway into the U.S., providing cartels with enormous opportunities, Glancey said.

Currently, competing cartels are fighting for control of a highly prized corridor into the U.S. called "the plaza," said Flores. He voiced concerns that inter-gang violence may spill over the U.S. side and threaten citizens in his jurisdiction and in other parts of Texas.

The Mexican Embassy in the U.S. this week declined an invitation to comment on allegations of Mexican soldiers' presence in Texas. The embassy did make available a Mexican foreign ministry statement on the incident in Hudspeth County in early 2006.

It said the Mexican government concluded that the "uniforms, insignia, vehicles and arms" used by the individuals involved "do not correspond to those used by Mexican armed forces."

The government contended that "no members of the Mexican army participated in the incident" and that the armed individuals were attached to a "drug trafficking organization." 
http://privateforces.com


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## Polar Bear (Dec 28, 2006)

Is the School of the Americas still open?


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## Boondocksaint375 (Dec 28, 2006)

I could have sworn they changed the name of it while I was on Benning


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## AWP (Dec 28, 2006)

Yep, name change in 2001.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_of_the_Americas


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## medicchick (Dec 28, 2006)

Nothing like trying to get on Benning when the protesters were out in force.


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## Crusader74 (Dec 28, 2006)

very interesting read..


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## Looon (Dec 28, 2006)

Polar Bear said:


> Is the School of the Americas still open?


Negative.


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## Typhoon (Dec 28, 2006)

> Some of the gangs mentioned in the report include the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), the Mexican Mafia, and the Texas Syndicate.


Oh there's a fun bunch.  

This has been going on for a while. I wonder why it hasn't gotten more attention in the major media networks...


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## Gypsy (Dec 28, 2006)

Because people think those that wish to secure the border and stop illegal immigration are racists, and that doesn't fit into the MSM.  Ugh.


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## Crusader74 (Dec 28, 2006)

Typhoon said:


> Oh there's a fun bunch.
> 
> This has been going on for a while. I wonder why it hasn't gotten more attention in the major media networks...



Can they not use the NG to patrol the Border?


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## msteen1 (Dec 28, 2006)

Irish_Army01 said:


> Can they not use the NG to patrol the Border?


 We are doing border missions, but rumor is without weapons, or ammo.


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## Crusader74 (Dec 28, 2006)

ocox said:


> We are doing border missions, but rumor is without weapons, or ammo.



WTF!!!!  So you have a heavily Armed Mexican Gang and you Can't even Defend yourselves if Engaged????


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## Boondocksaint375 (Dec 28, 2006)

that is just insane.


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## Polar Bear (Dec 28, 2006)

ocox said:


> We are doing border missions, but rumor is without weapons, or ammo.


 
Heard the same-thing. Supposedly they are more of a support role. Whatever that means


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## Crusader74 (Dec 28, 2006)

Polar Bear said:


> Heard the same-thing. Supposedly they are more of a support role. Whatever that means



Moving Targets??


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## Boondocksaint375 (Dec 28, 2006)

What we need is a fenced border set up with fucking .50 cals and mk 19s. Ahead of that would be punji sticks and a mine field (mines blow corpse into punji's for death assurance). Below the fence there would be a wall of steel which goes a mile beneath the fence. The fence would be electric. Uav coverage would be 24/7 (armed with hellfires, of course). We will implement the "texas border watch" program over the entire Mexican border. We will then privatize it out to contractors to man posts and conduct patrols (sorry tax payers, its nat. security though ;) Oh thats after we flood the rio grande and fill it full of red belly pirahnas and electric eels...and sharks with lasers (budget permitting of course). If a terrorist or drug dealer should make it to the other site....a team of huskies that patrol the fence will be on the other side. See diagram A below to get a better understanding.

If that doesnt work, we will hire the Special Operations Civilian group (see thread) to use elite ROTC defense skills. Oh and there would  be a loud speaker with a TPD dude on the other end of it filling the enemy's head with propaganda.

ok i really need to get back to work now before i get fired :uhh:


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## Boondocksaint375 (Dec 28, 2006)

i just realized my drawing is potentially flawed....as i have militarized the mexican side of the border....uhhh just move that down some and we should be good.


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## AWP (Dec 28, 2006)

Guatemala has a shorter border with Mexico than we have with Mexico. We should use that as our southern border....


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## Boondocksaint375 (Dec 28, 2006)

That sounds like my Civ strategy lol


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## Polar Bear (Dec 28, 2006)

Once again you left out the Polar Bears


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## Boondocksaint375 (Dec 28, 2006)

i thought about it....but they wouldnt survive in such harsh weather.


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## Queen Beach (Dec 28, 2006)

Boon...you have way to much time on your hands....lol

I noticed the border issues as well (ie flaw in your drawing) and figured you had set up lines of defense.  Fight them on their territory.  We don't need lawsuits from the folks that might wonder into the kill zone......


Again...PB we would not want to put your kind in any further peril.  ;)


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## rangerpsych (Dec 28, 2006)

Establish a video surviellance system that covers the entire border, using the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System as a basis for video design. Have a central monitoring station somewhere in texas, since they have the largest border with mexico.

Establish section size RSOV/Bike mounted QRF's with 2 DAP's and 2 Chinooks with 20min response radius of each other, counting 5 minutes time to lift from call from the monitoring station of an incursion.

Greet said incursion with DAP's search gridding for target starting at incursion point and moving north.  QRF/Chinook's in north side air laager.

When DAP's find the target, QRF inserts with 1 RSOV/bike team north and 1 team to a flank. Movement to contact from there, with DAP's PSYOP-ing with loudspeakers (DAP's armament lowered to 7.62 and .50 miniguns, no need for rockets when miniguns scare people more, also allowing weight of loudspeakers)

if incursion doesn't retreat, consider hostile and make contact accordingly. 

After ONE contact, that shit would stop.


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## EATIII (Dec 28, 2006)

God I love you Guys,I can't believe I missed this.But It seems you got it covered.I might add PMC's are cheaper than the health and school care
That they get now.


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## rangerpsych (Dec 28, 2006)

Oh yah, forgot, do LRS insertions in enemy territory for information gathering. Can't leave EAT out ;)


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## EATIII (Dec 28, 2006)

rangerpsych said:


> Oh yah, forgot, do LRS insertions in enemy territory for information gathering. Can't leave EAT out ;)



+ 100 for cross thread points


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## pardus (Dec 29, 2006)

In a related topic, whats the latest on those two BP officers there were in jail for doing their job?


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## Typhoon (Dec 29, 2006)

> Can they not use the NG to patrol the Border?


This actually occurred in 1916 after Pancho Villa's raid on the town of Columbus New Mexico. There was so much concern about the security of the US/Mexico border that President Wilson called up 75,000 National Guardsmen from to patrol the border. At that time, just prior to the US entry into the First World War, there was not much of a standing army from which to draw soldiers. Not much mention of this is made in American history books; I imagine due to the deteriorating US relations with Germany in 1916 (sinking of the Lusitania, etc.) and subsequent entry into the war in Europe in April 1917. 

The Pancho Villa escapades brings up two ideas: First that the border with Mexico has never been entirely secure and that this is not a new problem; and second that there is good precedent for the President to use federalized national guard troops to secure our border. 

Personally I am quite disgusted by the lack of attention given to this issue, and am tired of the government not securing our border with Mexico in an effort to garner votes/not piss off Mexico/appear racist/etc. :2c:


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## Marauder06 (Dec 29, 2006)

EATIII said:


> + 100 for cross thread points



Nah, he wouldn't gotten crossthread points if he would have said to use the LRS's UAV.


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## pardus (Dec 29, 2006)

We need to kill one or two mexican soldiers on US soil, no disputing that evidence.

I am in total pissed off disbeleif those mofo politicians havent placed US soldiers to defend the attack on the US by a foreign country.
DISGUSTING!


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## Queen Beach (Dec 29, 2006)

pardus762 said:


> In a related topic, whats the latest on those two BP officers there were in jail for doing their job?



They are going to jail:

http://www.justicefortheborderpatrol.com/

http://agentramos.blogspot.com/


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## pardus (Dec 29, 2006)

SHAMEFUL!


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## Gypsy (Dec 29, 2006)

pardus762 said:


> In a related topic, whats the latest on those two BP officers there were in jail for doing their job?



They were convicted and sentenced to jail.    I'll find the link for you.


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## Gypsy (Dec 29, 2006)

Ah QB beat me to the punch... ;)


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## Queen Beach (Dec 29, 2006)

I was just looking at it yesterday.....


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## pardus (Dec 29, 2006)

I was thinking of possibly joining the BP as well...


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## rangerpsych (Dec 29, 2006)

fuck if we got someone in texas on the board that I can base ops out of, I'll go do some hunting on my own with a local newscrew onboard.


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## Boondocksaint375 (Dec 29, 2006)

Create your own minutemen outfit? I wouldnt mind doing that job for a living, pay dependant of course ;)


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## pardus (Dec 29, 2006)

Sad thing is it would just be evidence and you'd end up in jail


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## Looon (Dec 29, 2006)

My understanding is that the case made it to Bush's desk to potentially pardon these guys and it was denied. 

The Mexico Border handling by Bush is what I hate about him. That's my only knock on his presidency. :bleh: :doh:


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## EATIII (Dec 29, 2006)

Ranger Luna said:


> My understanding is that the case made it to Bush's desk to potentially pardon these guys and it was denied.
> 
> The Mexico Border handling by Bush is what I hate about him. That's my only knock on his presidency. :bleh: :doh:



X 2,And you got to love the "yea I use the Google from time to time"


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## Boondocksaint375 (Dec 29, 2006)

They closed the site :\ Hopefully they bring it back on a permanent basis.

http://www.texasborderwatch.com/

*The Texas Border Watch Test Site is now closed.*

*The Texas Border Watch Test Site has closed as the state proceeds with a formal request for proposals to implement a permanent Texas Border Watch web site. During the month-long test of this site, more than 200,000 viewers subscribed to the site, and more than 25 million hits were recorded,generating more than 13,000 emails. Some wrote to alert law enforcement officials to suspicious activity, others to recommend improvements to the web site or offer other comments. Many of the recommendations for improvements to the website were incorporated during the test period and will be part of the RFP the state issues.*

*The month-long test also demonstrated the high interest Texans -- and residents of other states -- have in border security. We thank all participants who visited this site, and we will notify you when the fully operational site is brought on line. *

*Some facts regarding the site:*

Total hours of operations of the test site as of Nov. 3rd, 3:00 PM CST: 639 hours​​Total hits to the test site as of Nov. 3rd, 3:00 PM CST: 27,923,387​​Total registered users of the test site as of Nov. 3rd, 3:00 PM CST: 221,562​​*Thank you for helping to protect the citizens of Texas*


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## pardus (Dec 29, 2006)

The president should hang his head in shame over this.


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## Boondocksaint375 (Dec 29, 2006)

I put more of a blame on Congress, he seemed to get the majority of his opposition from them when he wanted to add NG troops to the border.


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## pardus (Dec 29, 2006)

Doesnt excuse him over this though, that was his decision and his alone.


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## Boondocksaint375 (Dec 29, 2006)

What was?


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## pardus (Dec 29, 2006)

To not pardon the two BP officers.


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## Boondocksaint375 (Dec 29, 2006)

alright were talking about two different things here, my bad


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## pardus (Dec 29, 2006)

communication breakdown


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## Typhoon (Dec 30, 2006)

> communication breakdown


:cool: 

One of my all time Led Zep favs...


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## Gypsy (Jan 1, 2007)

I do support the President on most issues, but I really have a problem with the lack of pardon for the border patrol agents.  What message do we send when we try and convict men doing their jobs while protecting OUR BORDER and our Country????    I've signed several petitions, but...no joy.



http://www.townhall.com/columnists/...uards&ns=PhyllisSchlafly&dt=01/01/2007&page=1

We need compassion for our border guards
By Phyllis Schlafly
Monday, January 1, 2007

President George W. Bush pardoned 16 criminals including five drug dealers at Christmastime, but so far has refused to pardon the two U.S. Border Patrol agents who were trying to defend Americans against drug smugglers. It makes us wonder which side the self-proclaimed "compassionate" president is on.

Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were guarding the Mexican border near El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 17, 2005, when they intercepted a van carrying 743 pounds of marijuana. For what happened next, they were convicted and sentenced under a statute that was designed to impose heavy punishment on criminal drug smugglers caught in the commission of a crime.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent patrols along the fence line of the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales, Ariz., on Thursday, April 6, 2006. Lawmakers in Washington are debating immigration reform measures. Arrests of illegal migrants along the U.S.-Mexican border have dropped by more than a third since U.S. National Guard troops started helping with border security, suggesting that fewer people may be trying to cross. "The presence of the National Guard has had a big impact on migrants," he told The Associated Press on Tuesday Dec. 26, 2006. (AP Photo/Khampha Bouaphanh) The two agents are scheduled to start 11-year and 12-year prison terms, respectively, on Jan. 17, for the crime of putting one bullet in the buttocks of the admitted drug smuggler, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, and failing to report the discharge of their firearms. The nonfatal bullet didn't stop the smuggler from running to escape in a van waiting for him on the Mexican side of the border.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., called the two agents heroes. "Because of their actions, more than a million dollars in illegal drugs were stopped from being sold to our children. Bringing felony charges against them is a travesty of justice beyond description."

The White House and the U.S. Department of Justice are stonewalling requests for a presidential pardon from 55 members of Congress and U.S. citizens who have sent at least 160,000 petitions and 15,000 faxes. When the Bush administration deigns to respond at all, the official line is that the Border Patrol agents got a fair trial.

But that's not true; they didn't get a fair trial. They were convicted because the Justice Department sent investigators into Mexico, tracked down the drug smuggler, and gave him immunity from all prosecution for his drug smuggling crimes if he would please come back and testify against Ramos and Compean.

It was massively unfair to give immunity to an illegal alien narcotics trafficker while destroying the lives and families of two Border Patrol agents who risked their lives to stop him. Ramos and Compean were convicted mainly on the testimony of the immunity-sheltered drug smuggler, whose integrity should have been called into question, but Ramos and Compean were forbidden to do that during the trial.

The prosecutor even tried to get Ramos and Compean convicted of attempted murder! The jury acquitted them of that outlandish charge, but the government still asked for a sentence of 20 years for the other counts on which they were convicted.

How did the prosecution go from an administrative violation for failing to report a firearm discharge, with the penalty of perhaps a five-day suspension, to prosecution for intent to commit murder?

After the trial, two jurors gave sworn statements that they had been pressured to render a guilty verdict and did not understand that a hung jury was possible. A major argument used by the prosecution during the trial was that our government has a policy forbidding agents from chasing suspected drug smugglers without first getting permission from supervisors. That sounds like a no-arrest policy. By the time an agent gets permission, a smuggler can be out of sight and safely back over the border.

There were a couple of factual discrepancies between the smuggler's story and the agents' testimony, but the government chose to believe the drug smuggler rather than Border Patrol agents with clean records. Ramos was nominated for Border Patrol Agent of the year in 2005, and Compean served honorably in the Navy before joining the Border Patrol.

The Bush administration tidied up Aldrete's wound at a U.S. hospital at our expense and opened the way for him to sue the U.S. government for $5 million for violating his civil rights, which he is now doing.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent patrols along the fence line of the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales, Ariz., on Thursday, April 6, 2006. Lawmakers in Washington are debating immigration reform measures. Arrests of illegal migrants along the U.S.-Mexican border have dropped by more than a third since U.S. National Guard troops started helping with border security, suggesting that fewer people may be trying to cross. "The presence of the National Guard has had a big impact on migrants," he told The Associated Press on Tuesday Dec. 26, 2006. (AP Photo/Khampha Bouaphanh) This case exposes the misplaced priorities of the Bush administration. The case also reminds us that our Border Patrol agents are in daily danger from hardened criminals.

The Department of Homeland Security issued this Officer Safety Alert on Dec. 21, 2005: "Unidentified Mexican alien smugglers ... have agreed that the best way to deal with U.S. Border Patrol agents is to hire a group of contract killers." The alert cautions that to perform the killings, the smugglers intend to use the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) street gang, known for its unspeakable atrocities and torture.

T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council. said: "There is a palpable sense of outrage and betrayal. Here, you have five convicted drug dealers being pardoned, and two Border Patrol agents, who were doing their job, fighting the war on drugs on the front lines, and they're going to prison." This case is a test of George Bush's character, compassion, and concern for drugs coming across our border. He can't duck responsibility: the prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, and the judge, Kathleen Cardone, are both Bush appointees.


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## pegasus (Jan 1, 2007)

Gypsy said:


> I do support the President on most issues, but I really have a problem with the lack of pardon for the border patrol agents.  What message do we send when we try and convict men doing their jobs while protecting OUR BORDER and our Country????    I've signed several petitions, but...no joy.



Concur - I am at total loss to understand why he will not pardon these patrol agents.


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