WASHINGTON (AP) — President George W. Bush has commuted the prison sentences of two former Border Patrol guards whose convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer ignited debate about illegal immigration.
Bush’s act of clemency on Monday for Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean was a victory for Democratic and Republican members of Congress and others who pleaded with the president to pardon the men or at least commute their sentences.
Ramos and Compean are each serving sentences of more than 10 years for shooting an unarmed illegal immigrant as he was fleeing an abandoned marijuana load in 2005, then trying to cover it up.
This trying to cover it up is a joke. During the trial it was pointed out that the illegal, while running away, turned around and the agents thought they saw a gun. Now what in the hell is going on. If I was facing a criminal in the act of a crime and after asking to halt, the criminal turned around in a threatening manner, I would have blown his head off. The problem was, all border agents were not allowed to protect themselves at the time, and they did the next best thing knowing that their lives would be over if they didn't. Hard choices, but the rotten way we treat those to protect us are shit on.