We Must Protect This House

Following up on the story of Patrick Haab, the Army Special-Ops officer who detained seven undocumented migrants illegal aliens, several new facts have become evident.

First, he says he acted in self-defense, drawing his weapon on the undocumented migrants illegal aliens because "his military training took over when he saw the men coming out of the bushes." Even Haab says his actions were based on the fact he thought they were going to attack him and not because he assumed they were illegals. In fact, Haab said he had no idea that the men were undocumented immigrants illegal aliens at the time he drew his pistol from a holster he often wears.

Patrick said the 911 dispatcher told him to use his best judgment. He said he gave a second gun, a Derringer that he kept in his car, to another motorist who was also stopped at the rest stop. Patrick said the other motorist knew Spanish and confirmed that the men had crossed the border illegally.

Bottom line. How can you fault Haab for thinking he was about to be attacked? He was near the U.S.-Mexico border, walking his black lab (similar to those used by Border Patrol agents), when seven undocumented immigrants illegal aliens come out of the bushes toward him?

Patrick said repeatedly that he did not threaten the immigrants."I never patted any subjects down," he said. "I never pulled the (gun's) hammer back."

With the knowledge you have now, go back and read the shoddy reporting job of the first article, which conveniently leaves out crucial information and details, in an attempt to keep with the theme that Patrick Haab is a renegade vigilante hell-bent on denying the rights of innocent folks. Is it the journalist's attempt at trashing the military? Or is he making a personal statement on illegal immigration? Maybe it's simply bad journalism?

One might think the first two are ridiculous assertions, until you read the headline of this latest article that appears to present a very different story than the original:

GI: I held migrants in self-defense - Accused vigilante says he feared 7 men were going to attack him

How many other times would you hear someone who "feared 7 men" attacking them called a "vigilante" instead of victim?

News is no longer about "reporting the facts" so much as it is "projecting the journalist's commentary on the situation".

SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: The Mexican government is threatening to sue an Army Reserve sergeant who detained seven illegal immigrants last month. U.S. prosecutors have already said they'll not bring charges against Army Reserve Sergeant Patrick Haab (search). Is the Mexican government trying to make an example out of him?

Reserve Sergeant Patrick Haab joins us now for an exclusive interview, along with his attorney, David Cantor. Welcome to you both.

Patrick, why do you suspect Mexico might be coming after you if the United States decided not to press charges?

RESERVE SGT. PATRICK HAAB, DETAINED SEVEN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: Well, they obviously just don't have the facts in the case here. And just resorting to desperate measures.

COLMES: You were not prosecuted, right? Should the illegal immigrants, though, who you stopped have been prosecuted? As I understand it, they were also not prosecuted.

HAAB: I'm not too sure on that, whatever happened there.

COLMES: Mr. Cantor, can you comment on that?

DAVID CANTOR, ATTORNEY: I think they're being held under material witness warrants, because they still think they need them to testify against the coyote, or the human smuggler. So I believe they still are subject to prosecution once that runs its course.

COLMES: As I understand it, they were not prosecuting, Patrick, because citizens can make arrests when felonies are committed. But when you saw them, you didn't know that they were committing a felony. You didn't know if they were legal at the time or what was going on. So I don't understand how they made that decision given that you had no idea that there was a felony being committed at that time.

HAAB: Well, that was just one of the reasons that the attorney general had given. I mean, it started out as just a self-defense. And that — that pretty much gave me the right to make a itizen's arrest right there.

COLMES: In terms of Mexico going forward, I understand you acknowledged that — you wrote in an email to supporters, according to The Arizona Republic, expressing an alarm that undocumented border crosses are transferring the United States — or transforming it into "Americo." And some people took that to be a not particularly complimentary comment.

Do you think that might have something to do with it?

HAAB: I guess I don't really care. I'm not racial — I'm not racist or anything, but illegal aliens crossing the border has to be an issue to be brought up here.

HANNITY: Patrick, just to remind people, they rushed you. They were in the country illegally. And one of the things I want to establish is are they subject to prosecution? Are they subject to being sent back to Mexico? It seems to me that that's not resolved at this point. I'm frankly bewildered by that.

HAAB: Yes. It's pretty amazing that they're still here and enjoying the U.S. lifestyle.

HANNITY: Well, here's the problem. Mexico is a government, the same government that gives instructions to people on how to enter this country illegally, what to do when they get here illegally. I mean, this is the government that does this.

We don't have an extradition agreement with Mexico. We have had the parents of law enforcement officials who were killed by people that are in Mexico now. The Mexican government is doing nothing to help bring these people to justice, even though they know where they are.

So why would we in any way allow them to go after you? I mean, you would want your government to protect you in every way, and you have every indication they will.

HAAB: Yes. I'd hope so.

HANNITY: Hope. Do we know for sure, and are you concerned at all about the government saying they're going to go after you?

CANTOR: Let me handle that. First of all, they have no basis to go after Patrick for any type of lawsuit. The key is they're illegal aliens. And once the word "illegal" comes into play, anybody can arrest them. Secondly...

HANNITY: According to Arizona law, by the way, that's true. Because citizens do have the right to make arrests. I want to make that clear to our audience.

CANTOR: Absolutely, and the Mexican government, I think they need to understand the term ally, and they need to pick their battles. This is not the battle they want to pick.

COLMES: Did he know they were illegal at the time, counselor? I think that's the question.

CANTOR: Well, once they rushed him, it didn't matter. There's six people rushing him out of the dark.

COLMES: All right. We — we'll be following the story. Thank you for being with us.

Related...

Thanks for the link NW_AZ!

U.S. Border Patrol agents have been ordered not to arrest illegal aliens along the section of the Arizona border where protesters patrolled last month because an increase in apprehensions there would prove the effectiveness of Minuteman volunteers, The Washington Times has learned.

More than a dozen agents, all of whom asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, said orders relayed by Border Patrol supervisors at the Naco, Ariz., station made it clear that arrests were "not to go up" along the 23-mile section of border that the volunteers monitored to protest illegal immigration.

"It was clear to everyone here what was being said and why," said one veteran agent. "The apprehensions were not to increase after the Minuteman volunteers left. It was as simple as that."

Another agent said the Naco supervisors "were clear in their intention" to keep new arrests to an "absolute minimum" to offset the effect of the Minuteman vigil, adding that patrols along the border have been severely limited.

Border Patrol Chief David V. Aguilar at the agency's Washington headquarters called the accusations "outright wrong," saying that supervisors at the Naco station had not blocked agents from making arrests and that the station's 350 agents were being "supported in carrying out" their duties.

"Border Patrol agents are the front line of defense against terrorism," Chief Aguilar said, adding that the 11,000 agents nationwide are "meeting that challenge, head-on ... as daunting a task as that may sound."

The chief -- a former head of the agency's Tucson sector, which includes the Naco station -- said that with the world watching the Arizona border because of the Minuteman Project, agents in Naco "demonstrated flexibility and resilience in carrying out their critical homeland security duties and responsibilities."

But Rep. Tom Tancredo, Colorado Republican, yesterday said "credible sources" within the Border Patrol also had told him of the decision by Naco supervisors to keep new arrests to a minimum, saying he was angry but not surprised.

"It's like telling a cop to stand by and watch burglars loot a store but don't arrest any of them," he said. "This is another example of decisions being made at the highest levels of the Border Patrol that are hurting morale and helping to rot the agency from within.

"I worry about our efforts in Congress to increase the number of agents," he said. "Based on these kinds of orders, we could spend the equivalent of the national debt and never have secure borders."

Mr. Tancredo, chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, blamed the Bush administration for setting an immigration enforcement tone that suggests to those enforcing the law that he is not serious about secure borders.

"We need to get the president to come to grips with the seriousness of the problem," he said. "I know he doesn't like to utter the words, 'I was wrong,' but if we have another incident like September 11 by people who came through our borders without permission, I hope he doesn't have to say 'I'm sorry.' "

During the Minuteman vigil, Border Patrol supervisors in Arizona discounted their efforts, saying a drop in apprehensions during their protest was because of the Mexican government's deployment of military and police south of the targeted area and a new federal program known as the Arizona Border Control Initiative that brought manpower increases to the state.

The Naco supervisors blamed the volunteers for unnecessarily tripping sensors, disturbing draglines and interfering with the normal operations of the agents. They said that their impact on illegals was "negligible" and that civilians should leave immigration enforcement "to the professionals."

Several field agents credited the volunteers with cutting the flow of illegal aliens in the targeted Naco area, saying the number of apprehended illegals dropped from an average of 500 a day to less than 15 a day.

More than 850 volunteers, in a protest of the lax immigration enforcement policies of the White House and Congress, sought to reduce the flow of illegal aliens along a popular immigration corridor on the Arizona-Mexico border near Naco by reporting illegals to the Border Patrol as they crossed into the United States.

Their goal was to show that increased manpower on the border would effectively deter illegal immigration. Organizers said the protest resulted in Border Patrol arrests of 349 illegal aliens.

Area residents, in a half-page ad in the Sunday edition of the Sierra Vista Herald, told the volunteers: "Thanks for doing what our government won't -- close the border to illegal aliens. It was the quietest month we've had in many years ... You made us feel safe because the border was closed."

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