Posted on 05/10/2006 1:48:26 AM PDT by M. Thatcher
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is refuting a Daily Bulletin report that the U.S. Border Patrol provided information to the Mexican government about the whereabouts of civilian border watch groups.
Read the disputed article: U.S. tipping Mexico to Minuteman patrols
See the Mexican Government Web page: www.sre.gob.mx/eventos/minuteman/reporte3
"Today's report by the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, `U.S. tipping Mexico to Minuteman patrols,' is inaccurate," read the statement issued Tuesday evening. "Border Patrol does not report activity by civilian, non-law enforcement groups to the government of Mexico."
Kristi Clemens, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection, would not elaborate on the agency's statement other than to say the U.S. gives information to Mexican officials under the rules of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963, which provides foreign nationals being detained by a government the right to consular access.
"This is the same agreement that protects United States citizens when they travel to foreign countries," according to the statement.
An August 2005 document, "Third Report on the Activities of Vigilantes" -- posted on Mexico's Secretary of Foreign Relations Web site -- suggests U.S. officials were giving out more details than required by the Vienna Convention. Part of that information was the location of U.S. citizens participating in volunteer border patrols.
The Daily Bulletin reported on the contents of that document and two others on the Mexican Web site in a story published in Tuesday's editions.
Mexican consulates also went beyond the boundaries of the Vienna Convention, asking U.S. Border Patrol officials to provide them with information on "vigilantes" operating along the U.S. border, according to the August 2005 document.
Some of the information cited in the Mexican document originally was given only to U.S. Border Patrol and law enforcement officials, border watch organizers said.
"Nobody but law enforcement and Border Patrol knew where we were at," said Andy Ramirez, chairman of the Chino-based nonprofit group Friends of the Border Patrol. "So how is our base address on a Mexican government document dated last August? Nobody, not even media, had this information."
Ramirez said he revealed the location of his base camp only to local and federal officials. The Mexican document gives the exact location of his group's site, which was on private property near San Diego.
According to Ramirez, the group had no encounters at that site with undocumented migrants, which would have been the only cause for that information to be revealed under the Vienna Convention.
On Monday, Mario Martinez, a U.S. Customs and Border spokesman, told the Daily Bulletin that when illegal immigrants are apprehended in the U.S., they have the right, under the Convention, to be represented by their country's consulate office and to information regarding their apprehension.
Information contained in a Border Patrol agent's field report, which is filed when a person is caught, would reveal the location of the detainee and therefore the area where the volunteer group is operating, Martinez said.
Martinez did not deny that information on the border volunteers was being shared with the Mexican government. He added that the group's whereabouts also were identified by numerous media outlets.
However, the Mexican report also contains specific information on civilian groups operating much farther inside the United States.
For example, the document notes that 50 Minuteman volunteers work in Chicago, focusing mainly on employers who hire illegal immigrants.
Minuteman volunteers said specific information -- such as the number of volunteers and their plans -- could have been provided only by law enforcement officials at that time. The document credits the various Mexican consul general offices in the U.S. with providing the information to the Mexican Foreign Secretary for the reports.
"How did they know the number of volunteers in Chicago? And why should the Mexican government care?" asked Connie Hair, spokeswoman for the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps in Washington, D.C.
The three reports on the Mexican Web site documented the activities of the civilian groups based on concerns the Mexican government had about volunteer patrols on the border in 2005, said Rafael Laveaga, spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C.
"The Border Patrol does not report activity of the Minutemen to the Mexican consulate," Laveaga said. "But it's all a matter of perception. If a migrant requests to have counsel, which is their right under the Vienna Convention, then the information is provided to the counsel."
Throughout the Mexican government's reports on "vigilantes," it is noted that Mexican consulates in the U.S. contacted Border Patrol officials seeking U.S. cooperation in reporting instances of civilians monitoring the border. Among such requests:
The Mexican consul in Presidio, Texas, asked the Marfa Sector's Border Patrol chief to alert them if the U.S. detected any volunteer activity.
In Phoenix, consulate officials asked the Border Patrol to notify them if civilian groups apprehended any undocumented migrants so consulate representatives could interview them.
In San Diego, the document referred to a meeting with Border Patrol Chief Darryl Griffen stating that "Mr. Griffen reiterated to the undersecretary his promise to notify the General Consul right away when the vigilantes detain or participate in the detention of any undocumented migrant."
"It appears the border reports are the tip of the iceberg," said Chris Simcox, founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, which began patrolling the border last April.
Such requests from Mexico, and U.S. officials acquiescing to them, are not new, say Border Patrol agents.
Scott James, a former Tucson agent, resigned after eight years of service in February, citing a lack of support for agents by the Department of Homeland Security.
He said that U.S. Border Patrol officials provided office space inside their headquarters to Mexican consulate officials, allowed the consulate to dictate the agents' activities, and gave the consulate information on ongoing investigations.
Such courtesies were not extended to consulate offices of other countries, James said.
Sara A. Carter can be reached by e-mail at sara.carteror by phone at (909) 483-8552.
There seems to be a charge and denial.
Can't wait to see which is confirmed.
Isn't this the same story you just posted?
Yes, just wanted to clarify this was a follow-up, with much new material, to the much-discussed earlier article.
09/05/2006 09:40 "EU avisa a México sobre ubicación de los Minutemen La Patrulla Fronteriza está informando al gobierno mexicano sobre la posición de las milicias civiles que vigilan la frontera para detener o atacar a inmigrantes ilegales, según un informe oficial. AP Notas relacionadas No hay notas relacionadas -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Los Angeles.- La Patrulla Fronteriza de Estados Unidos está informando al gobierno mexicano sobre la posición de las milicias civiles que vigilan la frontera para detener o atacar a inmigrantes ilegales, según un informe oficial. El vocero del servicio de aduanas y protección de fronteras, Mario Martínez, declaró al Inland Valley Daily Bulletin de Ontario que el objetivo del alerta es asegurar al gobierno mexicano que se respetan los derechos de los inmigrantes. El alerta afecta al Cuerpo de Defensa Civil Minuteman y a los Amigos de la Patrulla Fronteriza, entre otros grupos civiles. “No es ningún secreto dónde estarán los voluntarios Minuteman”, dijo Martínez el lunes. “Con esto queremos afirmar dos cosas fundamentales: que no toleraremos la anarquía de ningún tipo y que si un extranjero es enfrentado o detenido por un Minuteman, permitiremos que su gobierno entreviste a esa persona”. Miembros del Minuteman – que toman su nombre de una milicia campesina de la época colonial – dijeron que la política de la Patrulla Fronteriza les resta eficacia y podría poner en peligro sus vidas. “Ahora comprendemos por qué las autoridades mexicanas siempre saben dónde estamos”, dijo Chris Simcox, fundador de la organización. “Es inconcebible que una agencia de nuestro propio gobierno envíe información a otro país. Envían información a una nación caracterizada por la corrupción rampante, que podría llegar a los carteles criminales”. El Daily Bulletin dijo que no pudo comunicarse con autoridades del consulado mexicano en Washington el lunes. TJ Bonner, presidente del sindicato de agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza, dijo que éstos se quejan desde hace mucho de la influencia indebida que ejerce el gobierno mexicano sobre la política coercitiva de Estados Unidos. “Esa no es una función legítima para una nación extranjera, cualquiera que sea”, dijo Bonner."
care to translate?
!
(This assumes of course that the Minutemen themselves are not providing this information via PR or website information.)
You should be learning Spanish. </sarc>
Unless FR is in Spanish, that's not happening.
"US advises Mexico about location of the Minutemen.
"The Border Patrol is informing the mexican government about the position of the civilian militia which guards the border to detain or attack illegal immigrants, according to an official informant, AP News reports...The spokesman of the Customs and Immigration Service, Mario Martinez, declared to the Inland Valley Billetin of Ontario that the objective of the alert is to assure the mexican government that the rights of the immigrants are respected..."
Somebody played Free Republic like a cheap violin. And our single-issue knee-jerkers did EXACTLY what the guy who planted this story wanted.
Oh, wow, you mean people heatedly discussed a news report, and they had opposing views?
It's a conspiracy, I tell ya.
Yeah, right.
ROTFL...
Thanks for posting and I expect more will be forthcoming the enxt few days, and obviously in the current climate as our Southern border continues to leak and Congre$$ fiddles.. it may be awhile before this latest brouhaha is put to rest to everyone's aatisfaction, if then. ;-)
No, I mean someone got a bunch of people to post over-the-top things such as about how this guy doesn't agree with Timothy McVeigh BUT...
(When someone says "but," it means "please ignore what I just said.")
Churchill once said that a lie is halfway around the world before the truth finishes putting its boots on.
We've just demonstrated that he was absolutely right.
There was no "discussion." It was more like a mass mouth-foaming. The 'single-issue knee-jerkers' jumped on this like flies on poop. As usual.
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