Posted on 08/13/2003 9:54:03 AM PDT by LNewman
After a backlash, the Border Patrol won't nab suspects except at the border or checkpoints. Now agents are angry.
After protests over recent immigration arrests in San Diego and San Juan Capistrano, Border Patrol officials have instructed agents not to make arrests on city streets or question suspected illegal immigrants except along the border and at highway checkpoints in Orange and Riverside counties.
The directive, outlined in an Aug. 8 memo, is aimed at agents in San Diego and southern areas of Orange and Riverside counties.
"The future of Border Patrol operations" depends on eliminating the public perception that agents occasionally conduct neighborhood sweeps, says the memo from William T. Veal, chief patrol agent for the greater San Diego area.
Agents reacted with anger and disbelief to the memo.
"I refuse not to do my job. They want us to turn a blind eye even if we know that an alien is here illegally, and a criminal [besides]. That's reprehensible," said agent Thane Gallagher, who is also a union official. "Whose mythical notion is this that once an illegal alien is in the U.S., we're supposed to turn our back?"
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
The arrest was in downtown San Diego, which is only a few miles from the border with Mexico. The I-5 and I-15 border patrol checkpoints are about 60 miles North of downtown San Diego. Those checkpoints are much farther from Mexico than where the border patrol agent was working. (and, from a logical perspecitve, he was between the border and the checkpoints)
Don't make it sound like these guys were off on a wild goose chase just to try to nab some poor shivering "undocumented worker" and whale on him---these guys were enforcing the law and nabbing people who illegally went over the border.
I am not criticizing him, he was doing his job. I am criticizing this approach to addressing our immigration disaster as it accomplishes nothing, save producing piles of paperwork and alienating the communities the Border Patrol must work in. This approach is not thoughtful and ultimately will achieve no appreciable benefit to the US.
And your point is? We throw the baby out with the bathwater because deportation proceedings are screwed up?
My point is that the system is broken and half measures, no, much less than half in this case, only exhaust resources which could have a significantly greater impact on the problem elsewhere.
Why do you think these guys are so angry---because they want to hang out at the beach at SJC instead of patrolling the border? No, they want to be able to enforce the law against illegal entry into the US, and that means detaining illegal aliens where they find them, even if it's not right at the border.
Whats the point, where do you think this leads? Even if the Border Patrol pulled 50% of the agents off the border in San Diego and spent the next 5 years sweeping from Orange County south what do you think the overall impact on illegal immigration in the US would be? Answer, nothing. I am sure a bunch of aliens would be arrested and removed, all of which would be back in a week or two, I am sure a bunch of agents would get sued, I am sure the media and the civil rights whack jobs would have a field day and in the end you can be confidant that the 9th Circuit would step in with an injunction and put a stop to the entire thing.
No one's "taking agents off the border to round up aliens in the interior"---didn't you read the article? Agents are being prevented from detaining illegals at an arbitrary (and as I noted very close) distance from the border.
Probably because someone has taken the time to read a bit of history. Ever hear of Chandler AZ, or Farmersville, CA or perhaps Parlier CA. Its not like Border Patrol interior enforcement hasnt been tried before the results are sadly predictable as we are witnessing in this story.
Ah, I get it now!! No enforcement of current law---just a "political solution" (translation: "amnesty" and political accommodation of the demands of the Mexican government, and American law and taxpayers be DAMNED), and a "safe and sane immigration policy" (translation: open borders).
I am afraid you still dont get it, the current law is a joke. The current immigration policy is a bad joke. You seem to be under the misconception that the system was designed by good men with good intentions and it simply resulted in some unintended consequences. I believe that the current system was designed to function exactly as it does. Its not a mistake, an oversight, a misstep or an oops. It is accomplishing everything it was setup to do.
The political solution I am referring to is not amnesty (as by all credible accounts only increased illegal immigration last time) its going to take a complete overhaul of immigration policy and to do that its going to take an overhaul of congress. The answer to solving this problem rests with the politicians who design it, not with a lone Border Patrol Agent in North County.
They're trying to do just that---you and the other "open borders" people in and out of the government get the hell out of their way.
Apparently you havent noticed but our borders are open. Now more than ever we need to secure our borders, arresting a few Josés here and there in the interior accomplishes nothing. Once the Border Patrol can assure us that the border is secure they can, (should newly elected leadership and the courts permit it) kick butt in the interior.
Roger also played a clip from a 2000 interview with then-candidate George W. Bush, who said the federal government should commit to the manpower and equipment needed for securing our borders. Bush said we need to make our borders as secure as possible, just like other countries do, such as Mexico along its southern border. He mentioned "Operation Hold the Line" to protect our borders, but we haven't heard about any such policy since then.
Since we can't print the LAT story, here is the version from the FlashFacts yesterday, with minor editing
http://rogerhedgecock.com/flashfacts.html
WE AIN'T FORTUNE TELLER!! (but we told the future) DID SO IN OUR FLASH OF AUGUST 6^TH. We post our lead item of that day below for your reference. The tale about our Home Land Security Forces busting a Mexican family that had busted into our country. Our Border Patrol folks nab the group in the vicinity of the Mexican Consulate (in Little Italy... Yikes) and process them back to their homeland. Well poop gets in the fan big time. Mexicans that we allow to have an office in San Diego get livid. Mexican Embassy in D.C. (where we allow Mexicans to have an office too) shakes finger at highest levels of Bush administration....how dare you arrest and deport Mexican citizens!!....and behold comes forth from the Chief of the San Diego sector of the Border Patrol a memo.
Memo basically tells all our local BP agents to knock it off. Don't be busting illegals. Least not once they get into the USA. You can wave at them as they flood across the border and if they jump into your Bronco you can arrest them...otherwise just make sure they have water and snacks and fresh underwear. We're not kidding.
Border Patrol Agents are not authorized to conduct any interior enforcement, or city patrol, operations in or near residential areas or places of employment, including immigration inspections at day labor pick-up locations or on city streets while agents are enroute to assignments as PD transport or transportation checks. This the exact language from the August 8^th, 2003 memo from William T. Veal, Chief Patrol Agent.This is real good...but once the aliens, terrorist and terrorist weapons get across the border... our border patrol is to leave the invader alone. HUH?Heres another quote from the memo: "The operational priorities for the San Diego Sector are geared toward maximum containment at the border, to prevent the illegal entry of aliens, terrorists and terrorist weapons."
Ally Ally in Free? Touch Wood? Safe now that we are across the border and in San Diego proper? Beyond belief.
ROGER GOT SNUCK THE MEMO on Tuesday and we immediately flashed it off to Duncan Hunter, Dana Rohrabacher and Tom Tancredo... staunch defenders of the American border. Fox 6 news locally also got fed the story and the memo also found its way to Bill OReilly on the Fox News Channel.
THE BP OFFICERS WHAT BUSTED THE FAMILY OF ILLEGALS on August 1st ought to get letters of commendation in their personnel files...instead (did we predict it?) they are likely bound for patrol duty in the corn fields of Nebraska.
OH, AND JUST IN CASE YOU FORGOT (or missed the Flash cause of our mail server problem) our original prediction... we post that here:
[...]
IF YOUR JOB IS HUNTING FOR ILLEGALS...folks who have gotten thru our airtight border security system (huh?) and are loose in America where might you look? Well the Mexican Consulate seems to be a starting point. And so it was of a recent day that some of our Border Patrol folks were in the vicinity of the San Diego Mex Cons office and nabbed a family of five and a friend..burglars all - that is they had broken into our homeland. The folks were sent back home to their home.
WELL YOU'D HAVE THUNK WE'D SUCKER PUNCHED A DRUNK. Mexican authorities get a bad case of the snits and complain to U.S. government. The Mexicans will launch their own investigation. In fact the Mexicans allege that since 911 there has been an aggressive effort to locate and deport illegals and that Latino neighborhoods have been targeted.
THE STORY CHUCKLES US A COUPLE OF WAYS...here's part of the U-T report posted this morning:
"In interviews in Tijuana, the five family members vowed to return to San Diego by Monday morning so they wouldn't lose their jobs. Three worked as janitors and one as a cook. They left two young children behind in San Diego. "
HUH?? Is that a little blatant or what? We'll break back into your country immediately because we have jobs to have to get to. What about that airtight border security stuff?
OH, and why was the family at the consulate? They needed to pick up one of those phony Mexican I.D. cards for illegals so that when the Duf signs the drivers license for illegals they'll have a document proving they are illegal.
Why do politicans cave in to these terrorist enablers (aka 'activists')? .....Especially considering the success of anti-illegal immigration CA ballot initiatives over the past decade (even though they've later been deemed unconstitutional by the CA Supreme fools). Clearly, the vast majority of CA voters have had enough of this nonsense, and would support any politician who as the guts to tackle it and not cave in to these 'activists'.
We are supposed to report illegals to these guys, right ARealMothersSonForever?
Yes, we are supposed to follow the law. And not get too wrapped up in the rantings of H.G. Reza and Anna Gorman from August of 2003, when they were shilling for money.
I like it - sorta like smarmy pandering - smandering. Perfect!
The United States of America
will henceforth be known as ...
BUSHMART
... where the doors are never closed and the shoppers are never hosed.
"Welcome to Bushmart, senor. Would you like a cart?"
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