Posted on 07/07/2002 9:31:51 AM PDT by Spiff
(Sierra Vista, AZ) Reports from unnamed informants within the U.S. Border Patrol describe an incident which occurred on July 2nd at a checkpoint 20 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Sources say that a number of illegals were spotted by Border Patrol agents moving through the desert in an apparent attempt to go around a permanent checkpoint located on State Route 90 just 12 miles north of Sierra Vista, Arizona. It was surmised by the agents that these illegals had been dropped off from a smuggler’s vehicle a few miles south of the checkpoint and were going to meet back up with the smuggler vehicle a few miles north after circumventing the checkpoint. From there, the illegals would have been driven to Interstate Highway 10 and taken to points unknown. This sort of activity is a common occurrence at this checkpoint.
The illegals were apprehended by the Border Patrol and taken into custody. It was determined that among the group was one Yemeni national and several Mexicans. When questioned, the Yemeni national said that he had been among a group of six Yemenis who had earlier crossed the border together. The report of the five additional Yemeni intruders caused the Border Patrol to dispatch a helicopter from Tucson (approximately 70 miles northwest) to the checkpoint. In addition, it is reported that U.S. Customs dispatched a helicopter to the area of the apprehension to conduct a search from the air. The Yemenis were not found and may still be at large. Sources say that the FBI was notified but that the level of FBI interest and/or involvement is not known at this time.
These same sources report that U.S. Border Patrol Agent in charge of the Tucson Sector, David Aguilar, has ordered his agents to keep quiet about this incident. Reportedly, Aguilar has issued several such gag orders recently – demanding that Border Patrol agents keep quiet about happenings along the border. In June, Aguilar spoke at the annual convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and told of the government’s humanitarian responsibility to protect Mexican citizens who are illegally crossing into the United States (See Washington Times - June 27). As evidence of Aguilar’s confusion about the Border Patrol’s mission, he recently redeployed his agents away from the border itself and has instead deployed them into the larger desert areas to rescue illegals found to be in distress. It is also reported that Aguilar has ridiculously attempted to explain away the trails of footprints, garbage, and trail markings left by the hordes of illegals crossing through private, state, and federal lands as instead being evidence of the area’s new popularity to hikers and campers because of the success of the Border Patrol at apprehending and stopping the illegals.
Emails to O'Reilly or other news outlets may be in order. We can't let Aguilar cover this incident up, nor let him continue to cover up such incidents. Please help get the word out about this.
This is outrageous! Mr. Aguilar is committing an act of treason in my opinion. We must be notified. Americans must be protected. This guy needs to be fired.
You are hereby notified.
This information was leaked by agents within the Border Patrol who seem to agree with your assessment.
I received the information from reliable sources who received the information directly from Border Patrol agents who wish to remain anonymous.
So does the National Inquirer, you'll have to do better than that.
Good choice!
While I'm not impressed with the unamed sources used in this story, I do agree that the border IS dangerously wide open.
Chad, Spiff has been here since 1997 and, while that does not confirm the reliability of his information, it makes him less likely to be a disruptor. This is the kind of information that I'd rather see come forward and would favor being wrong in that fashion rather than on the side of not reporting/disclosing. If Spiff (hehe) is wrong, little harm has been done. If he's right, this is important information.
I do not have permission from these sources to post them here. However, their contact information has been sent to O'Reilly.
Don't act like this is the first time that middle eastern OTMs have crossed the border. It happens all the time. The real story here is how Aguilar is trying to keep it quiet.
Read this WorldNetDaily Article about similar crossings here in Cochise County, Arizona.
But critics charge that a large number of complaints go underreported because agents deal mainly with Mexican migrants, who are less likely to report misconduct. "Historically, (the Border Patrol) attempts to put the better spin on it," said Isabel Garcia, a Tucson lawyer and immigrant advocate. "They don't do any follow-up. They don't let the victims know how the cases are handled. Typically, they don't do anything. They minimize, they hide - anything to avoid dealing with the situation." King said the shortage of investigators to look into allegations has implications for all ranks of the Border Patrol, from managers to patrol agents who are accused of crimes.
U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., called the understaffing of the Office of Inspector General "a huge problem.
"We've had a tremendous increase in federal agencies and no commensurate increase in the Office of Inspector General," he said.
Kolbe said Congress allocated $5 million in the last budget for the OIG, which will give the Tucson office two additional investigators.
And more Border Patrol agents may be on the way, with President Bush proposing to double the current number to help keep terrorists out of the country. Most of the new agents would be assigned to the Canadian border. The rapid growth has worried some within the Border Patrol's ranks. Some veteran agents say working conditions, including living in impoverished border towns, have resulted in a revolving door. Many agents are interviewing to become air marshals, union officials say.
The average Border Patrol agent in the Tucson sector has 4.8 years of experience compared with 6.9 years throughout the agency.
"We have a lot of young agents and inexperienced agents," said Bud Tuffly, vice president for the Tucson sector union. "The problem is that the agency has done very little to retain experienced agents ... They need to start looking at how do we retain a guy with five to 10 years."
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