Posted on 05/01/2007 8:19:18 AM PDT by Terabitten
Fed up with what they see as poor management and a lack of support for those on the frontline, U.S. Border Patrol agents Monday announced a lack of confidence in their leadership.
Amid rallies in Washington D.C. focusing on illegal immigration, leaders of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) - the union representing the country's 11,000 non-supervisory border agents - announced it had cast a unanimous no-confidence vote in U.S. Border Patrol Chief David V. Aguilar.
The 100-0 vote stemmed from complaints that field agents lack support from the top, a situation they say is exemplified by the case of two agents in Texas, jailed after shooting a Mexican trying to bring drugs into the country.
The resolution cited the chief's willingness to believe what it called the "perjured allegations" of criminal aliens over his own agents.
"All these are working agents," NBPC President T.J. Bonner told Cybercast News Service, speaking of the 100 union leaders that voted. "They've been out there talking to agents in the field. This vote is born of extreme frustration. The only surprise is that it took this long to boil to the surface."
Earlier this year, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean began prison terms of more than a decade each for shooting Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, a Mexican national who was trying to smuggle drugs across the border. Prosecutors gave Aldrete-Davila immunity to return to the United States and testify against the border agents.
"When it's a crime to defend yourself against an armed drug smuggler, you have to wonder what the country has become," Bonner said. It was a point of contention at the trial on whether Aldrete-Davila was armed.
The prosecution, conviction and jailing of the agents upset many conservatives, and critical members of Congress have attacked the Bush administration repeatedly over the affair.
The administration has defended the actions of the federal prosecutor, who for his part argued that the agents not only shot an unarmed man while he was fleeing toward the Mexican border, but also tried to cover up the crime by disposing of their shell casings and not reporting the incident to their supervisor.
Though Aguilar was never vocal on either side of the border agents case, Bonner said most agents were unhappy that he had not spoken up for the agents and saw it as part of a pattern.
The union released the result of the vote on Monday to coincide with the "Hold Their Feet to the Fire" event in Washington, sponsored by the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
The four-day event, which began on Sunday, included 35 radio hosts broadcasting their programs from the nation's capital. FAIR and the radio hosts are demanding stricter border enforcement; a crackdown on employers who hire illegal immigrants; and an end to non-emergency benefits and services for illegal immigrants.
Aguilar was named Border Patrol chief in the summer of 2004. A Border Patrol agent for nearly three decades, he is a graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
The Border Patrol did not return multiple phone calls Monday, and the Department of Homeland Security - the overarching body - said queries would have to be addressed to the Border Patrol.
The union has never taken such a measure against its chief administrator before, Bonner said.
"We fully recognize the vote will not result in his removal," Bonner said. "This administration would probably promote the guy if they got a chance. This is to express the frustration that has overtaken the Border Patrol.
"This manager - I can't call him a leader, because he won't stand up for the men and women in the field - just goes along to get along with the administration," he charged.
CBP Ping!
Freepmail me to be added or deleted from this CBP Ping List. This is NOT an immigration ping list - it deals strictly with news concerning Customs & Border Protection.
“unanimous no-confidence vote in U.S. Border Patrol Chief David V. Aguilar.”
OK, I’ll say it, I wonder how Chief Smith would have done.
I believe that the frustration of the border patrol is exactly the intended result of a scheme engineered by the administration. This will, some one or some ones at the top hope, keep people from signing up to become border agents and keep those in the job now from vigorously enforcing the borders. I believe it was also engineered to get agents to quit and look for work in other areas of law enforcement.
Then they can legitimately say there is not enough capacity to enforce the border, not enough money to build a fence and thus the only relief for the crisis is amnesty, American Union, and all that crap the admin and congress desire for some hidden reason.
Unfortunately, this goes straight to Bush and his support of cheap labor from Mexico. He’s sitting on Aguilar. Pathetic!
Holy crap...
There fixed it.
I believe it's much simpler than that. The Border Patrol has suffered for years from rampant internal corruption and mismanagement. They're reaping the fruits of that labor now.
Join the Border Patrol - Enforce the law - Go to prison
Exactly! Anyone else think that a guy named Aguilar may just have a built-in bias? A conflict of interest?
Aguilar, Gonzales right up to Bush.
My undying support of our President and many of his minority appointments is starting to wain.
Already doing business in some parts of Kalifornia is like doing business in Mexico.
The attitude of some down in Southern Kalifornia is absolutely hilarious.
I believe it’s much simpler than that. The Border Patrol has suffered for years from rampant internal corruption and mismanagement. They’re reaping the fruits of that labor now.
There I fixed it for you.
It’s way beyond a mess....I used to work at a hospital in the San Fernando Valley on the evening shift. Each night I passed the emergency waiting room and it was packed with illegal immigrant families with no health insurance. In Van Nuys, Ca. you see more Mexican license plates than American plates...Thanks President Bush but why should you care?...One day you’ll retire to your ranch and won’t give a crap.
Unless you're an illegal alien drug smuggler, then you get immunity and a big $$$$$$ settlement.
Pray for our Nation, and Pray for President Bush, that he finds the courage to say NO to these invaders, and will protect our Nation against Anarchy in the streets and on our Borders.
sw
Happens every day in the legal system that we have here in the good ol’ US of A. Scumbags are given sweetheart deals all the time to testify and juries are instructed to give appropriate weight to their testimony. And if you read the transcripts of the Compean-Ramos trial, they were not convicted by any testimony given by Aldrete-Avila. They themselves provided the prosecution with all the rope that it needed.
They were able to hide under INS, and they're trying to hide under CBP. The best thing that could happen is for them to become their own agency, with the Congressional oversight that comes with it.
I read that Bush told a South American audience that he plans to retire on his extensive property in Uruguay.
What attitude is that? I’m interested in hearing this story, hehe.
Owl_Eagle
If what I just wrote made you sad or angry,
it was probably just a joke.
That's partly true, but the bigger part is that, IMHO, the BP is its own worst enemy. Their cultural problems are finally starting to come to light, and it ain't pretty. There are things that I don't feel comfortable sharing on the public forum that would curl your toes.
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