Posted on 03/16/2002 2:15:46 AM PST by JohnHuang2
A U.S. Border Patrol officer has encountered four heavily armed Mexican army soldiers on the U.S. side of the border near San Diego.
The soldiers, armed with three submachine guns and one M-16 rifle, crossed the border near Tecate, Mexico, while on a counter-drug mission, Border Patrol spokesman James Jacques said. They were all dressed in camouflage fatigues, said officials.
A Border Patrol agent, who was not identified in the SanDeigoChannel.com report, said he was following footsteps left by the Mexican patrol. When he encountered them, one of the Mexican soldiers had his sidearm unholstered.
The agent then unholstered his sidearm and identified himself. He told superiors the Mexican troopers then realized they were inside the U.S. and cooperated with the Border Patrol agent, who took them to a nearby Border Patrol station.
Their identities were verified by the Mexican consulate and other U.S. officials before they were returned to Mexico via the San Ysidro Port of Entry. The report did not say whether their weapons were confiscated.
"This could easily have escalated into a real tragedy," Jacques told reporters. "Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed."
The Border Patrol's Washington, D.C., headquarters did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
The March 10 incident signals a growing trend of Mexican military forces crossing into the United States.
In March 2000, WorldNetDaily reported that a group of Mexican soldiers fired on Border Patrol officers.
On March 14, 2000, "two Mexican army Humvees carrying about 16 armed soldiers drove across the international boundary and into the United States near Santa Teresa, New Mexico," said a statement issued at the time by the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing about 8,300 "non-supervisory" Border Patrol personnel.
There the vehicles pursued a Border Patrol vehicle, which was "outfitted with decals and emergency lights (that were activated for much of the pursuit) over a mile into the United States," the union said.
The lead Mexican army vehicle, said the council, contained nine soldiers "armed with seven automatic assault rifles, one submachine gun and two .45 caliber pistols," and was eventually apprehended by other Border Patrol units.
The second Mexican army Humvee, however, "pursued a Border Patrol agent on horseback and fired a shot at him. The soldiers then disembarked their vehicle, fired upon one more Border Patrol agent and chased another agent before fleeing [back] to Mexico in their vehicle."
Then, in November, two border patrolmen who had just disembarked from a "clearly marked Border Patrol helicopter" immediately came under fire from a 10-man unit of what appeared to be soldiers with the Mexican army, according to L. Keith Weeks, vice president of the National Border Patrol Union Local 1613 in San Diego, Calif.
The second incident reportedly occurred Oct. 24 in Copper Canyon, about eight miles east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
About eight shots were fired, Weeks said. "Once other Border Patrol agents neared the scene, the soldiers retreated to Mexico and drove off in a minivan," he added.
News of the incursion comes as President Bush earlier this week convinced the House leadership to attach an amnesty bill to a series of other non-controversial bills that usually don't require much debate. The measure was passed.
Critics of Bush's bill say the granting of amnesty to millions of illegals rewards illegal behavior, worsens domestic security and demoralizes the Border Patrol and other law enforcement agencies charged with enforcing immigration laws.
On Wednesday, Bush signed into law the "Family Sponsor Immigration Act of 2002," which, the White House said, "allows an alternative family member to sign the necessary affidavit of support for an alien in the event of the death of the relative who initially filed a petition for permanent resident status for the alien."
I believe this law should be changed. Citizenship should only be granted in cases where at least *one* of the parents are themselves citizens. Otherwise, it is merely a foreign national lying there in swaddling clothes, not an American citizen.
Tuor
Hell, no. Bush and Clinton are both Statists. The only real difference between them is the ends they intend for the Federal power. IMO, we're not going to like whatever ends they have in mind.
Tuor
Not as much as it would cost to put up a fence between us and Canada, as that border is much longer. Oh, wait, we *have* a fence between us and Canada.
Tuor
I've no idea, really. Both borders are pretty much a joke. I suppose it might be something as simple as Canada having better roads than Mexico. Or it could be that there are more Arabs living in Canada than in Mexico, so a crossing by a few of them would be less suspicious than a crossing at Mexico.
However, perhaps you are referring to the guy who was caught crossing in Washington. I happen to live in Washington and know where he crossed. He crossed on a ferry that runs between Victoria and Port Angeles. I have no idea how he got caught (I read about it, but have forgotten). I imagine there was a good deal of good luck and maybe the terrorist was just an idiot, especially since most of the things he had could've been bought at a Radio Shack in the US.
But we're not talking about terrorists. We're talking about Mexican nationals and we're talking about how our southern border is so pathetic that there are large stretches where there isn't much, if anything, to even *mark the border*. You're trying to equate one or two terrorists sneaking into the US with hundreds of thousands of Mexican nationals doing the same thing. Yes, it is more dangerous in the short run for a couple of terrorists to get into the US across the northern border; but in the long run, it is *much* more dangerous for our country to be continually invaded by large numbers of foreigners across our southern border.
Finally, we have *caught* terrorists crossing the Canadian border, but how many have we caught crossing the Mexican border? Just because we haven't (so far as I know) caught any crossing in from Mexico doesn't mean that it isn't happening or that it won't happen in the future.
Tuor
If the terrorist got sweaty when asked a few simple questions, then he really is an idiot to have tried crossing at all.
Tuor
They are supposed to do a lot of things they are not doing. Has the contract between the state and the citizen been nullified, and we have not been told.
I know that my wife and I will not vote for him again.
Well that makes four of us because my wife and I won't vote for him again either.
No you will destroy it with excessive paranoia and smearing a lot of hard working people who are doing the same thing you are, trying to live the American dream.
Most Americans don't consider a bilingual, balkanized America with Los Angeles as the capital of Aztlan part and parcel of the "American" dream.
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