Thread: First-Ever Class of ICE-Trained Mexican Customs Officials

First-Ever Class of ICE-Trained Mexican Customs Officials

Release Date: October 22, 2010

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

North Charleston, S.C. - U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton today joined Mexican Secretary of Finance Ernesto Cordero Arroyo and Tax Administration Service and Customs Director Alfredo Gutiérrez Ortiz-Mena to host the first-ever graduation of Mexican customs officials from a 10-week, ICE-led investigator training course at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Academy in North Charleston, S.C.

"Our efforts to crack down on criminal organizations and others who threaten the safety of our citizens and our economy require close cooperation between the United States and Mexico," said Secretary Napolitano. "Today's historic graduation of Mexican customs officials from this U.S.-led investigator training course reflects the unprecedented collaboration between our two nations to better combat transnational crime while facilitating legitimate travel and trade."

"A well-functioning border is an opportunity for growth—it opens doors to commercial exchange, peace, progress and human development," said Secretary Cordero.

Twenty-four men and women from Mexico's Tax Administration Service and Customs participated in the inaugural session of the Mexican customs investigator training conducted by ICE agents.

The course included coursework in both Mexican and U.S. customs law, as well as training in a wide variety of investigative techniques, officer safety tactics, and ethics—helping to provide the graduates with the tools and knowledge necessary to combat cross-border crime, including money laundering, customs offenses and weapons and drug trafficking, in close coordination with ICE special agents and other U.S. law enforcement officials.

President Obama is committed to shared responsibility with President Felipe Calderón and the government of Mexico to secure the Southwest border and ensure the security of both nations through programs such as the Mérida Initiative—the cornerstone of U.S.-Mexico security cooperation. The Mexican customs investigator training course is part of this multiyear, Department of State-led initiative—designed to provide assistance to Mexico and Central America in the form of capacity building, training and equipment to better equip law enforcement agencies to complete their missions. The United States has appropriated $1.4 billion in aid for Mexico through the initiative—including resources to provide training and equipment to support law enforcement operations.

Over the past year, Secretary Napolitano and her Mexican counterparts have engaged in an unprecedented level of cooperation, signing a number of bilateral agreements and declarations to bolster cooperation in the areas of enforcement, information and intelligence sharing, joint operations and trade facilitation along the Southwest border. DHS has doubled the number of law enforcement personnel assigned to DHS's Border Enforcement Security Task Forces (BEST), multi-agency teams that collaborate to identify, disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations which pose significant threats to border security and coordinate intelligence sharing on both sides of the border. The formation of the first-ever Mexico-based BEST was announced by Secretary Napolitano in August of 2009.

For more information on DHS's border security efforts, please visit www.dhs.gov.

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This page was last reviewed/modified on October 22, 2010.

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1287767935269.shtm

How honest will the Mexican ICE people be about stopping illegal entry when our Hispanic US congressman want amnesty for Hispanics simply because of their own heritage?

Originally Posted by GaPatriot

How honest will the Mexican ICE people be about stopping illegal entry when our Hispanic US congressman want amnesty for Hispanics simply because of their own heritage?

They are training Mexicans how to do their job properly in Mexico,
not to work for I.C.E. in the U.S.

I think its funny how they can't get their shyt straight over there we have to pay for them to oppose their own cartel we have to train them how to fight against the cartels and now we have to teach them how to spot a criminal why don't we just go over there and do it for them you know its just a matter of time before we have to anyway! Beside I bet the cartels will pay these people better than their own goverment You never hear much about what we receive in return from mexico are they going to help our goverment with the defecit? Are they going to help off set the cost of taking care of their citizens? why do we even bother? What's in it for us when clinton signed nafta a lot of our work went down there it didn't stop them from sneeking over here! I feel that mexicos like my exwhife she has the additude that my money is her money and if I get a break from work she wants me over there doing work for her and what do I get in return NOTHING!

My first thoughts about this were why would we want to teach them our tactics?

Now these trainees can pass on that knowledge to those wishing to defeat the system.

Mexican drug agents learn U.S. methods
By Glenn Smith
Saturday, October 23, 2010

Fighting drug cartels, human traffickers and other organized crime can be a deadly occupation for Mexican customs agents charged with enforcing the law in an often lawless region south of the border.

To help even those odds, 24 Mexican agents recently completed 10 weeks of intensive training in Charleston under the tutelage of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents. It is the first time Mexican agents have undergone such training in the United States with their American counterparts.

At the group's graduation Friday, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and other dignitaries hailed the training as a historic milestone in cross-border cooperation that will help thwart crime in both countries.

"Our partnership is strong and our dedication is even stronger to work together -- the United States and Mexico -- fighting crime and making sure the rule of law is carried out," she said.

The 90-minute ceremony was held at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center on the former Charleston Naval Base, the same place the training occurred.

Also in attendance were U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton, Mexico Secretary of Finance Ernesto Cordero Arroyo and Mexico Tax Administration Service and Customs Director Alfredo Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena.

Cordero extended the well-wishes of Mexican President Felipe Calderon to the group, whom he described as "loyal, honest and committed." He asked them to do their part to bring about the peace and prosperity Mexicans crave.

"We are advancing toward being a country that is more prosperous and just," he said. "We want to be a country where law is respected."

Mexico's war against the drug cartels has been a dangerous and bloody affair. Cartel violence has left a death toll topping 28,000 people in recent years.

Four small-town mayors have been slain in the past two months in northeastern Mexico, including one official who was reportedly kidnapped and shot by his own police officers, linked to the Zetas drug gang.

Twelve federal police officers in Mexico were killed this year in an ambush by drug traffickers.

Security was heavy for Friday's graduation, with checkpoints and bomb-sniffing dogs. To underscore the risks the graduates face, the media were barred from taking photos of the Mexican agents or publishing their names, lest the cartels catch on to them.

Napolitano said the United States has placed unprecedented manpower and technology along its border with Mexico to stanch the flow of drugs, guns and cash that fuel the cartels' operations.

Effectively battling these threats takes cooperation and coordination between both countries, she said, which is why the training exchange was so important.

The agents endured everything from demanding runs to tear gas and pepper spray exposure. They also learned tactical and driving skills, the intricacies of money-laundering investigations and other valuable instruction that mirrored what U.S. agents receive, officials said.

Morton said the Mexican agents performed very well. He noted that one agent, a 23-year-old woman, scored near the top of her class in marksmanship despite having no previous firearms experience.

Morton said other countries have expressed interest in participating in his agency's training program, but the primary focus at the moment is on Mexico. He expects many more Mexican agents to receive training in the United States, though he offered no firm timetable for that to happen.

During a brief question-and-answer period, a journalist asked Cordero what steps were taken to vet the agents to ensure that they would not change sides and use their newfound training to help the cartels.

Cordero acknowledged that is always a possibility, but insisted this group represents a new generation of trustworthy enforcers. He offered no specifics as to how they were screened.

A Mexican agent selected to represent his class told the audience that the group learned valuable lessons, including the importance of solidarity in fighting the scourge of the cartels. "Together we are one, but separated we are two."

www.postandcourier.com