Thread: 5 Hurt in Shootout at Border, 70 arrested UPDATED X12

Originally Posted by butterbean

Originally Posted by Ratbstard

I wonder if Sen. Schumer will have any comments?

I was wondering the same thing. Our border is a disaster. Homeland Security isnt doing its job to protect America either. Fire the incompetent fools.

HOMELAND SECURITY AS WELL AS THE REST OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IS NOTHING BUT A JOKE AND THE WAY THEY ARE LETTING THESE PROPLE COME HERE ILLEGALLY AND WITHOUT ANY RESPECT FOR OUR LAWS SPEAKS VOLUMS FOR OUR GOVERNMENT.THESE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DOING THIS AND HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO GET AWAY WITH IT FOR SO LONG UNTIL THEY THINK IT IS THEIR RIGHT TO COME HERE IN THAT FASHION. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THEY SHOULD PROTEST THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT FOR THE THINGS THAT THEY ARE COMING HERE DEMANDING FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY THAT OWES THEM NADA. MEXICO IS JUST HAVING THEIR WAY WITH THIS COUNTRY. IF THEY WOULD BRING BACK OPERATION WET BACK, THAT WOULD HELP THE SITUATION. IT WORKED FOR DWIGHT AND IT WILL WORK NOW.

Originally Posted by MountainDog

As I read through all of this I can't help but wonder what were these people thinking??? Did they really think they could just speed on through and go their merry way? Is this stupidity or arrogance? Or is it something else?
Obviously there was no concern for the safety of the passengers or any bystanders, not to mention the agents on duty.
There's a lot to be learned by this as I believe it shows the desperation of these people and their willingness to kill for their desires. No other thought inters their mind other than what they want and feel they deserve.
Agents Rosas is a prime example.
It is actions such as these that lead many to believe there is an undeclared war against America with Mexico in full support.

AND THE SAD THING ABOUT IT IS THAT OUR GOVERNMENT PANDERS TO THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT WHILE THEY ARE LAUGHING AND MAKING THE U.S. LOOK LIKE A JOKE TO THE REST OF THE WORLD. THEY WOULDN'T GET AWAY WITH THIS KIND OF STUFF IN CANADA. THEIR GOVERNMENT WOULDN'T PUT UP WITH THIS KIND OF CRAP

Shooting at border not unique occurrence

Some past smuggling attempts ended fatally

By Leslie Berestein
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. September 24, 2009

The dangerous daytime smuggling attempt that prompted three federal agents to start shooting, shutting down the San Ysidro border crossing Tuesday, was brazen but not unheard of.

Human and drug smugglers have long tried running the ports of entry, some with premeditation, others in a fit of panic after they aroused suspicion.

The protocol is for officers to fire their weapons if they feel their lives are in danger, said Harold Washington, president of the union representing Customs and Border Protection officers in San Diego.

“It is a lifesaving function,â€

Two Arrested in Attempt to Crash Border
Guillermo Arias

Vehicles involved in a shooting at the border crossing between Tijuana, Mexico, and the United States.


Published: September 23, 2009
Two Mexican men were arrested on federal human-trafficking charges Wednesday, a day after officials said three vans in which they were riding with scores of other Mexicans tried to run through the border station at San Diego.

The attempted border-running, which led immigration and customs agents to fire on the vans, caused the authorities to close down the station — the busiest land crossing into the United States — for about four hours.

One van driver and one passenger were taken to a San Diego hospital with gunshot wounds, one of them with serious injuries, the police said.

The episode highlighted a growing boldness among migrant smugglers, immigration officials said, as well as the increasing number of immigrants trying to cross illegally through Southwest border posts to avoid risking the arduous trek through backlands between the stations.

“It shows you how brazen these smuggling organizations are becoming,â€

Police: Agents felt trapped in border shooting

Posted: Sep 24, 2009 12:42 AM CDT

Updated: Sep 24, 2009 02:22 AM CDT





By ELLIOT SPAGAT

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Federal agents felt trapped when they opened fire on the driver of one of two vans packed with suspected illegal immigrants that barreled toward them at the nation's busiest bordercrossing, an official said Wednesday.

The agents "were out on foot, they didn't have an area of safety they felt they could go to, and the drivers were going right at them," said San Diego police Lt. Kevin Rooney.

Four people were injured after drivers of three vans stormed past an inspector Tuesday at the San Ysidro border crossing connecting San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. None of the injuries was life-threatening.

The drivers were trying to escape onto nearby Interstate 5. But the vans got stuck behind cars in an area that funnels vehicles through a few lanes to the freeway.

Authorities also activated a system of tire shredders and steel planks that shoot up from the ground at the freeway entrance.

Drivers of two of the vans backed up and drove toward another freeway entrance, heading for the agents who drew their guns and yelled for the drivers to stop, Rooney said.

The agents felt that if they jumped out of the way, they might dodge the first van but not the second, he said. Others in the area may also have been in harm's way, Rooney added.

The shooting sparked criticism from some immigrant activists because the officials - two from Customs and Border Protection and one from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement - fired in thick afternoon traffic. The American Friends Service Committee said the use of force was excessive.

Rooney said no evidence suggests anyone in the vans was armed.

Officials at CBP and ICE declined to comment on whether the shooting was justified. A CBP statement said only that one driver "posed a threat and attempted to flee."

Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said in a statement that it was concerned about the incident and was trying to assist the Mexican passengers.

Police said the driver and a passenger in one van were shot. Another passenger suffered head injuries and cuts when the van hit a truck, where another man was hurt.

Two drivers were arrested and prosecutors were reviewing the case for possible smuggling charges. Another driver ran back to Mexico, where he was captured and will be prosecuted, according to CBP.

The agency said 78 suspected illegal immigrants from Mexico were traveling in the three vans and were taken into custody. All seats except the driver's had been ripped out of the vans. One of the vehicles had been stolen near SeaWorld San Diego last month, Rooney said.

"They had to have been packed in there beyond belief," said Mike Unzueta, special agent in charge of investigations for ICE in San Diego.

Authorities closed all 24 U.S-bound vehicle lanes for hours after the incident, causing major delays.

A union official said a key question for San Diego police investigating the shooting is whether the agents could have escaped as the vans headed toward them.

"A vehicle is a deadly weapon if it's coming at you," said Harold Washington, president of National Treasury Employees Union Local 105, which represents border inspectors in San Diego. "If you do not have time to escape, you have to defend yourself."

In the 1990s, it was common for drivers, known as "port runners," to speed past inspectors to Interstate 5.

Then the government erected rails that required motorists to navigate a serpentine path, Washington said. They were later removed because they clogged traffic and motorists inadvertently struck the barricades.

The port runner alert system of tire shredders and steel planks has almost halted the practice.

"There's no way they possibly could have gotten out of there if the alert system was activated," Washington said.

More recently authorities have contended with "port runners" who try toenter the United States by driving the wrong way into Mexico-bound traffic. There are fewer barriers in those southbound lanes.


http://www.kmir6.com/Global/story.asp?S=11188539

Has anyone noticed that this incident has not been on the news any where not fox, not cnn, not local, at least in my state nothing nowhere except San Diego..

This needs to passed around the more people that know about this the better off we are in stopping any amnesty thing they try to pass..

Kathyet

Originally Posted by kathyet

Has anyone noticed that this incident has not been on the news any where not fox, not cnn, not local, at least in my state nothing nowhere except San Diego..

This needs to passed around the more people that know about this the better off we are in stopping any amnesty thing they try to pass..

Kathyet

I saw it on the ABC national news at 6:30 p.m. on the west coast Wed. night.
It was on the CNN online site (I don't know if it was on TV or not).
It was on the USA TODAY site, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, etc.

But, Yes, it should have gotten more coverage.

Feds charge two in incident that led to gunfire at port of entry

By Jose Luis Jiménez
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
6:13 p.m. September 24, 2009

SAN DIEGO – Two people were charged Thursday for their roles in a human smuggling operation that ended with federal agents shooting at the suspected smugglers at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, according to federal court records.

The complaint filed in federal court details how the vans failed to stop at an inspection lane and how the port's security system prevented the vans from further entry into the country.

Sergio Guzman-Torres, the driver of one of the vans, and Jose Jaramillo-Mendez, the front seat passenger, were charged with human smuggling. Guzman was wounded when federal agents opened fire to thwart Guzman's attempt to escape the port, according to court records.

Two other people in the van were taken to the hospital for treatment and a fourth person, an innocent border crosser, was also hurt.

The men have yet to appear in court. A total of 79 people – most of them illegal immigrants stuffed in the three vans – have been detained.

The investigation continues and more charges could be filed at a later date, said Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The busiest border crossing into the United States was closed to vehicular traffic for several hours after the shooting.

According to the complaint, the three vans were all in a row as they approached the booth at the No. 3 inspection lane about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. They failed to stop for a Customs and Border Protection agent.

The “port runner systemâ€

2 charged with smuggling in Calif. border shooting

By ELLIOT SPAGAT, The Associated Press
7:24 p.m. September 24, 2009

SAN DIEGO — Two men were charged Thursday with smuggling illegal immigrants in a failed attempt to rush the nation's busiest border crossing in vans packed with suspected illegal immigrants.

One defendant, Sergio Guzman, was shot in his "lower extremities" when U.S. authorities fired on the van he was driving, according to a statement of probable cause. Guzman allegedly agreed to drive a blue Ford Econoline van with 25 people inside in exchange for free passage into the United States.

The other defendant, Jose Jaramillo, agreed to pay $4,000 to be smuggled to the country. The complaint does not detail his alleged role in the failed crossing but says he was previously arrested 28 times on immigration-related violations.

It was unknown if either man had an attorney.

Guzman was one of four people injured when U.S. authorities opened fire on one of the three vans Tuesday at the San Ysidro border crossing connecting San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, according to San Diego police. One other person was struck by gunfire, and two were hurt when the van hit a truck. None of the injuries was life-threatening.

Another driver ran back to Mexico, where was captured, and will be prosecuted there, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The whereabouts of the other driver was unclear.

U.S. authorities found 58 men, 15 women and five children in the vans, all of them suspected illegal immigrants from Mexico.

A spokesman for the Mexican consulate in San Diego, Alberto Diaz, said 66 have been returned to Mexico. Others remain in the United States to serve as witnesses.

Witnesses told authorities they agreed to pay between $2,500 and $4,000 to be smuggled in the vans, according to court documents. One said smugglers planned to cut a hole in the border fence but scrapped that idea because there were too many Border Patrol agents.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... dex=171803

One said smugglers planned to cut a hole in the border fence but scrapped that idea because there were too many Border Patrol agents.

I like the idea of too many BP agents, as they have probably saved us from losing more jobs to illegals and having to fix another hole in the fence.