Border Patrol Agent Accused Of Immigrant Abuse (update)

Border Patrol Agent Accused Of Immigrant Abuse

Luis E. Fonseca Pleaded Not Guilty To Kneeing, Choking Undocumented Immigrant

10news.com

SAN DIEGO -- A U.S. Border Patrol agent pleaded not guilty Monday to a charge that he kneed and choked an undocumented immigrant in Imperial Beach last summer.

Luis E. Fonseca -- who was assigned to the Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station -- is charged with deprivation of rights under the color of law.

Magistrate Judge William McCurine Jr. set bond at $25,000 for Fonseca and ordered the 31-year-old defendant to return to court on May 29 for a motions hearing.

The one-page indictment, which refers to the alleged victim as "UA#1," alleges Fonseca "kneed and choked UA#1, willfully depriving him of the right, secured and protected by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a law enforcement officer, resulting in bodily injury to UA#1."

"People detained at the border should be treated with human dignity and respect by federal agents," said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy. "It is important for the public to know that the Department of Justice takes alleged civil rights violations seriously. We have processes in place to investigate and will take action where appropriate to protect those rights."

source: Border Patrol Agent Accused Of Immigrant Abuse - San Diego News Story - KGTV San Diego

Border agent indicted for violating illegal alien’s rights
Author - Jim Kouri Sunday, April 22, 2012
Canada Free Press

In almost total secrecy, the Obama Justice Department has charged a U.S. Border Patrol agent, Luis Fonseca, for depriving the rights of a yet to be identified illegal alien at the Border Patrol station located on Imperial Beach, California, last July. Fonseca, however, was not indicted until a week ago.

Agent Fonseca, 32, allegedly kneed and choked an unidentified alien during his tour near the Mexican border last summer. During his arraignment on Monday April 16, he entered a not guilty plea.

A grand jury had handed down the indictment on April 12, but details were withheld and the DOJ neglected to promulgate why the legal action was taken against the Border Patrol agent, according to an “Inside-the-Beltway” public-interest group that investigates and exposes government corruption and misconduct.

“Border Patrol Agent Fonseca kneed and choked an unidentified alien, depriving him of the right under the Constitution and the laws of the United States to be free from use of unreasonable force by a law enforcement officer,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “The indictment also alleges as a result of the use of unreasonable force the individual sustained bodily injury.”

According to Department of Justice’s records, a federal grand jury indicted Fonseca on a single charge of deprivation of rights under color of law. The charge, a civil rights violation, carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment.

The case is problematic for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the government’s secrecy surrounding details. In the one-page indictment the illegal immigrant is identified only as “UA#1.” The document also claims that, as a result of the use of “unreasonable force” the undocumented alien sustained some kind of “bodily injury” yet no further details are provided, according to Judicial Watch’s Corruption Chronicles.

“The grand jury indictment is dated April 12, 2012, which means the feds dragged their feet, probably because they knew it was a weak case,” stated the Judicial Watch’s entry .

Fonseca was arrested on Friday during a shift at the Border Patrol’s Imperial Beach station and is currently on paid leave. He pleaded not guilty in federal court this week, according to DOJ records.

Here is why the DOJ is going after the particular agent, according to the federal prosecutor handling the case: “People detained at the border should be treated with human dignity and respect by federal agents. It is important for the public to know that the Department of Justice takes alleged civil rights violations seriously. We have processes in place to investigate and will take action where appropriate to protect those rights.”

Many law enforcement professionals are highly suspicious of this latest case of a Border Patrol agent being “dragged into court by the Obama Justice Department.

“It’s clear that Obama’s sympathies are with the illegal aliens entering the U.S. He’s all but told U.S. immigration and border officials to stop enforcing the law. This is just another message from the Obama Administration to Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to not be too zealous in doing their jobs,” claims former New York City Detective Jeff Knudson.

On top of the DOJ’s actions against Fonseca,—himself a Latino—the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General is also investigating the matter.

“Perhaps when that report is finished, more information will be revealed to the public. For instance, the victim’s identity and the exact bodily injury that he or she supposedly suffered at the hands of the Border Patrol agent accused of committing the choking and kneeing,” states the Judicial Watch posting.

The U.S. government has worked hard to protect illegal immigrants and their “constitutional” rights in the last few years. This has empowered them to file a number of lawsuits against local and federal law enforcement agencies for violating their rights. In Connecticut a group of illegal aliens sued the government for violating their constitutional rights during the operation that led to their apprehension.

In New York an illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal record got a $145,000 settlement from the state for having his civil rights violated during one of his many arrests. In Maryland an illegal immigrant from El Salvador for unlawfully and unconstitutionally detaining her based on race and in California illegal aliens sued a city for banning them from seeking work on public streets.

The Law Enforcement Examiner has regularly exposed President Barack Obama’s illegal-alien relatives, one of whom was arrested for drunk driving in Massachusetts.

One Old Vet

Border agent indicted for violating illegal alien’s rights

By Greg Moran5:42 p.m.
April 9, 2013
U-T San Diego

SAN DIEGO — The lawyer for a U.S. Border Patrol agent on trial for abusing an unauthorized immigrant who had been arrested told jurors Tuesday that a video that shows the man being kneed and apparently choked does not tell the whole story.

Defense lawyer Stuart Adams told jurors in federal court that his client, Border Patrol Agent Luis Fonseca, acted as he had been trained to do in order to get the man, Adolfo Cesar Escobar, to comply with basic orders.

Stuart also said that a defense expert will testify that Ceja was not choked into unconsciousness, as federal prosecutors contend and the video appears to show.

Fonseca is charged with using unreasonable force on Ceja, who was arrested July 26, 2011 trying to enter the country illegally with two other men. He was taken to the Imperial Beach border patrol station for routine processing before being deported back to Mexico.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Burkhardt told jurors that just before 8 p.m., Fonseca approached Ceja, who had been standing with his hands on a wall during the booking procedure.

She showed the panel the key piece of evidence in the case: a video clip taken from a station camera that captured Fonseca hitting Ceja with his knee. Fonseca then apparently chokes Ceja until he collapses and appears to have a brief seizure.

Caught a few days later after again trying to enter the country illegally, Ceja told a Customs and Border Protection officer about the incident. That eventually led to Fonseca’s indictment.

Stuart showed jurors other portions of the video, starting about 20 minutes before the confrontation. He pointed out several instances where he said Ceja disobeyed orders to keep his hands on the wall, and not to speak to two other men arrested with him.

At one point, a different Border Patrol agent appears to grab Ceja roughly by the back of the neck and tap his head three times into the wall. Stuart said these are tactics agents are trained to use if verbal commands are being ignored.

“You’ve got to nip it in the bud,” he said, describing how agents are trained to deal with noncompliance. “And you’ve got to do it hard.”

Because of the camera angle, the video does not precisely show what happens and what Fonseca does with his hands as he deals with Ceja. Stuart said that Ceja was faking, and was never choked into unconsciousness.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/...g-case-begins/