Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 11

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member Skip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    San Diego
    Posts
    4,170

    CHERTOFF WARNS OF BORDER VIOLENCE SURGE



    Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff warns of border violence surge


    By Nicole Gaouette, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
    5:31 PM PST, January 22, 2008


    WASHINGTON -- Violence along the border with Mexico will likely increase this year as the administration bolsters Border Patrol staff and adds more fencing and technology to catch illegal immigrants, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday.

    Chertoff's comments came after the death Saturday of Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar in California. Aguilar, a 32-year-old father of two, was hit by a Hummer driven by suspected drug smugglers as he tried to place spike strips in front of the escaping vehicle.

    Aguilar's death has drawn attention to escalating violence on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico divide. Chertoff and other administration officials said the violence that claimed Aguilar's life stems partly from heightened border security measures. And they said the agent's death highlights the need to continue initiatives such as a fence, which has drawn stiff opposition from some border residents and officials.

    "Experience shows that the more successful you are in putting pressure on criminal organizations, the more violent they will become in fighting back," said Chertoff, who wore a pin depicting a Border Patrol badge draped in black. "The sad, tragic fact is that the increase in violence is very consistent with other metrics we've had that show we're getting increased success with stopping the flow across the border."

    In an interview with the Los Angeles Times and The Associated Press, Chertoff and Border Patrol officials said the agency considered the agent's death to be murder and was working closely with Mexico to investigate. Agency officials said it was the first murder of a Border Patrol agent since 1998. Mexican officials reportedly found the burnt Hummer in Mexicali.

    Aguilar's death has also underscored the controversy about the administration's efforts on the border.

    Several border groups have sharply criticized Homeland Security for wanting to build a border fence on private land. Many residents, mayors and business owners object to the plan, as well as Chertoff's announcement that, if necessary, his agency will seize land from unwilling property owners to continue construction.

    "I know it gripes some people, they don't want it on their property," Chertoff said. "But ... if the (Border Patrol) chief says to me building a barrier, building a fence would make it safer in this particular area. ... I'm going to use every available tool, including the courts."

    Conservatives critical of President Bush's policies on immigration and the border drew a link between Aguilar's death and the sentencing of two Border Patrol agents who shot a Mexican drug smuggler. In the wake of Aguilar's death, these critics have renewed their calls for the pardon of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.

    The border agents shot the smuggler in the buttocks as he fled to Mexico. Prosecutors charged that they then tried to destroy evidence of the shooting. Despite the administration's prosecution of the agents, the men have become heroes to many conservatives.

    Border officials strongly dismissed that allegation. "It's not a fair comparison, and it diminishes our shock and heartbreak," said National Deputy Chief Ron Colburn. Chertoff said there was no indication Aguilar had time to defend himself. Both Colburn and Chertoff stressed that Border Patrol agents are allowed to use force to defend themselves. Chertoff said Border Patrol agents have been attacked with everything from firearms to knives, bats, steel pipes, vehicles, boats and sling shots. Violence on the border increased 31 percent from 2006 to 2007 and attacks on agents jumped 44 percent over the same period.

    Border officials say the burgeoning violence is rooted partly in turf battles between criminal organizations and lawlessness on Mexico's side of the border. Some 2,500 Mexicans died in drug-related violence in 2007, and President Felipe Calderon has made combating drug cartels the top priority of his government.

    Chertoff linked the spike in violence to an array of U.S. enforcement measures, including fencing. He said that his agency has built about 170 miles of pedestrian fencing and 130 miles of vehicle barriers. He also cited increased Border Patrol numbers, now 15,000 strong, and policies in which illegal immigrants are deported and no longer released.

    The administration has set up protocols that allow Homeland Security to coordinate with Mexico when violence crosses the border. Chertoff said Mexican officials reacted promptly after Aguilar's death and that he has discussed with them additional steps they might take "to turn up pressure on cartels."

    Chertoff added that the violence will require continued close cooperation, including joint intelligence gathering and investigations on both sides of the border.

    http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... crosspromo

  2. #2
    Senior Member Dianne's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    2,858
    Chertoff added that the violence will require continued close cooperation, including joint intelligence gathering and investigations on both sides of the border.

    Mexico already said they are not going to cooperate in the aprehension of the border patrol agent's murderer.

  3. #3
    Senior Member zeezil's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    NC
    Posts
    16,593
    Where's the bald headed stooge been over the last several years as border violence and assults against agents has been skyrocketing.?
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  4. #4
    Senior Member miguelina's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    9,253
    Chertoff added that the violence will require continued close cooperation, including joint intelligence gathering and investigations on both sides of the border.
    What it will require is the US military patrolling the border fully armed, to protect US citizens from terroristic acts by foreign nationals.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
    "

  5. #5
    Senior Member cayla99's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Indiana, formerly of Northern Cal
    Posts
    4,889
    Quote Originally Posted by Dianne
    Chertoff added that the violence will require continued close cooperation, including joint intelligence gathering and investigations on both sides of the border.

    Mexico already said they are not going to cooperate in the aprehension of the border patrol agent's murderer.
    I missed that part, I have been busy today. do you have a link?
    Proud American and wife of a wonderful LEGAL immigrant from Ireland.
    The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing." -Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  6. #6

    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Posts
    771
    Heard Mccain today talking again about ''Vehicle Barriers'' and avoiding even saying the word FENCE.Vehicle barriers ate about 3 feet high and illegals can walk in the 12 inch space between them.There is a video on utube showing illegal aliens putting rams up to easily drive between them.Rapist that activist got mad at that the were describing for the media during man hunt as hispanic by police dept for raping 6 girls between 12 and 15 was caught today and he is an illegal from mexico who has been deported 4 times and been injail 3 times(4 years,1 year and 10 days for DUI).How many americans have to be murdered and raped ubtil us government tells mexico and other countries no more tdae,aid or getting paid till you tell your citizens not to come to US.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Skip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    San Diego
    Posts
    4,170




    Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff said that Border Patrol agents are virtually under siege by violent drug cartels retaliating against toughened enforcement that's made it harder to ferry drugs into the United States.

    Jump seen in assaults on U.S. border agents

    McClatchy Newspapers
    Jan. 22, 2008 05:28 PM


    WASHINGTON - Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday that the United States and Mexico are working aggressively to track the killers of a 32-year-old Border Patrol agent who was killed over the weekend in what Chertoff described as an extensive surge in violence against federal agents along the Southwest border.

    "This is outrageous, killing a Border Patrol agent," Chertoff said in a joint interview with three news organizations, including McClatchy. "We're committed to bringing the people who did this to justice."

    Luis Aguilar, a father of two, was killed Saturday when he was struck by a vehicle speeding through the Imperial San Dunes Recreation Area near Andrade, Calif. Aguilar was assigned to the Yuma Border Patrol Station, just across the state line in Arizona. Chertoff said the agent apparently was "killed deliberately" when he tried to stop the vehicle with a device that deflates tires.

    Chertoff was joined by high-ranking officials of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security, as they mourned the death of the first agent killed in the line of duty since 1998. All wore gold badges affixed with black tape.

    Chertoff said that Border Patrol agents are virtually under siege by violent drug cartels retaliating against toughened enforcement that's made it harder to ferry drugs into the United States. Assaults on Border Patrol agents have increased 44 percent from October through December, compared with the same period a year ago.

    "When you turn the screws on them they start to fight more viciously to protect their dwindling business," Chertoff said. But he added: "Anybody who thinks they're going to back us down - whether it's with rocks or guns or vehicles - is going to find out that we don't back down."

    Chertoff blamed the escalating assaults on three factors: an increased presence of law enforcement on the border, turf battles among criminal cartels and criminal resistance to the law enforcement crackdown.

    "Is this violence a deliberate effort to target the Border Patrol? The answer to that is yes," Chertoff said.

    Chertoff and Deputy Border Patrol Chief Ron Colburn said agents are assaulted with an arsenal of weaponry that includes bottles, knives, bats, ball bearings, steel pipes, cinder blocks, slingshots and vehicles.

    The number of violent incidents has increased by 31 percent between fiscal 2006 and 2007, from 752 incidents to 987, according to the DHS. The most troublesome area is the El Centro sector near the middle of California's southern border, which recorded a 688 percent increase during the 2006-07 period. The area is one of the nation's leading smuggling corridors.

    Chertoff restated the department's efforts to erect 670 miles of fencing along the Southwest border by the end of the year, despite fierce opposition from landowners and political officials in Texas. The DHS has started court action to begin acquiring land for the project, including 233 acres from the small border city of Eagle Pass, Texas.

    "I'm going to use every tool available, including the courts, to give the Border Patrol the support they need," he said.

    http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... 22-ON.html

  8. #8
    Senior Member legalatina's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    2,359

    Why isn't the military down there?

    If BUSH and CHERTOFF really cared about homeland security and the security of our borders, they'd be sending the Marines down there right NOW! and they should do it until the fence is built and they can get more BP trained and deplioyed. Our Border Patrol needs all the assistance and back-up they can....why isn't Chertoff doing that?

  9. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Mexifornia
    Posts
    9,455
    Legalatina writes:

    "Our Border Patrol needs all the assistance and back-up they can....why isn't Chertoff doing that?"

    The answer is simple. Chertoff and Bush have no desire whatsoever to build that fence of stopping the illegal invasion from Mexico. There "get tough" approach is nothing more than window dressing and has no teeth.

    We could have the military on that border within 24 hours if they wanted. But they won't do it.

    If that border fence was a prioriety then it could be completed within 6 months. But it seems more important to Bush and Chertoff to give Mexico 1.5 billion dollars to combate the war on drugs in Mexico than it does to secure our southern border.

    Funny how Bush can come up with 1.5 billion to give to Mexico but cannot seem to find the money to complete our border fence. Disgusting.

    FYI legallatina - Your question may have been rhetorical but I cound not resist
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  10. #10
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    TEXAS - The Lone Star State
    Posts
    16,941
    he cant be that stupid that hes just NOW GETTING THIS. when its been reported in the media for two years and every american knows this

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •