Thread: Border chief in TB row to retire

Border chief in TB row to retire


November 6, 2007


By Sara A. Carter and Audrey Hudson - The federal official in charge of the El Paso, Texas, border crossing — where a Mexican national with a highly contagious form of tuberculosis was allowed to enter the U.S. 76 times since August 2006 — has announced his retirement.

Luis Garcia, director of field operations in El Paso, said his retirement is not related to a Senate inquiry as to how Amado Isidro Armendariz Amaya traveled more than 20 times into the U.S. after his illness was discovered by health authorities on April 16.

Mr. Garcia, who announced his retirement in a memo to employees on Oct. 31, recently has faced scrutiny over border policies that include limited screening at checkpoints and inadequate screening of some immigrants who apply for extended-stay visas.

"I will never sacrifice the security of our country to facilitate trade or commerce. I've never wavered from that," he said. "My wife has frequently questioned the limited financial benefit of continuing to work, but I did so because of the love of the job and my commitment to public service."

His retirement comes on the heels of an investigation by the Senate Homeland Security Committee into the health security lapse over Mr. Armendariz, an incident that was first reported by The Washington Times last month.

The Times reported on Oct. 18 that Mr. Armendariz had traveled into the U.S. for business despite an April 16 notice to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

According to CBP officials, a "be on the lookout" was issued but that they did not have the complete name of the person and could not locate Mr. Armendariz in the law-enforcement database until May 31.

Sens. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut independent and committee chairman, and Susan Collins, Maine Republican and ranking committee member, want to know why Mr. Armendariz was allowed to "repeatedly enter the United States after U.S. Customs and Border Protection was alerted and directed to deny his entry." Once in the U.S., Mr. Armendariz boarded numerous domestic airline flights.

The senators on Oct. 30 sent letters to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt about the incident. The senators said it "highlights vulnerabilities we believe still exist within our nation's border-screening systems."

The El Paso sector, under the direction of Mr. Garcia, has been plagued by many problems over the past year.

El Paso Customs and Border Protection officers were ordered by Mr. Garcia to abbreviate national-security checks to speed up travel between the U.S. and Mexico, according to Homeland Security Department documents and multiple interviews obtained by The Times.

An Aug. 16 memorandum from Mr. Garcia directed agents to limit inspections of vehicular and pedestrian border crossers as wait times escalated. Border inspectors told The Times that the new guidelines undermined efforts to prevent terrorists and other criminals from entering the U.S.

Mr. Garcia said some of his employees were "detractors" who did not always agree with his leadership and that he "realized I could not have 100 percent support."

Other documents obtained by The Times show that customs officers in the El Paso sector were told to "not deny permits" of entry to any person entering the U.S., regardless of indicators that they've overstayed their visa in the past.

George Carpenter, El Paso CBP shift commander, sent a memorandum to all border inspectors informing them never to deny I-94 forms, which allows non-immigrants extended stays in the U.S., even if they failed to turn in previous forms required by law. All El Paso inspectors were required to sign the memorandum.

The same I-94 was granted to Mr. Armendariz by customs inspectors on May 21 in El Paso, after CBP was officially notified of his illness and that he was being sought by health officials.

Mr. Garcia's last day is Nov. 16, according to the memo.

http://washingtontimes.com/article/2007 ... 60039/1001

Anytime you see an article written by (or even co-written by) Sara (A.) Carter - read it! She has done so much to diligently cover the issue - especially in the SoCal region. I'm glad that the Washington Times has recruited her to write articles on the subject matter.