Conflict: Border Patrol ‘stand down’ order vs. Democrat's new immigration bill
October 6, 2013
Patricia Campion
examiner.com
As reported from an exclusive interview Friday by Breitbart’s Brandon Darby, “Shawn Moran, Vice President of the National Border Patrol Council “claimed that Border Patrol management has begun the practice of ordering Border Patrol Agents to stand down and cease pursuing drug smugglers, human smugglers and traffickers, and illegal aliens. He also warned it could lead to illegal aliens entering the country from nations associated with terrorism.”
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It doesn’t matter whether it’s drugs, bodies, or how large the group is, our agents are being ordered to stand down by Border Patrol management. I have received reports from our agents in every single sector from San Diego to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas that they are receiving these orders.
As Paul Bedard reported for The Washington Examiner Friday, “a detailed survey by Pew Research Center” already showed that – “the rush to make an unauthorized entry into America is back on track.”
On Tuesday, The Laredo Sun reported that Border Patrol agents seized 32 pounds of cocaine at a checkpoint on Interstate Highway 35 on Sept. 25.
AZ Family reported Sept. 17 that “Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents stopped several attempts of human and drug smuggling passing through southern Arizona immigration checkpoints” during the prior week.
“Thousands of illegal aliens apprehended along the 2,000 mile border stretching through California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas aren’t even from Mexico,” World Net Daily reported May 5, 2010.
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The U.S. Border Patrol calls them “Other Than Mexicans,” or OTMs, and many are citizens of countries that are sponsors of terrorism.
On Feb. 1, 2011, Newsmax reported that US Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman -- and independent -- and Republican Sen. Susan Collins warned a formal report by the US Congress's investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office that showed the risk of terrorists crossing into the United States from the northern border from Canada "was greater" than from the southern border with Mexico.
Ahmed Ressam – otherwise known as the "millenium bomber" -- lived in Canada for years.
He was caught Dec. 4, 1999 near Seattle, Wash., as he tried to smuggle an explosives-filled car into the United States on a ferry from British Columbia.
Ressam had planned to bomb the Los Angeles airport during the 2000 New Year celebration.
Moran also noted Friday that the Border Patrol agents being told to “stand down” are not being replaced by other agents.
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They are simply being told that someone else is being dispatched, but none of us have seen that occur. We are simply being ordered to stand down and stop tracking and trying to apprehend the criminals.
"Border Patrol senior leadership says the stand downs are a means of addressing budgetary shortfalls and making sure agents aren’t working longer shifts," Moran said.
As Yahoo News reported March 4, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano threatened to reduce hours of border patrol agents due to sequester cuts. She said it would be “the equivalent of” having 5,000 “fewer border patrol agents between the ports of entry."
As Examiner noted Aug. 27, the sequester spending cuts were "established by Obama’s Office of Management and Budget."
“The smuggling organizations are keenly aware of what our operational capabilities are,” Moran told Bloomberg March. 6.
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Once they see that we don’t have the manpower we had out on the border previously, they will take advantage.
On April 1, The Washington Times reported that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) “postponed plans” to furlough those Border Patrol agents and “delayed a proposed cut in overtime pay that would have cost each agent $7,000 a year.”
As explained by CPB.gov, "CBP is the largest law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security."
"They are placing the budgetary concerns before the security of our border," Moran said Friday.
"Groups that are outside of human trafficking, human smuggling, and drug smuggling are going to exploit these stand down orders as well, not only cartels but illegal aliens from nations that are tied to terrorism.”
While a new bill proposed by House Democrats could exacerbate the threats posed by weak border security, it stands in direct conflict with the administration's new order that Border Patrol agents “stand down and cease pursuing drug smugglers, human smugglers and traffickers, and illegal aliens."
"Impatient with the pace of immigration legislation in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives” during the government shutdown, USA Today reported that House Minority Speaker and fellow “House Democrats introduced their own bill Wednesday that would overhaul the nation's immigration laws.”
While the bill proposed by Democrats omits the provision approved by the Senate in June -- calling for an additional 700 miles of fencing and placing 20,000 more agents on the U.S.-Mexico border -- “the bill adds a proposal by Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, that would require the Department of Homeland Security to develop a border security strategy that will ensure 100 percent of the border is monitored and agents are stopping 90 percent of people trying to cross it.”
As Examiner noted Tuesday -- day-one of the government shutdown -- the White House website posted a new header:
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Due to Congress’s failure to pass legislation to fund the government, the information on this web site may not be up to date. Some submissions may not be processed, and we may not be able to respond to your inquiries.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection website bears a similar header:
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Due to the lapse in federal funding, this website will not be actively managed.
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