Thread: County wants feds to assume cost, security for wounded Mexic

June 11, 2008
County wants feds to assume cost, security for wounded Mexican officers
When law officers in northern Mexico are wounded in the line of duty battling the drug cartels, they sometimes end up at the county hospital in El Paso, Texas, under heavy security.

And, the cost of that security provided by the El Paso County Sheriff's Department has some county officials calling for the U.S. federal government to take on the expense and the security.

The latest Mexican police officers to land at Thomason Hospital -- the only Level 1 trauma center for 280 miles around El Paso -- are from Casas Grandes. One was seriously wounded and the other injured a hand, according to reports. It's the second time this year Mexican law officers have been at the hospital under heavy, and expensive, security.

-- Lance Murray

http://startelegram.typepad.com/crime_t ... ts-fe.html

I read somewhere that the guy with the wounded hand was just using it as an execuse to feel Mexico and seek sanctuary. He has already left the hospital but his wereabouts are unknown.

I am sorry I would not let these people in the US even for emergency care -- let Mexico fly them to Mexico City. Once they get in the country we will never get them out -- they will claim asylum.

The guy with the wounded hand should never have been let in.

It is important that the Mexican government PAY FOR ALL OF THIS OR ELSE NO MORE ADMITTANCE EVEN IF THEY ARE DYING.

Originally Posted by judyweller

I read somewhere that the guy with the wounded hand was just using it as an execuse to feel Mexico and seek sanctuary. He has already left the hospital but his wereabouts are unknown.

I am sorry I would not let these people in the US even for emergency care -- let Mexico fly them to Mexico City. Once they get in the country we will never get them out -- they will claim asylum.

The guy with the wounded hand should never have been let in.

It is important that the Mexican government PAY FOR ALL OF THIS OR ELSE NO MORE ADMITTANCE EVEN IF THEY ARE DYING.

You hit the nail on the head. Once they are here, we will never get them out. If the local hospital across the border cannot handle their injuries, they need to be flown to Mexico City.
There was some Mexican police official whose family pulled all sorts of strings to get him admitted to the El Paso hospital (Thomson Hospital?). He had been in a Mexican hospital for a day, his condition had long since been stabilized and there was nothing we could do for him there that could not be done there. Yet somehow his selfish family managed to get him transferred across the border. I read an El Paso forum at the time and most people were furious. It was costing a fortune to provide all these guards for him and the hospital was located very close to a school. Parents were afraid to send their children to school for fear of a possible shootout. I am sure we were never reimbursed for the cost of the guards or his medical care.
You would think we would have learned our lesson after that fiasco but clearly our government is more interested in appeasing Mexico.

Cobos wants feds to foot bill to treat, protect casualties of Juárez drug war
By Darren Meritz / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 06/11/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT


El Paso County Judge Anthony Cobos, right, addressed the media during a press conference in the judge's meeting room Tuesday at the El Paso County Courthouse. El Paso County Sheriff Jimmy Apodaca center along with County Commissioner Luis Sarinana listened in. County officials met with various members of the El Paso community to discuss security at Thomason Hospital following an incident where two Mexican police officials apparently shot by drug traffickers were taken to the hospital. The hospital was locked down by sheriff's deputies as a security measure to protect the injured officers and the hospital community at large. (Victor Calzada / El Paso Times)



The U.S. government should absorb much of the responsibility for treating victims of cartel violence who cross the border and receive emergency medical services at Thomason Hospital, El Paso County Judge Anthony Cobos said Tuesday.

County officials, Fort Bliss officials, the El Paso County sheriff, Thomason executives and others met in an emergency closed-door meeting Tuesday to develop a strategy to get the federal government to pay for the security expenses or treat the patients at a federally operated hospital.

Cobos said a dangerous situation has emerged in which victims of cartel violence are seeking treatment in El Paso and creating a security problem -- a result of law enforcement officers at border crossings allowing entry to wounded people and the federal government's policy in the war on drugs.

County officials twice this year have implemented lockdowns with a heavy security detail after Mexican law enforcement officers who had been shot in Mexico sought emergency care at Thomason Hospital. Officials fear that gangsters could "infiltrate Thomason Hospital and try to finish the job there," Cobos said.

"I believe that the violence south of the border has shown itself here, at least at Thomason Hospital," Cobos said. "We're taking steps to mitigate some of the potential violent

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_9545862