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Saturday, September 16, 2006
Foxx and Feinstein unlikely bedfellows in border-agent case
Both say that two West Texas agents facing jail time got a raw deal from government

By Mary M. Shaffrey
JOURNAL WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON

Congress is filled with polar opposites. When it comes to politics, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., are about as close to opposites as one might find.

Foxx, 63, is a staunch conservative. When it comes to immigration, she favors border security first. As far as she is concerned, that's the only place to start, and she does not entertain other alternatives.

Feinstein, 73, is a liberal Democrat. She supports a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country. She has been outspoken in support of a bill passed by the Senate earlier this year that does that, a plan Foxx calls "amnesty."

The women, who represent very different parts of the country, agree on one thing - two former border agents in western Texas were given a raw deal by the government.

Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean were accused of shooting admitted drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks and then trying to cover it up. Davila, a Mexican national, was in possession of about 700 pounds of marijuana at the time.

Ramos and Compean were convicted in March of assault with a deadly weapon, obstruction of justice, a civil-rights violation and other felonies. They were both acquitted of assault with attempt to commit murder. They are to be sentenced next month and could face more than 20 years in prison.

Last week, Foxx called on congressional committees and the Justice Department to investigate. "I want to see a very thorough and objective study on this and for all the facts to come through," Foxx said.

She said she does not understand how agents who stopped a drug smuggler at the border could be facing jail time.

Feinstein has similar thoughts. She has asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to look into the matter. In a letter to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., she said she had "significant concerns that there may have been a serious miscarriage of justice." She asked Specter to hold hearings.

Rep. Walter Jones, R-3rd., has also gotten involved. He has written the White House and Gonzales. So far, he said, he has heard nothing. Jones said he doesn't see it as a partisan issue and believes that the executive branch must deal with it.

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, the man who prosecuted Ramos and Compean, is not worried about an investigation into the case. "These guys shot an unarmed suspect as he was running away. Then they lied about it and destroyed evidence," he told the Dallas Morning News.

• Mary M. Shaffrey can be reached in Washington at 202-662-7672 or at mshaffrey@wsjournal.com.

• The Associated Press contributed to this report.