Righting a Wrong on the Border
Michael Cutler
Author: Michael Cutler
Source: The Family Security Foundation, Inc.
Date: February 20, 2007



What’s happening in America when a human trafficker is given carte blanch to break our laws in exchange for convicting the Border Patrol agent who dared to arrest him? FSM Michael Cutler takes a deeper look.

Righting a Wrong on the Border


Jerry Seper of The Washington Times reported another extremely disturbing situation regarding our flawed immigration system and atrocious border security. Border Patrol agent David Sipe, Seper wrote, was prosecuted in 2001 for using “excessive force” while arresting Mexican national Jose Guevara, who was among 15 illegal aliens in the process of crossing the border, in 2000. An altercation broke out, and Sipe ultimately struck Guevara on the head with a flashlight, opening a wound, for which Guevara required five stitches to close. Sipe said he was defending himself.

I want to make it perfectly clear that I am unfamiliar with the case that is reported upon in the newspaper article I have attached below. I do not know the agent or the alien who was arrested in this case. What I do know is that the news report tells an extremely worrisome story. It reports on unorthodox conduct by prosecutors who were determined to convict a Border Patrol agent who was acting in performance of his sworn duties.

I think it is extremely important that I tell you that the generally approved jargon used by law enforcement officers across the United States, that, "The minimum force necessary to effect the arrest was used," is more than a phrase. Professional law enforcement officers understand that their job is to bring law violators into an appropriate court of law to see to it that justice is served. Cops and agents are not supposed to administer beatings or use undo force when arresting a suspect.

Here we have a case in which prosecutors were obviously very eager to prosecute a Border Patrol agent. And convict him they did, after a five-day trial in McAllen, Texas, before U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa. Sipe was subsequently fired. But all was not fair in McAllen.

Unlike the two Border Patrol agents (Ramos and Compean) who are now serving at least ten-year sentences in their highly controversial case, this agent was able to have his conviction overturned on appeal. Seper explained:

A federal appeals court in Texas ordered the new trial, saying prosecutors gave the illegal alien and two others additional inducements not disclosed at the time for their testimony, including Social Security cards, witness fees, permits allowing travel to and from Mexico, living expenses and free use of government phones.

But that’s not all. Seper reported:

In its ruling, the [Appeals] court also said the government failed to disclose that after Mr. Sipe's arrest and before the trial, Mr. Guevara was caught by Border Patrol agents in the company of illegal aliens, and the arresting agents released him when he displayed a card given to him by prosecutors.


"Since Guevara had been granted free passage in his deal with the government, his arrest with illegal aliens was evidence that he was a transporter, as well as evidence of the extent of the government's support accorded him in order to obtain his testimony," the court said. "As the defense termed it, Guevara was given a 'get out of jail card.' "

I would like to know why our prosecutors were so gung-ho to convict one of our own law enforcement officers, they actually made it easy for him to traffic human beings into our country. As a former INS senior special agent, I believe it is vital that law enforcement officers conduct themselves professionally and in a manner that is beyond reproach. However, it would appear that the situation on our nation's border with Mexico is not being addressed by the administration. This imperils our citizens and our nation.

The level of lawlessness and violence to be found along the Mexican border has been escalating for a number of years and the administration has made it clear that any efforts truly to secure the border will be met with resistance. We have seen hundreds of millions of dollars squandered on technology that often fails to work and that, by itself, cannot apprehend illegal aliens. We have seen all sorts of foot dragging when it comes to the simple act of sealing up tunnels that were illegally constructed to enable aliens and drug smugglers to move surreptitiously from Mexico to the United States. We have seen the administration refuse to hire the full number of Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that have been provided for by Congress.

We have seen the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, which split the enforcement and administration of the immigration laws into three agencies, which were then combined with other agencies to further dilute their efforts. It is also worth noting that since the creation of ICE, new special agents are not being given any foreign language training, whereas the former INS required all enforcement personnel to successfully complete a Spanish language training program. There is no way that agents can conduct investigations of people with whom they are unable to communicate. Without Spanish language training, it is virtually impossible to break a false claim to United States citizenship.

The Government Accountability Office and the Office of Inspector General have written several reports describing absolutely horrendous failures of U.S. Customs and Immigration Services, Customs and Border Protection and ICE to secure the borders and to restore integrity to the immigration system. All of this would be extremely disturbing under any circumstances, but add the fact that it is still horrendous, and maybe even worse, in this post 9/11 world, it’s enough to keep me awake at night.

The administration yielded to the pressure from members of Congress who demanded that the military and National Guard be assigned to the Mexican border. They created "Operation Jump Start," in which they assigned unarmed National Guard troops to the border and provided them with simple rules of engagement: "If you see an armed intruder, run away quickly!" As I said on MSNBC Sunday, instead of getting additional "boots on the ground” at our border, we got running shoes.

Lead, follow or get out of the way!


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