Thread: Mexico says migration official arrested by Border Patrol

http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/new ... 743992.htm

Posted on Sun, Jan. 29, 2006

Mexico says migration official arrested by Border Patrol

IOAN GRILLO
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY - The U.S. Border Patrol arrested a Mexican immigration official who was allegedly trying to help a group of undocumented migrants sneak into the United States, the Mexican government announced Sunday.

Immigration agent Francisco Javier Gutierrez was arrested at a checkpoint near Alamogordo, N.M., about 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, the Mexican Interior Department said in a news release.

A spokesman for the Border Patrol in El Paso, Texas, could not immediately comment on the case Sunday night.

Gutierrez had been fired on corruption allegations last year but returned to his job after winning a court case in which he claimed he had been unfairly dismissed, according to the National Immigration Institute.

The Mexican government promised to cooperate with U.S. authorities in the investigation of Gutierrez.

"The National Immigration Institute offers the Border Patrol plain collaboration in the investigation into possible links with smuggling gangs," it announced. "We maintain a firm hand against corruption."

Gutierrez's arrest comes just days after the Mexican and U.S. governments exchanged terse diplomatic notes about security on the border.

On Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza sent a note urging the Mexican government to clamp down on drug-related violence and corruption on the border region.

The note came after Texas lawmen came face to face with armed men dressed in Mexican military-style uniforms who later unloaded what appeared to be bundles of marijuana before setting fire to an SUV that bogged down in the Rio Grande.

Mexican officials have said the men were not Mexican soldiers. Texas authorities have said they want to investigate the incident further.

Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez called Garza's comments out of line and on Thursday sent his own diplomatic note asking the ambassador to stop making public comments about security and immigration issues.

Garza responded by sending a second note Friday, reiterating a request "that the Government of Mexico undertake additional measures to prevent cross-border violence and to provide our government with any investigative results they may have related to the violence."

Immigration agent Francisco Javier Gutierrez was arrested at a checkpoint near Alamogordo, N.M., about 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, the Mexican Interior Department said in a news release.

Makes it kind of hard for the Mexican Government to deny this guy is one of them, or that he was unaware that he was on the wrong side of the border this time. And it also makes it difficult for Chertoff, et. al. to ignore this also.

"The National Immigration Institute offers the Border Patrol plain collaboration in the investigation into possible links with smuggling gangs," it announced. "We maintain a firm hand against corruption."

Yeah, right! The Mexican government is truly a model of integrity.

As usual, Chertoff, if he says anything, will say that it is being overblown, then remain silent on the issue. Chertoff is just a yes man for Bush.