Thread: Lawmen under siege along Mexico border

Lawmen under siege along Mexico border


November 15, 2007


By Jerry Seper - Alien and drug smugglers along the U.S.-Mexico border have spawned a rise in violence against federal, state and local law-enforcement authorities, who say they are outmanned and outgunned.

"They've got weapons, high-tech radios, computers, cell phones, Global Positioning Systems, spotters and can react faster than we are able to," said Shawn P. Moran, a 10-year U.S. Border Patrol veteran who serves as vice president of the National Border Patrol Council Local 1613 in San Diego.

"And they have no hesitancy to attack the agents on the line, with anything from assault rifles and improvised Molotov cocktails to rocks, concrete slabs and bottles," he said. "There are so many agent 'rockings' that few are even reported anymore. If we wrote them all up, that's all we would be doing."

Assaults against Border Patrol agents have more than doubled over the past two years, many by Mexico-based alien and drug gangs more inclined than ever to use violence as a means of ensuring success in the smuggling of people and contraband.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff acknowledges that although the department has begun to make progress against "the criminals and thugs" operating along the U.S.-Mexico border, "we are beginning to see more violence in some border communities and against our Border Patrol agents as these traffickers ... seek to protect their turf.

"We must provide the manpower and resources they need to carry out their duties, and we are working hard to make sure they get them," Mr. Chertoff said during a speech in Houston this month.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the investigative arm of Homeland Security, stated in a report earlier this year that border gangs were becoming increasingly ruthless — targeting rivals, along with federal, state and local police. ICE described violence on the border as rising dramatically over the past three years in what it called "an unprecedented surge."

But many agents think they are viewed as "expendable" by the managers within Homeland Security and the Border Patrol. They say that while the number of agents overall has increased dramatically over the past year, the actual number of line agents has not seen a corresponding jump.

Several noted that one six-mile section of border near San Diego, regarded as one of the most dangerous alien- and drug-smuggling corridors in the country, previously was assigned as many as 50 agents, but has been expanded to 13 miles and has one agent posted for each mile.

"That kind of situation is becoming increasingly common," Mr. Moran said. "The status quo is unacceptable. Agents are being assaulted four to five times per shift. Ironically, the region has often been touted as the cornerstone of Operation Gatekeeper. Well, the cornerstone is crumbling and if changes don't happen soon, we will lose an agent."

Operation Gatekeeper was a Clinton-era security initiative that put 300 agents on the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego, along with more fencing and lighting. It was based on a similar program in El Paso, Texas, where agents were stationed within sight of one another at main crossing points in order to form a human wall.

"Where are all these new agents they say they're hiring?" Mr. Moran asked. "It's hard to believe that Mr. Chertoff means it when he says his job is to provide the manpower and resources the agents need to carry out their duties, to give them the means to protect themselves against violence from criminal traffickers."

Mr. Moran noted that many agents are being assigned to "non-border activities," including jobs at Border Patrol headquarters in Washington. He said the agency's headquarters soon may be the largest regional office in the entire Border Patrol, "assigned the task of telling the public what a good job we're doing."

Several agents noted that many of the alien- and drug-smuggling gangs targeting law-enforcement authorities are doing so with sophisticated weaponry. They noted that in February, an ICE-led task force seized two completed improvised explosive devices, materials for making 33 more devices, 300 primers, 1,280 rounds of ammunition, five grenades, nine pipes with end caps, 26 grenade triggers, 31 grenade spoons, 40 grenade pins, 19 black powder casings, a silencer and cash during raids in Laredo, Texas.

"Keeping explosives and other high-powered weaponry out of the hands of violent criminal organizations is a central focus of the new Border Enforcement Security Task Force in Laredo," Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Julie L. Myers, who heads ICE, said in announcing the seizures. "ICE is working day and night with its task force partners to stem the tide of violence that has been ravaging border communities in south Texas."

http://washingtontimes.com/article/2007 ... 50077/1001

Yea lets give the Mexicans more money to fight us with. WE are going to give Mexico 1.4 million dollars to help fight drug wars and smuggling. Yea right. They will use that money to keep on invading us. I think we ought to get a petition going to stop our government from giving our tax money to Mexico, for any reason.

Agree with you completely agrneydgrl. We are arming Mexico with weapons which will be used against us. How do we stop it?

Feature: Bush Reveals Plan Mexico, Proposes $1.4 Billion Anti-Drug Aid Package

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/507 ... id_package

Bush seeks funds to help Mexico combat drug trade By Caren Bohan
Mon Oct 22, 8:34 PM ET



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush asked Congress on Monday for $500 million to help Mexico fight powerful drug gangs as part of larger program to curb violence and the flow of narcotics into the United States.

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Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon have spent several months hammering out the details of the package, which comes as the United States has welcomed a crackdown by Mexico on drug trafficking.

Concerned about killings tied to the narcotics trade, Mexican officials have made a series of drug raids, including one earlier this month in the city of Tampico that resulted in Mexico's biggest cocaine bust.

"The United States will do all it can to support Mexico's efforts to break the power and impunity of drug organizations and to strengthen Mexico's capabilities to deal with these common threats," White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement.

Bush's initial $500 million request for Mexico is part of a program that will total $1.4 billion. His administration has also requested $50 million for counter-narcotics efforts in Central American countries.

Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa said the three-year program meant the United States would send its southern neighbor equipment such as surveillance aircraft, drug-detection gear and data-processing technology.

Washington would not send Mexico cash, nor would it ask for guarantees in terms of arrests, get involved in strategy or send soldiers, she told a news conference. "At no point has the presence of U.S. troops or the participation of U.S. personnel or companies been contemplated," she said in Mexico City.

The anti-drug request earlier received a cautious reception from Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, who chided the White House for not consulting Congress more on details of the plan.

'DEVIL IN DETAILS'

"The devil will be in the details, and to this point, the details are scarce," Menendez said. He said he would be concerned if there was too much of a focus on enforcement without broader measures such as economic initiatives aimed at addressing the roots of the drug trade.

Calderon deployed 25,000 troops last December to back up police in fighting the cartels amid a surge in drug-related murders.

The Bush administration has said Mexico's crackdown has contributed to shortages in the United States of drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine, causing street prices to jump.

Bush spoke by phone to Calderon about the counter-narcotics plan before announcing the funding request.

The plan comes as the United States is struggling to compete with other powers in providing assistance and wielding influence in Latin America and elsewhere.

U.S. officials had already emphasized that no U.S. troops will be sent to Mexico as part of the counter-narcotics program, a sensitive issue in Mexico, where many would view a U.S. military presence as a breach of sovereignty.

Some media have dubbed the aid plan "Plan Mexico" to liken it to a multiyear initiative known as "Plan Colombia." Since 2000, the United States has pumped more than $4 billion in mostly narcotics and security aid into Colombia, including U.S. military advisers and trainers.

But U.S. officials have rejected that comparison and are calling the program the "Merida Initiative" after the Mexican city where Bush and Calderon discussed the drug war in March.

The U.S. funds will be used for equipment such as helicopters and narcotics-scanning equipment. Some will be used for training and technical help for law enforcement agencies.

The counter-narcotics proposal was included in an emergency budget request of nearly $200 billion, most of which is for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Luis Javier Algorri, a police chief in Mexico's tough northern border city of Tijuana, said the U.S. money would boost security programs and bring results but was not enough.

"We need more intelligence, more investigative police work," he said. "Without that, no plan will work."

(Additional reporting by Lizbeth Diaz in Tijuana and Adriana Barrera in Mexico City)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071023/pl_ ... drugs_dc_5

"Fences make good neighbors."

A great amount of money is bestowed lovingly on Mexico for supposed drug enforcement. Of course it doesn't do much to stop the flow of drugs into this country. Someone other than drug dealers are getting rich off of the anti drug program. The government has to have a stake in this for it not to be stopped. Someone should hold accountable those people who allow the drug dealers to prevail on the border. Its not like they don't know where the problem is. Lethal force should be used to protect the Border Patrol agents and the border. I hope I don't sound too hard on those involved. But a lot of people aren't doing their jobs at the border.
And someone should stop US tax money from being used to support La Raza and other racist organizations from fighting us on illegal immigration.
The people responsible for these things should be held accountable and one day, they will be.

When our brave border patrol fight back (Just to stay alive) they are prosecuted by Johnny Sutton the corrupt Federal Prosecutor in Texas... our border patrol is expected to act like Barney fife ... no rounds in the boom stick and do the best you can to stay alive attitude from the President

our border patrol is out gunned and I have to tell you they're wives and kids have to wonder if daddy is coming home after a fun day at the office in one piece

I can't believe we still have people who want to be BP agents. What the f is wrong with Chertoff?

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-2717--0-0.html

This is clearly an act of war by Mexico. It's past time the US military was stationed at the borders to stop this war.

I think the money sent to Mexico as remittances which is worth billions of dollars every year should be taxed and a portion of that money should b used to fund the anti drug program. I don't see why we should be sending american tax dollars to another nation who has proven time and again their inability and desire to stop the drug trade.
If a US citizen went to the Us-Mexico border and entered mexican terroitory and fired upon mexican citizens you know mexico would see that as an act of war, the only thing is there wouldn't be much they could do about it because our military is stronger than theirs. And see that's why I think so many of us are baffled and outraged, we have the man power to literally cripple the drug trade and all that we have to do is put a small percentage of our military on the border to help out agents and yet we basically bow down to this third world nation who doesn't respect our laws or our sovereignty.
And Bush is to blame for all of this because he refuses to see that the ends do not justify the means and if he thinks that Mexico is ever going to open up its oil to the USA he is dead wrong. I bet he has a deal going to with the mexican president. Let all the illegals in and when he leaves office he'll be able to invest in mexican oil fields or something like that.
9/11 was the worst day in the history of the USA and yet our borders are still wide open and yet we're fighting a war in iraq that's supposed to keep us safe? Isn't that kind of I don't know a waste of time and money if we can't even secure our borders?