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Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who recently resigned his position after admitting he was an illegal immigrant and had been hiding the fact since he was 16-years-old, sent me an email today. In his email he asked me to sign a petition.
He said, "More than 6,000 ... from all over the country have joined me in calling for a new national conversation on immigration -- and I'm bringing all of their voices with me when I go on the Colbert Report... Would you add your name now, so I have a huge number to announce on the show?"
He said that three weeks ago, he had "published an exposé in the New York Times" about his life story: coming to this country as a boy, learning English, and embracing America.
He says that he quit his job because he was tired of remaining silent and now wants to "strike up a more civil, inclusive debate about immigration."
Does he really? Does having a more "civil" debate honestly mean being open to what I have to say and considering it?
Jose Antonio Vargas - No, you can not add my name to your list of supporters. But I do agree that we need a national conversation on immigration - an honest one.
You say your story is "the tale of a hard-working immigrant who defines the American dream: achieving success against great odds, working hard, and even earning a Pulitzer Prize" for reporting. You go on, "Still, despite everything I've achieved, the law still says I am not technically an American. I am undocumented."
But I say your story is one of a series of liberal, dishonest mentors assisting you in hiding from the laws of this country - rather than doing the right thing and help you become legally documented.
You ask Americans: "What would you do if you found out at age 16 that you didn't have the right papers?" and say that as a journalist, your job is to ask questions that spark conversation.
Here is my answer. I would do just as I did in Canada when the visa’s for my entire family ran out and we were denied new visa’s in Calgary. We left the country and did not re-enter until we had valid visa’s again.
This is the kind of honesty that my mother taught me, and it is what I – a widow – taught my nine children to do.
Yes, I had children who cried about leaving the college campus we had been living on for five years. My youngest daughter, age ten, curled up in a ball on her bed and wept. My husband - her father - had died of cancer only a year earlier. The campus had been a place of stability, love and safety during a very difficult time of their lives, and now I, a widow with little resources and no home in the states, had to pack them up and leave with no promise that we would be able to come back.
But the law in Canada is just as valid as in the United States. We had no right to be there after our visa's ran out. I taught my children to obey the law, and then I taught them to be strong, not fear, and take the proper steps to become documented again.
That is what the "mentors" that "helped you" avoid the law should have done for you. Are you open to that part of the "conversation?"
The next time our visa's ran out, in 2007, we accepted it and moved back to the States. Five of my children enrolled in a U.S. public school for the first time. All missed their friends back in Alberta
You are no longer 16. It's time to man-up.
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Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Flood of Border Agents Confirm Feds' No-Apprehension Policy
By Jana Winter
An Arizona sheriff says he has been flooded with calls and emails of support from local and federal agents who back his claims that the U.S. Border Patrol has effectively ordered them to stop apprehending illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexican border.
“Upper management has advised supervisors to have agents ‘turn back South’ (TBS) the illegal aliens (aka bodies) they detect attempting to unlawfully enter the country … at times you even hear supervisors order the agents over the radio to 'TBS' the aliens instead of catching them,” one San Diego border agent wrote in an email to Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever.
“This only causes more problems as the aliens, as you know, don't just go back to Mexico and give up. They keep trying, sometimes without 10 minutes in-between attempts, to cross illegally,” continued the email, which was among a number of communications to Dever reviewed by FoxNews.com. “This makes the job for agents more dangerous. Not only are the aliens more defiant, they also begin to feel like they can get away with breaking our federal laws.”
The email is one of more than 100 messages Dever said he received from active and retired Border Patrol agents and law enforcement officers from across the country. Many wrote of what they said was their own experience and first-hand knowledge of Border Patrol’s efforts to reduce apprehension numbers by making fewer arrests.
FoxNews.com first reported this month that Dever said several Border Patrol officials, including at least one senior supervisor, told him they had been directed to keep the number of border apprehensions down by chasing illegal immigrants back toward Mexico. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has recently cited a reduction in border apprehensions as evidence of an increasingly secure border.
Three days after FoxNews.com’s initial report, Border Patrol chief Michael Fisher sent a letter to Dever in which he denied the accusations and invited the sheriff on a ride-along with federal agents at border.
"That assertion is completely, 100 percent false," Fisher wrote in the letter. "That it comes from a fellow law enforcement official makes it especially offensive."
But accounts from law enforcement officials around the country continue to pour in supporting Dever and the conversations he says he had with Border Patrol officers, including at least one supervisor, about keeping arrest numbers down.
“This is nothing new, during my career with the border patrol, this was done regularly,” said another email to Dever reviewed by FoxNews.com. “By assigning agents to different tasks, locations, etc., the apprehensions can be increased or decreased dramatically,” wrote Dan McCaskill Jr., a retired Border Patrol agent who worked in the Anti-Smuggling Unit.
McCaskill went on to describe how, he said, apprehension numbers were regularly manipulated to achieve various budget, equipment or manpower goals.
In response to request for comment on the new allegations, Homeland Security offered the same statement from Jeffery Self, commander of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Joint Field Command, that was provided to FoxNews.com earlier this month:
“As the commander for border enforcement operations in Arizona, I can confirm that the claim that Border Patrol supervisors have been instructed to underreport or manipulate our statistics is unequivocally false. I took an oath that I take very seriously and I find it insulting that anyone, especially a fellow law enforcement officer, would imply that we would put the protection of the American public and security of our nation’s borders in danger just for a numbers game. Our mission does not waiver based on political climate and it never will. To suggest that we are ambiguous in enforcing our laws belittles the work of more than 6,000 CBP employees in Arizona who dedicate their lives to protect our borders every day.”
Local 2544, the Tucson branch of the National Border Patrol Council union, has also come out in support of Dever, and posted this message on their website after the FoxNews.com report.
“Sheriff Dever is right. We have seen so many slick shenanigans pulled in regards to 'got-aways' and entry numbers that at times it seems David Copperfield is running the Border Patrol. Creating the illusion that all is well and you can start having family picnics in the areas where we work has been going on far too long. Has there been improvement in some areas? Absolutely. Is the border anywhere near 'under control'? Absolutely not. Do some in management play games with numbers and cater to the wishes of politicians like Janet Napolitano and David Aguilar? Resoundingly, yes. Time for the foolish political games to stop.”
The union posted another response on their website following Fox News’ publication of Fisher’s April 6 letter to Dever:
“Just remember, for years now we have been told from the highest ranking managers in our agency that 'every apprehension is a FAILURE' (Johnny Williams - former INS Western Region Director), and that we 'are NOT immigration officers' (current CBP Deputy Commissioner David Aguilar to Border Patrol agents when he was the Chief of the Border Patrol)…. We have been told that - Apprehensions = failure, we are not 'immigration' officers, we should not 'lower' ourselves to the status of an immigration officer, and our primary job is not apprehending illegal aliens. Couple all this with Secretary Napolitano's recent public announcement about what she expects our apprehension numbers to be this fiscal year, and it's not hard to figure this thing out.”
A second Arizona sheriff, Paul Babeu of Pinal County, also testified at a Senate Homeland Security Committee last week in support of Dever’s charges. Dever was slated to appear at the hearing, but said he could no longer attend when the date of his appearance was changed.
Asked specifically about Dever’s assertion that agents were told to turn back illegals to reduce apprehensions, Babeu told the committee he’d specifically asked his top lieutenant, Matt Thomas, about the claims.
"He said, 'Sheriff, I have heard that myself directly from border agents in the Tucson sector,'" Babeu testitified.
Babeu told FoxNews.com he’s been told by Border Patrol officials that for every person apprehended at the border, an average of 2.7 succeed in crossing into the U.S. With those numbers, he said he was concerned paramilitary or terror cells equipped with more sophisticated support and training could easily get through.
“This is no longer just public security threat, this is national security threat,” he told FoxNews.com.
T.J. Bonner, retired president of the National Border Patrol Council, said in an interview with FoxNews.com that he’s familiar with “TBS-ing” and shares Babeu’s concerns about criminals and terrorists crossing the border.
“TBS has been going on for a number of years. You’ll never find orders in writing, and some agents have even been disciplined for TBS-ing people. That’s a practice that dates back to quite some time, to try and discourage is part of their 'strategy of deterrence.'"
Bonner said Border Patrol agents are receiving “TBS” orders from someone higher up, but he isn’t sure who.
“Agents don’t just do this on their own. The orders must come from on high. They don’t just wake up one day and say I’m going to risk my job, my livelihood,” said Bonner, who retired last year after 32 years with Border Patrol. “I’m not sure if it’s Napolitano or folks in Customs and Border Protection, but somebody wants to silence critics in Arizona to claim success in Arizona.”
As for Dever, he says he’s just hoping that some good will come out of this.
“Frankly, I don't want to create a firestorm," he said. "I only want this problem solved.”
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/19/arizona-sheriff-cites-flood-border-agents-confirming-feds-apprehension-policy/#ixzz1KYJkL2tC
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Legal Workers Line Up for Restaurant Jobs After Sheriff Joe Raids
Jobs Open up after Sheriff Joe’s ICE Raids
by StandWithAZ on Mar 7, 2011
Jobs Americans Won’t Do? “Crap”, said one woman with a Masters degree willing to take the $8/hour jobs at Phoenix’ Pei Wei Chinese joints after Sheriff Joe Arpaio liberated them with raids arresting dozens for identity theft crimes. What on Earth does Obama and holder not get about this? For every illegal with a job, there’s an American without one. Thanks Sheriff Joe! Please donate $10.70 to Stand With Arizona in honor of SB1070, to help us continue to fight against illegal alien amnesty and push for Arizona-style enforcement laws nationwide.
Thank you: https://www.icontribute.us/avfund/initiative/arizona
Home : http://StandWithArizona.com
http://facebook.com/StandwithArizona
SWA Store: http://cafepress.com/StandWithAZ
Twitter: http://twitter.com/StandWithAZ
by StandWithAZ on Mar 7, 2011
Jobs Americans Won’t Do? “Crap”, said one woman with a Masters degree willing to take the $8/hour jobs at Phoenix’ Pei Wei Chinese joints after Sheriff Joe Arpaio liberated them with raids arresting dozens for identity theft crimes. What on Earth does Obama and holder not get about this? For every illegal with a job, there’s an American without one. Thanks Sheriff Joe! Please donate $10.70 to Stand With Arizona in honor of SB1070, to help us continue to fight against illegal alien amnesty and push for Arizona-style enforcement laws nationwide.
Thank you: https://www.icontribute.us/avfund/initiative/arizona
Home : http://StandWithArizona.com
http://facebook.com/StandwithArizona
SWA Store: http://cafepress.com/StandWithAZ
Twitter: http://twitter.com/StandWithAZ
Saturday, March 12, 2011
American Professor Kidnapped in Mexican Border City
Published March 12, 2011 NewsCore
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico -- Armed men kidnapped an American university professor while she was visiting her mother in the violent Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, the state prosecutor's office said Saturday.
The American was identified as Veronica Perez Rodriguez, an archeologist at Northern Arizona University.
A source at the Chihuahua state prosecutor's office said she was visiting her mother in Ciudad Juarez Friday afternoon "and the moment she left her family's house she was intercepted by armed men and deprived of her liberty."
Since 2003, Perez has been an associate professor of anthropology at the university in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Perez attended elementary, junior high, and high school in Ciudad Juarez, according to her resume, posted on the university's website. She is fluent in Spanish and English.
Perez, on her Northern Arizona University web page, describes herself as an ecological and environmental anthropologist and archeologist.
"My primary focus is the study of social complexity, urbanism, and its
environmental impact in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca, Mexico," she wrote.
She earned two degrees from the University of Texas at El Paso and a doctorate in 2003 from the University of Georgia, according to her resume.
At least 39 U.S. citizens were killed in 2010 in Ciudad Juarez, which has 1.3 million people. It is Mexico's most violent city, according to a report by state prosecutors.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
So What happened to Senator McCain's 10 Point Border Security Plan?
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Hey Obama and Napolitano! More than a year after Arizona based a law to help protect citiznes, and alamost a year since McCain came out with a ten point Border security Plan. Why is the border still unsecured???
SENATORS McCAIN AND KYL'S BORDER SECURITY PLAN
10-Point Plan To Better Secure The U.S.-Mexico Border In Arizona
Introduced April 20, 2010
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) were joined today by Arizona Sheriffs Larry Dever, Cochise County and Paul Babeu, Pinal County in introducing a 10-point comprehensive border security plan to combat illegal immigration, drug and alien smuggling, and violent activity along the southwest border.
Senators McCain and Kyl’s Ten Point Border Security Action Plan:
1) Immediately deploy 3,000 National Guard Troops along the Arizona/Mexico border, along with appropriate surveillance platforms, which shall remain in place until the Governor of Arizona certifies, after consulting with state, local and tribal law enforcement, that the Federal Government has achieved operational control of the border. Permanently add 3,000 Custom and Border Protection Agents to the Arizona/Mexico border by 2015.
2) Fully fund and support Operation Streamline in Arizona’s two Border Patrol Sectors to, at a minimum, ensure that repeat illegal border crossers go to jail for 15 to 60 days. Where Operation Streamline has been implemented, the number of illegal crossings has decreased significantly. Require the Obama Administration to complete a required report detailing the justice and enforcement resources needed to fully fund this program. Fully reimburse localities for any related detention costs.
3) Provide $100M, an increase of $40M, for Operation Stonegarden, a program that provides grants and reimbursement to Arizona’s border law enforcement for additional personnel, overtime, travel and other related costs related to illegal immigration and drug smuggling along the border.
4) Offer Hardship Duty Pay to Border Patrol Agents assigned to rural, high-trafficked areas, such as the CBP Willcox and Douglas Stations in the Tucson Sector.
5) Complete the 700 miles of fencing along the border with Mexico and construct double- and triple- layer fencing at appropriate locations along the Arizona-Mexico border.
6) Substantially increase the 25 mobile surveillance systems and three Predator B Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in place today along the Arizona/Mexico border and ensure the border patrol has the resources necessary to operate the UAVs 24 hours a day seven days a week. Send additional fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to the Arizona-Mexico Border.
7) Increase funding for vital radio communications and interoperability between CBP and state, local, and tribal law enforcement to assist in apprehensions along the border.
8) Provide funding for additional Border Patrol stations in the Tucson Sector and explore the possibility of an additional Border Patrol sector for Arizona. Create six additional permanent Border Patrol Forward Operating Bases, and provide funding to upgrade the existing bases to include modular buildings, electricity and potable water. Complete construction of the planned permanent checkpoint in Arizona. Deploy additional temporary roving checkpoints and increase horse patrols throughout the Tucson Sector.
9) Require the Federal government to fully reimburse state and local governments for the costs of incarcerating criminal aliens. Start by at least funding the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) at its authorized level of $950 million.
10) Place one full-time Federal Magistrate in Cochise County and provide full funding for and authorization of the Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative to reimburse state, county, tribal, and municipal governments for costs associated with the prosecution and pre-trial detention of federally-initiated criminal cases declined by local offices of the United States Attorneys.
Hey Obama and Napolitano! More than a year after Arizona based a law to help protect citiznes, and alamost a year since McCain came out with a ten point Border security Plan. Why is the border still unsecured???
SENATORS McCAIN AND KYL'S BORDER SECURITY PLAN
10-Point Plan To Better Secure The U.S.-Mexico Border In Arizona
Introduced April 20, 2010
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) were joined today by Arizona Sheriffs Larry Dever, Cochise County and Paul Babeu, Pinal County in introducing a 10-point comprehensive border security plan to combat illegal immigration, drug and alien smuggling, and violent activity along the southwest border.
Senators McCain and Kyl’s Ten Point Border Security Action Plan:
1) Immediately deploy 3,000 National Guard Troops along the Arizona/Mexico border, along with appropriate surveillance platforms, which shall remain in place until the Governor of Arizona certifies, after consulting with state, local and tribal law enforcement, that the Federal Government has achieved operational control of the border. Permanently add 3,000 Custom and Border Protection Agents to the Arizona/Mexico border by 2015.
2) Fully fund and support Operation Streamline in Arizona’s two Border Patrol Sectors to, at a minimum, ensure that repeat illegal border crossers go to jail for 15 to 60 days. Where Operation Streamline has been implemented, the number of illegal crossings has decreased significantly. Require the Obama Administration to complete a required report detailing the justice and enforcement resources needed to fully fund this program. Fully reimburse localities for any related detention costs.
3) Provide $100M, an increase of $40M, for Operation Stonegarden, a program that provides grants and reimbursement to Arizona’s border law enforcement for additional personnel, overtime, travel and other related costs related to illegal immigration and drug smuggling along the border.
4) Offer Hardship Duty Pay to Border Patrol Agents assigned to rural, high-trafficked areas, such as the CBP Willcox and Douglas Stations in the Tucson Sector.
5) Complete the 700 miles of fencing along the border with Mexico and construct double- and triple- layer fencing at appropriate locations along the Arizona-Mexico border.
6) Substantially increase the 25 mobile surveillance systems and three Predator B Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in place today along the Arizona/Mexico border and ensure the border patrol has the resources necessary to operate the UAVs 24 hours a day seven days a week. Send additional fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to the Arizona-Mexico Border.
7) Increase funding for vital radio communications and interoperability between CBP and state, local, and tribal law enforcement to assist in apprehensions along the border.
8) Provide funding for additional Border Patrol stations in the Tucson Sector and explore the possibility of an additional Border Patrol sector for Arizona. Create six additional permanent Border Patrol Forward Operating Bases, and provide funding to upgrade the existing bases to include modular buildings, electricity and potable water. Complete construction of the planned permanent checkpoint in Arizona. Deploy additional temporary roving checkpoints and increase horse patrols throughout the Tucson Sector.
9) Require the Federal government to fully reimburse state and local governments for the costs of incarcerating criminal aliens. Start by at least funding the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) at its authorized level of $950 million.
10) Place one full-time Federal Magistrate in Cochise County and provide full funding for and authorization of the Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative to reimburse state, county, tribal, and municipal governments for costs associated with the prosecution and pre-trial detention of federally-initiated criminal cases declined by local offices of the United States Attorneys.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Pinal sheriff: Armed conflict with drug cartels coming soon
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Pinal sheriff: Armed conflict with drug cartels coming soon
January 28, 2011
eastvalleytribune.com
Paul Babeu at the Grace Inn in Ahwatukee Foothills Tuesday. Armed conflict in Arizona between sheriff's deputies and heavily equipped drug cartel squads is inevitable, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said Tuesday during a speech in Ahwatukee Foothills.
About 70 people turned out to hear Babeu, who was re-elected recently to a second term as president of the Arizona Sheriff's Association. A self-described friend and ally of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Babeu has risen to the forefront of the national debate over illegal immigration and is an outspoken critic of what he believes is the federal government's adversarial relationship with Arizona and federal officials' failure to secure the U.S. border with Mexico.
Babeu ripped into Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's contention that the border is as safe and secure as it has ever been. Last year in the eastern portion of Arizona's two sectors, which includes Phoenix and Tucson, the U.S. Border Patrol reported apprehending 241,000 illegal immigrants. However, the agency estimates there were an additional 400,000 illegal border crossers in this sector that were not caught, he said.
A significant percentage of illegal immigrants caught in Pinal County are from countries other than Mexico, he said, including "countries of interest" such as Yemen, Somalia and Syria.
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the public was told to be vigilant and not be lulled into a false sense of security, he said.
Drug seizures in Pinal County have more than doubled in the last two years, while the number of high-speed police pursuits rose from 142 in 2007 to 340 in 2010, he said.
The federal Bureau of Land Management has erected more than a dozen signs in Pinal County warning people to stay away from places designated as active drug and human smuggling areas where visitors might encounter armed criminals. Drug cartels have infiltrated the U.S. and have set up observation posts to ensure their shipments make it through, Babeu said.
He likened the cartel's activities in the U.S. to a foreign insurgency.
On Oct. 25, cartel hitmen killed an informant who was working for the Sheriff's Department, shooting him a half-dozen times, he said.
In another recent incident, the cartels sent a team of heavily armed assassins to Arizona to dispatch bandits that had been robbing drug mules, he said.
Deputies have discovered abandoned vehicles used by bandits that have been made up to look like police cars, complete with spotlights, sirens and red and blue lights, he said. Such tactics not only could lead illegal immigrants to distrust U.S. law enforcement, but it could touch off a gunfight if deputies attempt to confront armed men, he added.
He endorsed a plan put forward by Arizona senators John McCain and Jon Kyl to send armed U.S. soldiers to the border and to construct a double-barrier security fence. Additionally, Babeu said authorities should hold illegal immigrants in custody for longer periods as a deterrent to repeat offenders, rather than using the current system of "catch and release."
He accused Napolitano, Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder of "throwing up their hands and saying, ‘We can't do it'" and of portraying local authorities as racial profilers instead of as protectors and enforcers of the law.
January 28, 2011
eastvalleytribune.com
Paul Babeu at the Grace Inn in Ahwatukee Foothills Tuesday. Armed conflict in Arizona between sheriff's deputies and heavily equipped drug cartel squads is inevitable, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said Tuesday during a speech in Ahwatukee Foothills.
"We're expecting a conflict," Babeu told the Ahwatukee Republican Women's organization at the Grace Inn, 51st Street and Elliot Road. "I absolutely believe you're going to see that happen in the next 30 to 60 days. It's not like I'm trying to start a war with the cartels. They're coming through like they own this place, and we're trying to stop them. I pray that every time, they surrender."
About 70 people turned out to hear Babeu, who was re-elected recently to a second term as president of the Arizona Sheriff's Association. A self-described friend and ally of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Babeu has risen to the forefront of the national debate over illegal immigration and is an outspoken critic of what he believes is the federal government's adversarial relationship with Arizona and federal officials' failure to secure the U.S. border with Mexico.
"The federal government has literally become an enemy who is fighting us, and I have not been afraid to fight them," he said.
Babeu ripped into Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's contention that the border is as safe and secure as it has ever been. Last year in the eastern portion of Arizona's two sectors, which includes Phoenix and Tucson, the U.S. Border Patrol reported apprehending 241,000 illegal immigrants. However, the agency estimates there were an additional 400,000 illegal border crossers in this sector that were not caught, he said.
"Close to 20 percent already have criminal records established in America," Babeu said.
A significant percentage of illegal immigrants caught in Pinal County are from countries other than Mexico, he said, including "countries of interest" such as Yemen, Somalia and Syria.
"Nations whose governments have sponsored terrorists or are anti-American," Babeu said.
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the public was told to be vigilant and not be lulled into a false sense of security, he said.
"Our own federal government is the one who is trying to lull us into a false sense of security," Babeu said.
Drug seizures in Pinal County have more than doubled in the last two years, while the number of high-speed police pursuits rose from 142 in 2007 to 340 in 2010, he said.
The federal Bureau of Land Management has erected more than a dozen signs in Pinal County warning people to stay away from places designated as active drug and human smuggling areas where visitors might encounter armed criminals. Drug cartels have infiltrated the U.S. and have set up observation posts to ensure their shipments make it through, Babeu said.
He likened the cartel's activities in the U.S. to a foreign insurgency.
"Less than 30 miles from where we are now, they have 50 locations in Pinal County that are scout locations," Babeu said. "They're providing safe passage for drug and human smuggling coming though our county. They're reinforcing their supply routes."
On Oct. 25, cartel hitmen killed an informant who was working for the Sheriff's Department, shooting him a half-dozen times, he said.
"A cartel hit in Pinal County. That's what we've arrived at," Babeu said.
In another recent incident, the cartels sent a team of heavily armed assassins to Arizona to dispatch bandits that had been robbing drug mules, he said.
"Certainly they've destabilized their country," Babeu said of the Mexican cartels. "That stuff is coming here."
Deputies have discovered abandoned vehicles used by bandits that have been made up to look like police cars, complete with spotlights, sirens and red and blue lights, he said. Such tactics not only could lead illegal immigrants to distrust U.S. law enforcement, but it could touch off a gunfight if deputies attempt to confront armed men, he added.
"They may believe we're bandits saying we're the sheriff," Babeu said.
He endorsed a plan put forward by Arizona senators John McCain and Jon Kyl to send armed U.S. soldiers to the border and to construct a double-barrier security fence. Additionally, Babeu said authorities should hold illegal immigrants in custody for longer periods as a deterrent to repeat offenders, rather than using the current system of "catch and release."
"The core problem is an unsecured border," Babeu said. "I've asked (President Barack Obama) to give me a half hour and I'd give him the solution to the border. He hasn't called me back."
He accused Napolitano, Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder of "throwing up their hands and saying, ‘We can't do it'" and of portraying local authorities as racial profilers instead of as protectors and enforcers of the law.
"We do have the answer to secure the border. It's not beyond us. That is literally un-American for them to say that," Babeu said. "How have we arrived at this point in America, that it's the job of the local sheriff to fight cartels from a foreign country?"
As for the drug cartels, he said, "I want to say to them publicly, ‘You're not coming through.'"
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Pinal County Sherrif Paul Bebeu's Response to 3 "Kool-Aid" AZ Mayor's
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So...is there a connection between these Latino mayors, voted into office in border towns, and a desire to stifle border control??? Just ASKING. I'm from the north and don't fully understand the politics down there...
PDF Source for this letter -
Pinal County Sheriff’s Office
Paul Babeu
Sheriff
February 14, 2011
Arturo R. Garino, Mayor of Nogales, AZ
Juan C. Escamilla, Mayor of San Luis, AZ
Dr. Michael Gomez, Mayor of Douglas, AZ
Dear Mayors,
Pinal County is the number one pass through county in the United States for drug and human smuggling. Our pursuits and drug seizures tied to drug and human trafficking far exceed those of the all four border counties. The threat from an unsecured border is real, where 241,000 illegals were apprehended last year by the border patrol and an additional 400,000 got away just in Arizona alone! These are failing grades by anyone's score card.
You speak of improved safety, yet Pinal County has doubled the confiscation of drugs, calls to the Border Patrol and has had 340 vehicle pursuits in 2010 - up from 289 the year before and 140 the year prior. We have a serious public safety threat in my county, due to an unsecured border with Mexico and our nation’s citizens should be highly concerned about the more dangerous national security threat that is presented with other than Mexicans (OTM's) and persons from countries of interest (foreign countries that harbor/sponsor terrorist and actively speak against America and our values).
Year / Pounds of Seized Marijuana / Pursuits / Calls to the US Border Patrol
2007 28,093 142 188
2008 19,619 140 169
2009 44,963 289 270
2010 44,819 340 370
Sadly, these numbers do not reflect other violence or violent crimes related to drug smuggling that has taken place during the past year; including, two officer involved shootings, the execution of a drug cartel member in Casa Grande and the killing of two illegals transporting drugs (killed by bandits or competing Cartel), a man who was kidnapped in Phoenix and because he was unable to meet the ransom demand - was shot twice in the back in the Vekol Valley, as well as another victim who was stabbed in Casa Grande as part of a “Cartel Hit.”
On the human smuggling side of this issue, my deputies have acted with great heroism and risked their own lives to save the lives of illegals who have been abandoned by their “Coyotes.” Pinal County Sheriff’s Deputy Russell Warren jumped into a deep canal to save five Hondurans, while five others could not be saved and drowned. Deputy Warren nearly drowned himself as he fought to save the five survivors and said, “Sheriff, the Coyotes ran away from the cries for help and Deputy Hernandez and I ran to help them.” Deputy Warren’s statement sums up the true measure of the men and women that I’m proud to lead. They have been put in increasingly grave danger due to our unsecured border with Mexico.
Another case includes a six and eleven-year-old who were abandoned by “Coyotes” and forced to drink their own urine for two days in order to survive. I forgot to mention they were abandoned along with their parents, since they were too slow for the main group, so they were simply discarded and left to die in the desert. Where is your outrage and concern for these victims and the many other crimes committed against illegal immigrants?
Just this week, the US Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Pinal County has a minimum of 75-100 mountains/high terrain features that are occupied by “Scouts, or lookouts” for the Mexican Drug Cartels. How have we arrived at this point in America that this has become acceptable to have foreign born criminals controlling the safe passage of drugs and other illegal activities in an entire region of our Arizona?
Feel free to “drink the Kool-Aid” of Janet Napolitano, Dennis Burke and Barak Obama all day long, yet this threat to America remains, until our border is secured. Their agenda is clear – they want “immigration reform” and must convince the public that everything is just fine. The complexities of this problem will not be solved by SB1070, employer sanctions, lawsuits, other future interior enforcement measures, or even thousands of new Border Patrol Agents. We must secure the border. This is achieved by the McCain/Kyl 10 Point Border Security Plan. Only then can we have a reasonable discussion about “immigration reform.” For your review, I have included a copy of the McCain/Kyl 10 Point Border Security Plan. (editor note: half way down this Pdf page)
If your intent was to establish dialogue with me, you would have called, or at least waited for your letter to arrive by mail at my office, prior to releasing it to the media. You have done the very thing they accuse me of doing. I do not represent you, or the citizens of your community, yet I do represent the nearly 400,000 citizens of my county and the viewpoint of the solid majority of Arizonans, who laugh at Secretary Napolitano's suggestion that our border is more secure than ever.
Sincerely,
Paul Babeu, Sheriff
Pinal County, Arizona
So...is there a connection between these Latino mayors, voted into office in border towns, and a desire to stifle border control??? Just ASKING. I'm from the north and don't fully understand the politics down there...
PDF Source for this letter -
Paul Babeu
Sheriff
February 14, 2011
Arturo R. Garino, Mayor of Nogales, AZ
Juan C. Escamilla, Mayor of San Luis, AZ
Dr. Michael Gomez, Mayor of Douglas, AZ
Dear Mayors,
Pinal County is the number one pass through county in the United States for drug and human smuggling. Our pursuits and drug seizures tied to drug and human trafficking far exceed those of the all four border counties. The threat from an unsecured border is real, where 241,000 illegals were apprehended last year by the border patrol and an additional 400,000 got away just in Arizona alone! These are failing grades by anyone's score card.
You speak of improved safety, yet Pinal County has doubled the confiscation of drugs, calls to the Border Patrol and has had 340 vehicle pursuits in 2010 - up from 289 the year before and 140 the year prior. We have a serious public safety threat in my county, due to an unsecured border with Mexico and our nation’s citizens should be highly concerned about the more dangerous national security threat that is presented with other than Mexicans (OTM's) and persons from countries of interest (foreign countries that harbor/sponsor terrorist and actively speak against America and our values).
Year / Pounds of Seized Marijuana / Pursuits / Calls to the US Border Patrol
2007 28,093 142 188
2008 19,619 140 169
2009 44,963 289 270
2010 44,819 340 370
Sadly, these numbers do not reflect other violence or violent crimes related to drug smuggling that has taken place during the past year; including, two officer involved shootings, the execution of a drug cartel member in Casa Grande and the killing of two illegals transporting drugs (killed by bandits or competing Cartel), a man who was kidnapped in Phoenix and because he was unable to meet the ransom demand - was shot twice in the back in the Vekol Valley, as well as another victim who was stabbed in Casa Grande as part of a “Cartel Hit.”
On the human smuggling side of this issue, my deputies have acted with great heroism and risked their own lives to save the lives of illegals who have been abandoned by their “Coyotes.” Pinal County Sheriff’s Deputy Russell Warren jumped into a deep canal to save five Hondurans, while five others could not be saved and drowned. Deputy Warren nearly drowned himself as he fought to save the five survivors and said, “Sheriff, the Coyotes ran away from the cries for help and Deputy Hernandez and I ran to help them.” Deputy Warren’s statement sums up the true measure of the men and women that I’m proud to lead. They have been put in increasingly grave danger due to our unsecured border with Mexico.
Another case includes a six and eleven-year-old who were abandoned by “Coyotes” and forced to drink their own urine for two days in order to survive. I forgot to mention they were abandoned along with their parents, since they were too slow for the main group, so they were simply discarded and left to die in the desert. Where is your outrage and concern for these victims and the many other crimes committed against illegal immigrants?
Just this week, the US Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Pinal County has a minimum of 75-100 mountains/high terrain features that are occupied by “Scouts, or lookouts” for the Mexican Drug Cartels. How have we arrived at this point in America that this has become acceptable to have foreign born criminals controlling the safe passage of drugs and other illegal activities in an entire region of our Arizona?
Feel free to “drink the Kool-Aid” of Janet Napolitano, Dennis Burke and Barak Obama all day long, yet this threat to America remains, until our border is secured. Their agenda is clear – they want “immigration reform” and must convince the public that everything is just fine. The complexities of this problem will not be solved by SB1070, employer sanctions, lawsuits, other future interior enforcement measures, or even thousands of new Border Patrol Agents. We must secure the border. This is achieved by the McCain/Kyl 10 Point Border Security Plan. Only then can we have a reasonable discussion about “immigration reform.” For your review, I have included a copy of the McCain/Kyl 10 Point Border Security Plan. (editor note: half way down this Pdf page)
If your intent was to establish dialogue with me, you would have called, or at least waited for your letter to arrive by mail at my office, prior to releasing it to the media. You have done the very thing they accuse me of doing. I do not represent you, or the citizens of your community, yet I do represent the nearly 400,000 citizens of my county and the viewpoint of the solid majority of Arizonans, who laugh at Secretary Napolitano's suggestion that our border is more secure than ever.
Sincerely,
Paul Babeu, Sheriff
Pinal County, Arizona
Brewer to Countersue Federal Government Over Immigration Enforcement
Published February 10, 2011 | FoxNews.com
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced Thursday that her state will file a countersuit against the federal government, claiming Washington has failed to enforce immigration law along the southern border.
The governor said the federal government hasn't secured the state's border with Mexico and has stuck Arizona with the costs tied to illegal immigration.
"Because the federal government has failed to protect the citizens of Arizona, I am left with no other choice," Brewer said.
Brewer went "On the Record" with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren Thursday night and said she is "in it to win it."
"We're continually looking at arrests of drug cartels," she said. "It's just untolerable."
"We will fight it all all the way to the Supreme Court," she added."
The announcement is the latest swipe in the ongoing legal dispute between Arizona and the U.S. Department of Justice over the state's tough immigration law. After the Obama administration challenged that law, a judge last year blocked key portions of it from going into effect. While the case is on appeal, Brewer said the countersuit will be filed as part of the federal government's challenge.
"It's outrageous the United States Department of Justice sued the people of Arizona to stop Senate Bill 1070," Brewer said. "Our message for the federal government is very simple -- use federal resources to combat the cartels who are breaking the federal law."
Arizona plans to sue on five different counts, including a claim that the federal government has failed to enforce immigration laws enacted by Congress and a claim it has failed to reimburse the state for costs associated with jailing criminal immigrants.
The original Arizona immigration law was passed following years of complaints that the federal government hadn't done enough to lessen the state's role as the nation's busiest illegal entry point.
A judge blocked the most controversial portions of the law, such as a requirement that says police, while enforcing other laws, must question people's immigration status if there's a reasonable suspicion they're in the country illegally.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
1 U.S. Immigration Agent Killed, 1 Injured in Mexico
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1 U.S. Immigration Agent Killed, 1 Injured in Mexico
Published February 16, 2011
| FoxNews.com
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was killed and another wounded while driving through northern Mexico Tuesday, in a rare attack on American officials in this country which is fighting powerful drug cartels.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said one agent was critically wounded in the attack and died from his injuries. The second agent was shot in the arm and leg and remains in stable condition.
ICE Director John Morton late Tuesday identified the slain agent as Jaime Zapata, who was on assignment from the office in Laredo, Texas, where he served on the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Unit as well as the Border Enforcement Security Task Force. The injured agent, who was not identified, remains in stable condition, Morton said.
U.S. and Mexican officials said they were working closely together to investigate the shooting and find those responsible. They did not give a motive for the attack.
The two agents were driving in the northern state of San Luis Potosi when they were stopped at what may have appeared to be a military checkpoint, said one Mexican official, who could not be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the case. Mexican military officials said they have no checkpoints in the area.
After they stopped, someone opened fire on them, the official said.
San Luis Potosi police said gunmen attacked two people a blue Suburban on Highway 57 between Mexico City and Monterrey, near the town of Santa Maria Del Rio, at about 2:30 p.m.
Police said one person was killed and another was flown to a Mexico City hospital, though they couldn't confirm the victims were the ICE agents.
A U.S. law enforcement source who was not authorized to speak on the case said the agent who died was on loan from Laredo, Texas.
Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Arturo Sarukhan spoke with Morton to express Mexico's condolences, according to a spokesman.
Zapata, who joined ICE in 2006, had also served as a member of the U.S. Border Patrol in Yuma, Arizona. He was a native of Brownsville, Texas and graduated from the University of Texas at Brownsville in 2005. No age was given for Zapata.
Though Mexico is seeing record rates of violence from warring drug cartels and a crackdown on organized crime, it is rare for U.S. officials to be attacked. The U.S. government, however, has become increasingly concerned about the safety of its employees in Mexico amid the escalating violence.
In March, a U.S. employee of a consulate, her husband and a Mexican tied to the American consulate were killed when drug gang members fired on their cars as they left a children's party in Ciudad Juarez, the city across from El Paso, Texas.
The U.S. State Department has taken several measures over the past year to protect consulate employees and their families. It has at times authorized the departure of relatives of U.S. government employees in northern Mexican cities.
In July, it temporarily closed the consulate in Ciudad Juarez after receiving unspecified threats.
In 1985, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar was tortured and killed in Mexico. Mexican trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero is serving a 40-year prison term for Camarena's slaying.
ICE, the investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the second largest investigative agency in the federal government, enforced immigration laws and is primarily responsible for arresting, detaining and deporting people who are in the U.S. illegally. It also investigates drug cases in the U.S. and Mexico and other types of trafficking.
It was created in 2003 through a merger of the investigative and interior enforcement elements of the U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service and has more than 20,000 employees in offices in all 50 states and 47 foreign countries.
Mexico is fighting heavily armed and powerful drug cartels that supply the U.S. market. Since President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown against drug trafficking shortly after taking office in December 2006, almost 35,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence.
Fox News' Mike Levine and the Associated Press contributed to this report
Published February 16, 2011
| FoxNews.com
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was killed and another wounded while driving through northern Mexico Tuesday, in a rare attack on American officials in this country which is fighting powerful drug cartels.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said one agent was critically wounded in the attack and died from his injuries. The second agent was shot in the arm and leg and remains in stable condition.
ICE Director John Morton late Tuesday identified the slain agent as Jaime Zapata, who was on assignment from the office in Laredo, Texas, where he served on the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Unit as well as the Border Enforcement Security Task Force. The injured agent, who was not identified, remains in stable condition, Morton said.
"I'm deeply saddened by the news that earlier today, two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents assigned to the ICE Attache office in Mexico City were shot in the line of duty while driving between Mexico City and Monterrey by unknown assailants," Napolitano said.
U.S. and Mexican officials said they were working closely together to investigate the shooting and find those responsible. They did not give a motive for the attack.
"Let me be clear: any act of violence against our ICE personnel -- or any DHS personnel -- is an attack against all those who serve our nation and put their lives at risk for our safety," Napolitano said. "We remain committed in our broader support for Mexico's efforts to combat violence within its borders."
The two agents were driving in the northern state of San Luis Potosi when they were stopped at what may have appeared to be a military checkpoint, said one Mexican official, who could not be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the case. Mexican military officials said they have no checkpoints in the area.
After they stopped, someone opened fire on them, the official said.
San Luis Potosi police said gunmen attacked two people a blue Suburban on Highway 57 between Mexico City and Monterrey, near the town of Santa Maria Del Rio, at about 2:30 p.m.
Police said one person was killed and another was flown to a Mexico City hospital, though they couldn't confirm the victims were the ICE agents.
A U.S. law enforcement source who was not authorized to speak on the case said the agent who died was on loan from Laredo, Texas.
Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Arturo Sarukhan spoke with Morton to express Mexico's condolences, according to a spokesman.
"Please keep Special Agent Zapata's family, friends, and colleagues close to your heart during this difficult time. May the work we continue to do as an agency be worthy of a sacrifice as great as the one made by Special Agent Zapata," Morton said in a statement Wednesday.
Zapata, who joined ICE in 2006, had also served as a member of the U.S. Border Patrol in Yuma, Arizona. He was a native of Brownsville, Texas and graduated from the University of Texas at Brownsville in 2005. No age was given for Zapata.
Though Mexico is seeing record rates of violence from warring drug cartels and a crackdown on organized crime, it is rare for U.S. officials to be attacked. The U.S. government, however, has become increasingly concerned about the safety of its employees in Mexico amid the escalating violence.
In March, a U.S. employee of a consulate, her husband and a Mexican tied to the American consulate were killed when drug gang members fired on their cars as they left a children's party in Ciudad Juarez, the city across from El Paso, Texas.
The U.S. State Department has taken several measures over the past year to protect consulate employees and their families. It has at times authorized the departure of relatives of U.S. government employees in northern Mexican cities.
In July, it temporarily closed the consulate in Ciudad Juarez after receiving unspecified threats.
In 1985, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar was tortured and killed in Mexico. Mexican trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero is serving a 40-year prison term for Camarena's slaying.
ICE, the investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the second largest investigative agency in the federal government, enforced immigration laws and is primarily responsible for arresting, detaining and deporting people who are in the U.S. illegally. It also investigates drug cases in the U.S. and Mexico and other types of trafficking.
It was created in 2003 through a merger of the investigative and interior enforcement elements of the U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service and has more than 20,000 employees in offices in all 50 states and 47 foreign countries.
Mexico is fighting heavily armed and powerful drug cartels that supply the U.S. market. Since President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown against drug trafficking shortly after taking office in December 2006, almost 35,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence.
Fox News' Mike Levine and the Associated Press contributed to this report
Arizona Rancher Will Fight Court Order To Pay Damages to Undocumented Immigrants
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Arizona Rancher Will Fight Court Order To Pay Damages to Undocumented Immigrants
By Elizabeth Llorente
Published February 09, 2011
| Fox News Latino
An Arizona rancher who was ordered to pay nearly $90,000 in punitive damages to undocumented immigrants he confronted, with a gun, is going to request a rehearing, his attorney said.
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last week upheld a lower court verdict ordering Barnett to pay the damages for the 2004 incident, in which the plaintiffs claimed that he approached them with his dog and said he’d shoot them if they tried to leave.
The court said that an Arizona law permitted a person to threaten to use – or actually use – physical force against someone else when that person believes it is necessary for protection “against the other’s use or attempted use of unlawful physical force.”
But the court said that Barnett held them at gunpoint even after becoming aware that no one in the group of 16 men and women was armed, and so he could not use the argument of self-defense.
In fact, Hardy added, Barnett put his gun away after realizing that no one in the group was armed, and after feeling he was not in physical danger.
David Hinojosa, southwest regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund, which represented the plaintiffs in the suit against Barnett, said he is confident the Ninth Circuit Court will deny a rehearing.
After the Ninth Circuit Court’s ruling, MALDEF released a statement that said: “Today's ruling sends the strong message that vigilantes will not be tolerated in Arizona.”
Hardy took exception at MALDEF’s description of Barnett as a trigger-happy vigilante.
He said Barnett has been “swamped” by the impact of undocumented immigrants and drug smugglers coming onto his property. Hardy said "the FBI twice told him his life was in danger."
Hinojosa said Barnett has acted overzealously in the past when encountering undocumented immigrants.
Elizabeth.Llorente@FoxNewsLatino.com
By Elizabeth Llorente
Published February 09, 2011
| Fox News Latino
An Arizona rancher who was ordered to pay nearly $90,000 in punitive damages to undocumented immigrants he confronted, with a gun, is going to request a rehearing, his attorney said.
“We’ll be filing a motion for a rehearing,” said David T. Hardy, who is representing Roger Barnett. “He feels he got screwed. I have some sympathy for that view.”
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last week upheld a lower court verdict ordering Barnett to pay the damages for the 2004 incident, in which the plaintiffs claimed that he approached them with his dog and said he’d shoot them if they tried to leave.
The court said that an Arizona law permitted a person to threaten to use – or actually use – physical force against someone else when that person believes it is necessary for protection “against the other’s use or attempted use of unlawful physical force.”
But the court said that Barnett held them at gunpoint even after becoming aware that no one in the group of 16 men and women was armed, and so he could not use the argument of self-defense.
“Basically they said he took his pistol out and kept his pistol out longer than necessary,” Hardy said.
In fact, Hardy added, Barnett put his gun away after realizing that no one in the group was armed, and after feeling he was not in physical danger.
“What they [judges] missed was that once he saw they were harmless, he holstered his gun,” Hardy said. “When the Border Patrol showed up, [the pistol] was in his holster.”
David Hinojosa, southwest regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund, which represented the plaintiffs in the suit against Barnett, said he is confident the Ninth Circuit Court will deny a rehearing.
"He pointed the barrel of the gun at every single one of those immigrants," said Hinojosa, who was co-counsel in the case. "He apparently didn't remember yelling racial epithets at the people, or making one lady break down to the point of crying and praying to be let go."
"The jury believed the immigrants, they didn't believe him," he said. "It's just a simple delay tactic for Barnett rather than just paying the debt."
After the Ninth Circuit Court’s ruling, MALDEF released a statement that said: “Today's ruling sends the strong message that vigilantes will not be tolerated in Arizona.”
Hardy took exception at MALDEF’s description of Barnett as a trigger-happy vigilante.
He said Barnett has been “swamped” by the impact of undocumented immigrants and drug smugglers coming onto his property. Hardy said "the FBI twice told him his life was in danger."
“Whole areas of his land have been covered in trash” left behind by people crossing on it illegally, Hardy said. “Some are parties of illegal entrants, sometimes there are groups of 40 or 50. He has drug smugglers come through too. They take vehicles and plow through his fence.”
“He doesn’t like illegal immigrants trashing his land,” Hardy said. “I don’t think before he cared about the issue [immigration] one way or the other.”
Hinojosa said Barnett has acted overzealously in the past when encountering undocumented immigrants.
"He's notorious for going on to other people's lands and assaulting immigrants in the same or similar manner," Hinojosa said. "There's a difference between wanting to arm yourself for protection, and wanting to commit assault. The American system doesn't tolerate the Wild West."
Elizabeth.Llorente@FoxNewsLatino.com
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