Tragedy On US Border - Border Agents on the line

Photo Credit: FREE Border Patrol agent “Nacho” Ignacio Ramos)

The American Chronicle calls it an American Tragedy. I agree. Read on.

February 17, 2006 started out for two Border Agents along the U.S./Mexican border much like any other day. Sure, they knew it was getting very dangerous on that border as a drug war was being fought to see which drug smugglers were to gain control of the traffic heading North to their targeted market……the unsuspecting American kids who would become the smugglers’ “clients”.

The agents were well aware of the sometimes uneven fire power. Drug smugglers were often better armed and better equipped with their own body armor. A recent ploy was to use vans painted exactly like the Border Patrol vans to throw them off. The smugglers could afford these tactics because of the large amounts of money they were taking in. Because of the money involved, in true gang fashion, the big guns are out and human heads are being found from time to time as warnings not to step on the big guys’ toes and intrude on their turf.

Border Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean were on duty when they spotted what they suspected was a drug smuggler’s van near the Rio Grande. It turns out that their instincts, honed by many days on that border, were correct. The van contained 743 pounds of marijuana. Driving the van was an illegal alien, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila.

When Aldrete-Davila caught sight of the agents he high-tailed it for the border. In pursuit were Agent Ramos and another agent. Media reports lay out the picture for us. Disregarding repeated orders to stop, Aldrete-Davila fled. When he saw that he could not outrun Ramos and the other agent, he headed for the border to escape. Ramos told the California Inland Valley Daily Bulletin:

“At some point during the time when I’m crossing the canal, I hear shots being fired. Later, I see Compean on the ground, but I keep running after the smuggler”. At that time, according to Ramos, Aldrete-Davila turned toward him, pointing what looked like a gun. Whether the smuggler had a gun or not cannot be determined to this day, because the smuggler was not apprehended. The accumulated experience of the agents is important here. They thought they were facing a gun, since they had heard shots,

Every day they are often out gunned and out numbered. In light of the violent shootings we have seen reported and the armed incursions trying to deliver drugs to the US… and we convict our own patrol agents?

A Holland man pleaded guilty today in U.S. Federal Court in Burlington to multiple charges stemming from an incident with Border Patrol agents almost three years ago….

Morin admitted to Chief Judge William K. Sessions that at about 6 a.m. on Jan. 27, 2004, shortly after entering Vermont from Canada on a snowmobile at a remote location near Norton, he sped his snowmobile directly at two Border Patrol agents, nearly hitting them. One agent fired his weapon at Morin.

There are attempts to secure a presidential pardon.

A Republican congressman yesterday asked President Bush to have “some Christian charity and pardon” two U.S. Border Patrol agents facing lengthy prison terms following their convictions for shooting a suspected drug smuggler in the buttocks.

What will this do to the efforts of securing our border? Fox news reported that the illegal intends to seek money for the incident. Will there be enough outrage? If nothing is done then I will certainly have lost a lot of respect for the powers to be. Will the motto have to be for the agents to kill any incursions before they get sued for stopping illegals? You can check out more here.

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