I tend to react strongly to this sort of thing, but am I the only one who thinks that it's treasonous for the Border Patrol to collaborate with the Mexican government to assist illegal immigration?
While Minuteman civilian patrols are keeping an eye out for illegal border crossers, the U.S. Border Patrol is keeping an eye out for Minutemen -- and telling the Mexican government where they are. ...Minuteman members were not so sanguine about the arrangement, however, saying that reporting their location to Mexican officials nullifies their effectiveness along the border and could endanger their lives.
"Now we know why it seemed like Mexican officials knew where we were all the time," said Chris Simcox, founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. "It's unbelievable that our own government agency is sending intelligence to another country. They are sending intelligence to a nation where corruption runs rampant, and that could be getting into the hands of criminal cartels.
"They just basically endangered the lives of American people."
It boggles the mind. Is this treason? Doesn't seem far off to me. I want the names of the bureaucrats behind this policy! I want a Congressional investigation!
TJ Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing more than 10,000 Border Patrol agents, said agents have complained for years about the Mexican consulate's influence over the agency."It worries me (that the Mexican government) seems to be unduly influencing our enforcement policies. That's not a legitimate role for any foreign nation," Bonner said, though he added, "It doesn't surprise me."
Border Patrol agents interviewed by the Daily Bulletin said they have been asked to report to sector headquarters the location of all civilian volunteer groups, but to not file the groups' names in reports if they spot illegal immigrants.
"Last year an internal memo notified all agents not to give credit to Minuteman volunteers or others who call in sightings of illegal aliens," said one agent, who spoke on the condition he not be identified. "We were told to list it as a citizen call and leave it at that. Many times, we were told not to go out to Minuteman calls."
The Border Patrol leadership should be ashamed by their betrayal of the American people.
One of the reasons that I am in favour of giving illegals a path to legalization is that I believe, inspite of the laws on the books, that the government tacitly approves of illegal immigration and that it is dishonest to claim that the US government doesn't want them here. This kind of thing, along with the dog and pony go after the employers thing a few weeks ago, only reinforces this belief.
If there's one thing that tempts people to turn to vigilantism more than anything else, it's got to be a purposeful policy by the law to ignore legitimate calls that report law breaking. I wouldn't go as far as saying it's treasonous but it's awful dangerous.
Michael: Giving up the locations of US citizens partrolling the border to a foriegn government is clearly treason. The appropriate punishments for that sort of activity are expulsion from the country or death.
Manish: Enacting policy that contradicts laws is cleary corruption. People who are not willing to enforce the laws as they are written do not belong in law enforcement.
After looking at the definition of treason again, I would like to modify my previous statement. In order for the actions of the Border Patrol to be treason, someone would have to show that the lives of the Minutemen were actually threatened because of those actions.
People who are not willing to enforce the laws as they are written do not belong in law enforcement.
I don't think its necessarily the people working in law enforcement, but the higher-ups (i.e. the President) who are calling the shots.
Think of it this way, if a CIA covert operation ended up killing an innocent person, the US government would ultimately help the family out of the victim out of a sense of responsibility.
In the same way, the US government has tacitly welcomed illegal immigrants to keep the farms running and we have some obligation to start doing this above board.
Manish: I would consider anyone within the ranks of the Police, National Guard, Coast Guard, or Border Control as a member of "law enforcement". I would also include judges and penitentiary workers, and maybe some others. All of these people need to realize that their purpose (while on the job) is to enforce laws. I'm pretty sure that policy makers within those organizations must swear to uphold the law, so when they enact policies that overlook illegal activity, they are engaging in corruption.
David..I don't think that our opinions are at odds. There is no doubt that the law of the land should be enforced. However, I think with illegal immigration the law hasn't been followed and the lack of enforcement has come from the top. The question then becomes that given that the law wasn't enforced, now what?