FLE

Border Law Enforcement Certain Of Incursions

"There's no way on God's country I would have sent them reporters down if I'd have known they were gonna be there, " said Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West in response to the Mexican consulate's claim that his department was informed by the Mexican military would be patrolling along the Rio Grande. The incident involves a KFOX crew who witnessed an incursion taking place in Sierra Blanca on January 31st, as they were being escorted by a Hudspeth Sheriff's deputy. The camera crew got most of the incident on tape, where you can see Mexican military right along the Rio Grande, fully armed. Out of the camera's view, other men dressed in military uniforms crossed into the United States - the second incursion in the same area in nine days. Sheriff West says he is certain the men were Mexican soldiers because his Deputies deal with the threat on a daily basis. He insists they were never notified as the Consulate claims. "As we've said all along we're out-manned and out-gunned. Not only the Sheriff's offices along the border, but as well as Border Patrol," says Sheriff West....

Probe of Mexican military incursions at U.S. border set to begin

A closed-door meeting at El Paso International Airport between congressional leaders, government agencies, along with federal and local law enforcement officers promised answers to reports of Mexican military incursions into the United States and set the stage for congressional hearings next week. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and chairman of the Subcommittee on Investigations for the Committee on Homeland Security, said at a press conference Friday that the incursion investigations will be the first time his committee has conducted hearings since its formation four years ago. "I want to thank these brave men and women for what they do every day and the threat that they face on the border," McCaul said, referring to the law enforcement officials standing behind him. "It's important that members of Congress understand that and do something about it. "We are going to get to the bottom of what happened here, and we are going to have the facts come out," he said. "It's my duty as chairman of this subcommittee to investigate this fully and follow every lead so that the American people can better be protected at the border." Next week's congressional hearings came on the heels of a Daily Bulletin disclosure in early January that there have been more than 200 incursions by Mexican military personnel into the United States since 1996. The incursions were documented in private files by the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which were kept from public access....

W. Texas border plan stems illegal crossings

A U.S. Border Patrol initiative to press charges against all illegal border crossers caught in a section of West Texas curtailed the number of crossings, officials said. Under Operation Streamline II, the Border Patrol is working with other agencies to enforce a "zero-tolerance" policy for illegal immigrants apprehended in the highly trafficked area of Eagle Pass. "The message is to deter entry in the West Texas corridor," said Hilario Leal, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's Del Rio sector. Officials said the zero-tolerance approach could be extended to other sectors of the border. In the first six weeks of the operation, 917 immigrants were prosecuted and sentenced to an average of 90 days in prison, he said. Last month, border agents in the area saw a drop in the daily number of non-Mexican illegal crossers – from 40 in January 2005 to 20. Authorities usually prosecute only a small fraction of the more than 1 million illegal crossers apprehended each year along the Mexican border. Usually undocumented Mexicans who are not repeat offenders are allowed to voluntarily return to Mexico, and non-Mexicans are typically released until their hearings. Most don't return for the hearings, officials said.

Mexico's Lawless Border Presents Washington With Its Biggest Test

Two events last month on the Mexican border, one in Texas and one in California, highlight the challenge the U.S. faces on our Southern border. They illustrate how not only vulnerable our border is but also why it is difficult to fix the problem. Mexico won’t or can’t control its side of the border, and the U.S. doesn’t want to embarrass Mexico by admitting that fact publicly. On the afternoon of January 23, three SUVs crossed from Mexico into Texas 50 miles southeast of El Paso at a shallow place in the Rio Grande called Neely’s Crossing by the locals. The three SUVs were spotted two miles from the river near Interstate 10 by Hudspeth County sheriff deputies. When the deputies gave chase, the SUVs turned around and headed back to the river. This happened in broad daylight, not under the cloak of darkness. At the river crossing, the sheriff deputies observed a military-style Humvee with a mounted 50-caliber machine gun waiting for the caravan on the U.S. side of the river. One SUV blew a tire short of the river and was abandoned by the smugglers. It was later found to contain 1477 pounds of marijuana. A second vehicle made it across the river, but the third got stuck. A dozen men in battle dress uniforms and automatic rifles appeared on the Mexican side and proceeded to help unload a dozen or more bales of contraband from the marooned SUV. The Texas sheriff deputies and state highway patrol were helpless to stop the recovery of the contraband because they were outgunned and outmanned. After unloading their cargo, the Mexicans set fire to the SUV and left it burning in the riverbed. All of this was photographed by Hudspeth County sheriff deputies....

State cops should stem flow of migrants, lawmakers say

Lawmakers are considering an aggressive approach for trying to lessen Arizona's role as the busiest gateway for sneaking into the country: devoting squads of the state police to catch illegal immigrants who slip past federal border agents. Over the years, many officials have resisted suggestions for local and state police agencies to confront illegal immigration, long considered the sole province of the federal government. But the notion is gaining political traction as the public's frustration with the state's porous border with Mexico grows. A state lawmaker has proposed a plan that includes $20 million for the Arizona Department of Public Safety to run a 100-member squad to operate surveillance equipment, construct border barriers, target drug and immigrant smugglers and perhaps patrol the border....

Can the President Order a Killing on U.S. Soil?

In the latest twist in the debate over presidential powers, a Justice Department official suggested that in certain circumstances, the president might have the power to order the killing of terrorist suspects inside the United States. Steven Bradbury, acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, went to a closed-door Senate intelligence committee meeting last week to defend President George W. Bush's surveillance program. During the briefing, said administration and Capitol Hill officials (who declined to be identified because the session was private), California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked Bradbury questions about the extent of presidential powers to fight Al Qaeda; could Bush, for instance, order the killing of a Qaeda suspect known to be on U.S. soil? Bradbury replied that he believed Bush could indeed do this, at least in certain circumstances. Current and former government officials said they could think of several scenarios in which a president might consider ordering the killing of a terror suspect inside the United States. One former official noted that before Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania, top administration officials weighed shooting down the aircraft if it got too close to Washington, D.C. What if the president had strong evidence that a Qaeda suspect was holed up with a dirty bomb and was about to attack? University of Chicago law professor Cass Sunstein says the post-9/11 congressional resolution authorizing the use of military force against Al Qaeda empowered the president to kill 9/11 perpetrators, or people who assisted their plot, whether they were overseas or inside the United States. On the other hand, Sunstein says, the president would be on less solid legal ground were he to order the killing of a terror suspect in the United States who was not actively preparing an attack. A Justice Department official, who asked not to be ID'd because of the sensitive subject, said Bradbury's remarks were made during an "academic discussion" of theoretical contingencies....

Surveillance Net Yields Few Suspects

Intelligence officers who eavesdropped on thousands of Americans in overseas calls under authority from President Bush have dismissed nearly all of them as potential suspects after hearing nothing pertinent to a terrorist threat, according to accounts from current and former government officials and private-sector sources with knowledge of the technologies in use. Bush has recently described the warrantless operation as "terrorist surveillance" and summed it up by declaring that "if you're talking to a member of al Qaeda, we want to know why." But officials conversant with the program said a far more common question for eavesdroppers is whether, not why, a terrorist plotter is on either end of the call. The answer, they said, is usually no. Fewer than 10 U.S. citizens or residents a year, according to an authoritative account, have aroused enough suspicion during warrantless eavesdropping to justify interception of their domestic calls, as well. That step still requires a warrant from a federal judge, for which the government must supply evidence of probable cause. The Bush administration refuses to say -- in public or in closed session of Congress -- how many Americans in the past four years have had their conversations recorded or their e-mails read by intelligence analysts without court authority. Two knowledgeable sources placed that number in the thousands; one of them, more specific, said about 5,000. The program has touched many more Americans than that. Surveillance takes place in several stages, officials said, the earliest by machine....

Telecoms let NSA spy on calls

The National Security Agency has secured the cooperation of large telecommunications companies, including AT&T, MCI and Sprint, in its efforts to eavesdrop without warrants on international calls by suspected terrorists, according to seven telecommunications executives. The executives asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the program. AT&T, MCI and Sprint had no official comment. The Senate Judiciary Committee begins hearings today on the government's program of monitoring international calls and e-mails of a domestic target without first obtaining court orders. At issue: whether the surveillance is legal, as President Bush insists, or an illegal intrusion into the lives of Americans, as lawsuits by civil libertarians contend. In domestic investigations, phone companies routinely require court orders before cooperating. A majority of international calls are handled by long-distance carriers AT&T, MCI and Sprint. All three own "gateway" switches capable of routing calls to points around the globe. AT&T was recently acquired by SBC Communications, which has since adopted the AT&T name as its corporate moniker. MCI, formerly known as WorldCom, was recently acquired by Verizon. Sprint recently merged with Nextel. Decisions about monitoring calls are made in four steps, according to two U.S. intelligence officials familiar with the program who insisted on anonymity because it remains classified....

Model airplane designed to help police shows promise

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on Friday unveiled what could become its latest weapon for fighting crime - a high-tech model plane equipped with a video camera - and said a SWAT team will begin testing the new surveillance technology within two months. The four-pound plane has a tiny camera in its belly that can be used for everything from surveilling buildings and tracking fleeing burglars to searching for lost hikers and missing children, sheriff's officials said. The "SkySeer" will be donated to the department by Chang Industry for field testing. The company - whose president, Yu-Wen Chang, is a resident of Rancho Palos Verdes - worked with the Sheriff's Department for about three years to produce the unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV. It has to in order to meet the department's rigorous demands. Sheriff's deputies need something small and light that is also slow enough to take good video, easy to control, inexpensive, self-piloting and quiet, said Sheriff's Cmdr. Sid Heal, head of the department's technology exploration unit. Other groups showing an interest in the plane include the U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Forest Service and a law enforcement agency on the East Coast, Chang said. Although the company has yet to put a price tag on the plane, company officials guessed it could be $30,000....

Those of you interested in border issues may want to visit this blog by a retired Border Patrol agent.