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Feds seeking 7 years for another Texas cop The federal government has recommended a seven-year prison term for Gilmer Hernandez, a Texas deputy sheriff who drew grass-roots support after he was convicted for violating the civil rights of a fleeing illegal alien, WND has learned. In a case prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton in El Paso, who also led the high-profile prosecution of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, Hernandez was charged after stopping a van full of illegals for running a stop sign April 14, 2005, in Rocksprings, Texas. The driver attempted to run over Hernandez, prompting the officer to fire his weapon at the rear tires. A bullet fragment hit a Mexican national, Marciela Rodriguez Garcia, in the mouth, cutting her lip and breaking two teeth. Hernandez's boss, Deputy Don Lettsinger, told WND he considers the sentencing guidelines severe, especially since he believes "Deputy Hernandez should never have been indicted for this incident in the first place."....
Bush in a quandary over border agents' case For weeks, defenders of the two former Border Patrol agents imprisoned for shooting a Mexican drug trafficker have bombarded the White House with calls, e-mails and petitions. Their demand is straightforward: A presidential pardon for a pair of Texans they view as heroes persecuted for doing their jobs. "This is a terrible injustice, and I urge you to use your considerable authority and power to pardon these two agents and right this obvious wrong!" reads a petition from Grassfire.org, a conservative Web site that claims more than 337,000 people have signed the online form. But the issue is far from simple for President Bush, who is being asked to wade into a highly controversial case where even the most basic facts are in dispute. The quandary for the president: Whether to side with former Border Patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos or with the prosecutors who contend they were rogue officers who wounded a fleeing, unarmed man and then concealed evidence....
Bush policy turns Mesa airport into deportation hub One by one the immigration detainees stepped off buses onto the tarmac as dawn broke one recent chilly morning. After deputy U.S. marshals pat searched each one, the detainees climbed single file aboard a large unmarked jetliner waiting nearby. With all 118 aboard, the engines roared to life. Some passengers pressed their faces against the oval windows, snatching a last glimpse of the United States before being deported to Honduras and Guatemala. The scene is repeated almost daily at Williams Gateway Airport, the busiest air deportation hub in the nation, as the federal government ramps up efforts to quickly deport record numbers of non-Mexican undocumented immigrants to their home countries. The taxpayer-funded flights have helped cut deportation times by months, removing about 51,300 non-Mexicans from Oct. 1, 2005 to Sept. 30, 2006, mostly to countries in Central and South America, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. The flights, part of the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System, have been key to ending the government's long-standing policy of releasing thousands of non-Mexicans into the U.S. pending immigration hearings and serve as a deterrent to illegal immigration, officials say....
Armed smugglers fighting it out An unwelcome set of neighbors is encroaching on this Southern Arizona community known more for its artisans and golf course than its proximity to the border — armed drug smugglers and violent bandits. The presence of more than 500 Border Patrol agents and dozens of National Guard observation posts has congested the Nogales corridor, pinching off routes and forcing drug smugglers into the rugged mountains east and west of Interstate 19 in the greater Tubac area from Tumacacori to Amado. A November decision to station a semi-permanent checkpoint north of Tubac at kilometer 42 on Interstate 19 has created smuggling routes flanking the area as drug runners transport their loads north of the inspection spot. The drug runners, or burreros, or aren't alone on the trails, either. Armed ripoff teams, or bajadores, have become increasingly brazen in the past two years in their attempts to steal loads of drugs and people from smugglers. "They rip off each other; they shoot at each other; the stakes are higher now," said Lt. Raul Rodriguez, commander of criminal investigations for the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office. "With more enforcement, surveillance, you are going to create a lot more activity." Four murders and nine attempted homicides have occurred on the smuggling trails in the area in the past two years, including a recent surge of activity in the Aliso Springs area west of Tubac, Rodriguez said. Since August, Santa Cruz County sheriff's investigators and Border Patrol agents have responded more than 20 times to smuggling and banditry activity near Aliso Springs, including a shootout between smugglers and bandits on Jan. 15 and an exchange of gunfire between a Border Patrol agent and a smuggler last week....
6 Border Soldiers Become U.S. Citizens Six National Guard troops deployed to the Mexican border became U.S. citizens Friday, apparently the first troops to take advantage of expedited citizenship rules while deployed to help keep illegal immigrants out. The six members of the Texas National Guard were deployed to aid the U.S. Border Patrol after President Bush called for 6,000 troops on the southwest border in May. PFC Fabiola Jimenez, who came to the United States legally with her family when she was a teenager, said she had joined the National Guard in part because she knew it would expedite her citizenship application. Jimenez and three others sworn in are believed to be the first to become eligible for expedited citizenship because of their work helping to guard the U.S.-Mexico border, said Master Sgt. Adolfo Gonzales, a Texas National Guard spokesman. Two of the guardsmen previously served in Iraq and were eligible after being activated for those deployments. Nearly 25,000 military service members on active duty since Sept. 11, 2001, have taken advantage of an executive order signed in 2002 allowing active military personnel deployed for anti-terrorism duties to immediately apply for citizenship, skipping the previous one-year service period....
At councilman's urging, police may let in Border Patrol On Wednesday, Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher is scheduled to present a revised police policy to the council – one that, based on his earlier comments, he disagrees with. The policy would include inviting the Border Patrol to work with Escondido police at routine DUI, driver's license and seat belt checkpoints, as well as during other operations, such as prostitution sweeps. Maher was asked to revise the policy by City Councilman Sam Abed, who yesterday said the policy would “aggressively” encourage the deportation of illegal immigrants “who commit crimes in our city – anything from major crimes to domestic violence to driving under the influence to driving without a license and to driving without insurance.” If approved, Escondido police would be the only law enforcement agency in the county with such a policy, a survey by The San Diego Union-Tribune found....
Government red-light runners cost $8,000 in Houston fines Houston's new red-light cameras nabbed more than 100 government and school vehicles since the enforcement program began last fall, resulting in about $8,000 in fines, police records show. Metro and school buses, police cruisers and public works trucks were among the vehicles caught running red lights, according to data released under the Texas Public Information Act. The citations represent a tiny fraction of the 34,000 violators cited since September, but they are unwelcome to the agencies involved and have resulted in disciplinary action against some drivers....