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An independent review of U.S. Border Patrol shootings criticizes the agency for 'lack of diligence' in its investigations
and suggests that agents' tactics sometimes create a pretext to open fire
WASHINGTON 2.27.14 — Border Patrol agents have deliberately stepped in the path of cars
apparently to justify shooting at the drivers and have fired in frustration at people throwing rocks from the Mexican side
of the border, according to an independent review of 67 cases that resulted in 19 deaths.
The report by law enforcement experts criticized the Border Patrol for "lack of diligence" in investigating U.S.
agents who had fired their weapons. It also said it was unclear whether the agency "consistently and thoroughly reviews" use-of-deadly-force
incidents.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which had commissioned the review, has tried to prevent the scathing 21-page
report from coming to light.
House and Senate oversight committees requested copies last fall but received only a summary that omitted the
most controversial findings — that some border agents stood in front of moving vehicles as a pretext to open fire and
that agents could have moved away from rock throwers instead of shooting at them.
The Times obtained the full report and the agency's internal response, which runs 23 pages. The response rejects
the two major recommendations: barring border agents from shooting at vehicles unless its occupants are trying to kill them,
and barring agents from shooting people who throw things that can't cause serious physical injury.
The response, marked "Law Enforcement Sensitive," states that a ban on shooting at rock throwers "could create
a more dangerous environment" because many agents operate "in rural or desolate areas, often alone, where concealment, cover
and egress is not an option."
If drug smugglers knew border agents were not allowed to shoot at their vehicles, it argues, more drivers would
try to run over agents.
The new secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, is "reconsidering the response" to the two recommendations, a Homeland Security official said Wednesday. The official spoke
on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Mexican authorities have complained for years that U.S. border agents who kill Mexicans are rarely disciplined
and that the results of investigations are not made public for years. Critics warn that more deaths or abuses are inevitable
unless stricter rules are imposed to limit use of lethal force.
"There needs to be a level of accountability if you want to change the culture and the pattern," said Christopher
Wilson, an expert on U.S.-Mexico relations at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a think tank in Washington. "People are being killed that don't need to be killed."
The review was completed in February 2013 by the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit research and policy
organization in Washington that works closely with law enforcement agencies. Experts from the group were allowed to examine
internal Border Patrol case files on 67 shooting incidents from January 2010 to October 2012.
The authors said evidence in the case files suggested border agents in some cases stood in the road to shoot
at drivers who were trying to avoid arrest and who posed no direct lethal threat to them or others.
"It is suspected that in many vehicle shooting cases, the subject driver was attempting to flee from the agents
who intentionally put themselves into the exit path of the vehicle, thereby exposing themselves to additional risk and creating
justification for the use of deadly force," the report reads. In some cases, "passengers were struck by agents' gunfire."
"It should be recognized that a half-ounce (200-grain) bullet is unlikely to stop a 4,000-pound moving vehicle,
and if the driver … is disabled by a bullet, the vehicle will become a totally unguided threat," it says. "Obviously,
shooting at a moving vehicle can pose a risk to bystanders including other agents."
The authors recommended training agents "to get out of the way… as opposed to intentionally assuming a
position in the path of such vehicles."
They also recommended that the Border Patrol adopt police policies used in most U.S. jurisdictions, which bar
officers from firing at a moving vehicle unless deadly force is being used "by means other than a moving vehicle."
Border Patrol officials defended the use-of-force policies, arguing that agents needed broad flexibility to protect
themselves and the nation's borders.
"In a lot of cases, Border Patrol agents find themselves in an area where they don't have communications, they
don't have immediate backup and often don't have the cover and concealment that urban areas provide when you are dealing with
an escalation of force," Border Patrol Chief Michael J. Fisher said in a telephone interview.
Shawn P. Moran, vice president of the Border Patrol union, said the agency was right to reject restrictions on
when agents can shoot.
If smugglers "know we aren't allowed to defend ourselves, we would see many more rock attacks …[and] assaults
where vehicles try to run down agents because they would know there would be no repercussions," Moran said from San Diego.
ORIGINAL ARTILE WAS PRINTED HERE:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-border-killings-20140227,0,2649003.story#ixzz2vPdp3C8U
Presenting--
THIS ONE WEBSITE HAS LINKS AND PAGES THAT WERE COPIED BELOW IN THIS ARTICLE
(and are) NO LONGER ACTIVE ** PLEASE SEE THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE AT ITS NEW URL
--> try using their new link below this text
https://afgj.org/border-militarization-resource-guide
(updated ~ joe anybody 12/3/19)
Immigration reform is a hot topic again following the announcement on January 28th of a bipartisan proposal on the subject--an
announcement enthusiastically welcomed by the White House. However, there are many flaws--among the worst is that it
would continue the growth of border militarization. It is also troubling that this reform proposal moves forward at
the same time the White House is trying to secure ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, "NAFTA on steroids"-what
would be the largest Free Trade Agreement in the world. From our office in Tucson, Arizona, we can affirm that the combination
of FTAs and militarization has been a recipe for marshall law, economic disruption, displacement and deaths in the desert.
Therefore, along with our partners at the Coalición de Derechos Humanos and the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras, we are pleased to announce the Border Militarization Study Guide, a 12 lesson course in the effects of border militarization with a focus on action components for each and every lesson.
We will be releasing the various chapters one by one, every Sunday, over the next 12 weeks, starting February 3rd.
With each release, the new chapter will be added to our website. Each chapter will include an online action and suggestions
for community mobilizations. However--none of the lessons is "final". The guide will remain a work in progress--an
ongoing draft. The study guide can never be truly done until border militarization has been stopped.
This means that we very much want and need to hear from students of the guide so that we can continue to adapt and improve
it. Do you have suggestions? Questions? Comments? Reviews? Criticisms? Contributions?
What are your experiences teaching or attending classes? How about the online experience? Please contact us with your
ideas--send an email to james@afgj.org or call 202-544-9355 ext. 3.
WHY A BORDER MILITARIZATION STUDY GUIDE?
- Photo by Daquella Manera
Border militarization kills—as simple as that. The combination of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), a racist culture
of fear, and border militarization has created a situation that funnels undocumented workers into the harshest desert terrains.
The result: more than 6,000 dead, most from thirst, exposure or dysentery, some shot and killed by the Border Patrol or armed
vigilantes. All are casualties of US militarism. We demanded “Troops Out Now!” in Iraq and Afghanistan--we must demand the same for the borderlands.
Unfortunately, there are many willing to compromise on border militarization in order to get some kind of immigration reform.
But here in the desert, we find the bodies, we count the dead. That is why the Alliance for Global Justice has prepared this
12-unit Border Militarization Study Guide. We hope this guide will be help people around the country as Congress and the White House consider border policy and immigration
reform. It is vital that we educate ourselves and take this struggle to the streets. Without popular pressure, we know what
we can expect: half-measures and more troops, weapons and walls.
For the year 2013, immigration reform will be a hot topic. We must also talk about border militarization, and do
everything we can to resist it and end it.
And we must talk about and take action to stop the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a huge new FTA that would include the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signatories (Canada, Mexico and
the US) along with Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Under NAFTA, as
bad as it is, any of the member countries can withdraw with six months notice. The TPP has been described as "NAFTA
on steroids" and does not include this option. The TPP would be the largest FTA in the world.
- Photo by SF Pride At Work
It is the one-two punch of neoliberal FTAs and militarization that leaves our borderlands strewn with the bodies of undocumented
workers and their families. More than anything else, the goal of this study guide is to education and inspire new activists
in the struggle to end the militarization of the borderlands and to defeat the TPP and to repeal NAFTA. So, no, this
study guide is not meant to be a dry and artificially objective exercise in academic discourse. The goal is action--action
to end this cruel War on the Border--a war against workers everywhere, especially the undocumented; against Chicanos and Chicanas
and indigenous in their own native land and against Latinos who are subject to racial profiling in the name of "border security";
against border communities and culture; against the land. Each chapter will include an internet action component and
will include ideas for action and movement building in local communities.
HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE
The Border Militarization Study Guide is an adaptable and evolving project. We have decided to put it out online, rather
than publish it in book form, because as conditions and issues change, we will update the material. Likewise, we want to hear
from those using the guide—what ideas you have to make it better, what points need clarification, how you are using
and teaching it and other considerations you may want to let us know about. If you have any questions or comments, please
send an email to James Jordan at james@afgj.org or call 202-544-9355, ext. 3.
This guide can be used both for group or individual study. It could be part of a high school or college curriculum. It
could be used at neighborhood centers, Sunday Schools, book clubs, union study sessions—anywhere where people come together
to discuss the important issues of the day. For those studying as individuals, there is space for online discussion.
The guide is as adaptable as one needs it to be. Some may choose to take each lesson unit by unit, others may combine lessons,
and some may skip sections altogether. For instance—a study by an organization of the non-religious may feel no reason
to study the Faith and the Border chapter.
We also recognize that students of this guide will have different levels of time and attention to devote to the lessons.
For instance, someone who works 40 hours a week and more, with a family to take care of, will probably not be able to give
as much focus to this course as a student who has woven it into the semester's curriculum. Therefore, we have highlighted
one or two components of each chapter as BASIC MATERIAL that covers the major points being discussed. That will be followed
by additional resources for more in depth treatment of the subject. Finally, at the end of each lesson, there will be
suggestions for further study.
Each chapter includes a Preface, Video and/or Audio Testimony, Feature Articles, Discussion and Group Exercises, Take Action
section, Online Discussion Forum, Suggestions for Further Study and a Glossary. Scattered throughout the guide will also be
photographs and poetry to augment the lessons.
The Study Guide is broken down into the following ten chapters, or lessons:
NOTE: The various chapters of the study guide will be released on a weekly
basis starting February 4th, 2013. As chapters are published, links will be added to the list below.
- Introduction to Border Militarization
- Free Trade, Labor and Forced Migration
- Border Repression and Human Rights
- When the Border Crosses a Family
- Border Militarization as Occupation
- The Border as Marshall Law
- Splitting the Land in Two: Ecological Effects of Border Militarization
- Border Culture versus the Culture of Fear
- Faith and the Border
- The Border is Everywhere
- The United States Has a Drug Problem
- The Northern Frontier: US Militarization of the Americas
Epilogue: How Do We Resist?
CLASS REGISTRATION
If you are interested in teaching or attending this class in your school, labor union, church or home community, please
send an email of inquiry to james@afgj.org .
If you would like to study this course independently and want to be able to post comments on the discussion forum at the
end of each chapter, please send an email of inquiry to james@afgj.org . Of course, those studying the guide in a classroom setting are also authorized to participate in online discussions.
THANKS
Thanks to all the many contributors, organizers, thinkers, staff and others who have supported the development of this
guide. Especially we wish to thank the three primary organizations behind the effort: the Coalición de Derechos Humanos, the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras, and the Alliance for Global Justice.
This project simply would not have been possible without the support of the Earlham Border Studies Program
and the three interns they provided, who have really shepherded and midwifed this whole thing into being. The word “intern”
does not adequately describe what they brought to this project because they were not here just to learn and help out. Indeed,
they did more than anyone to develop the concept for this guide and to coordinate all the disparate parts and people and efforts
necessary to its completion. Specifically, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to Sophie Kazis, Nasim Chatha and
Will Wickham. Even before the Earlham Border Studies interns, there was Duke Feldmeier, of Prescott College, who helped
conceive and initiate this project.
We also want to extend a special thanks to Chelli Stanley, who produced several of the original videos included
in the guide and who has helped oversee the organization of all the video components contained herein.
Click here to watch this short, informative video of a visit to the border by the Alliance for Global
Justice Board of Directors to learn about the impacts of border militarization.
Like the work AFGJ is doing?
12.10.12
ICE Meeting with
Sheriff Staton - Portland Oregon
A dozen delegates have a 20 minute conversation in the County Sheriffs
[Portland Oregon] office on December 10 2012 {Human Rights Day}
The
topic was the ICE holds, being conducted by the sheriffs department for the Federal Government. The meeting was to demand
the ICE holds discontinue. The sheriff said he would have a public announcement in one week (Monday 12/17.12)
5.1.12
Undocumented and Unafraid
May Day Protest
May Day Protest in front of Federal Building in Portland Oregon.
The protest was to put public attention regarding the
fear immigrants have concerning and ICE - police collaberations
Oregon New Sanctuary Movement
Oregon New Sanctuary Movement • 2710 NE 14 th
Ave • Portland OR 97212
503.550.3510 • portlandsanctuary@gmail.com • www.oregonsanctuary.org
February 23, 2012
Board of County Commissioners, Multnomah County
501 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Suite 600
Portland, OR 97214‐3587
Dear Chair Cogan, Commissioner Kafoury, Commissioner Smith, Commissioner Shiprack
and Commissioner McKeel:
We are faith leaders supporting the adoption of the resolution promoting public safety and
against the mandatory implementation of Secure Communities before you today. As faith
leaders, we are very concerned about the impact the Federal “Secure” Communities
program has on our community. Central to all faith traditions are the principles of the
common good, human dignity and love for one’s neighbor. In many of our sacred texts the
value of welcoming the stranger is an explicit mandate and primary tenet of our faith.
The joining of forces of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and local law
enforcement does the opposite of securing our community. As a result of this program, the
trust between local law enforcement and immigrants is grossly eroded. Secure
Communities allows ICE to identify, process, and remove immigrants incarcerated in our
local jails. This leads to further criminalization of migrants where minor violations, often
traffic stops, turn into an investigation of citizenship status. Furthermore, low‐priority nonviolent
offenders or even citizens are being funneled into this program and face
deportation, needlessly separating thousands of families. The implementation of Secure
Communities wastes our scarce public resources that could be used to make our
communities safer.
Our faith now calls us to be part of changing this unjust policy. The resolution before you
today is an important first step in making our community welcoming to all people and a
supporting community that values family unity and fairness. We hope you will support
other measures that will ensure that all people are treated fairly and with dignity. We
believe that you should consider adopting actions that have been taken by other
communities, including Santa Clara County and Cook County, to ensure that our jails do not
honor the optional detainer requests made by ICE based on nationality. We cannot build a
strong community if our community continues to be unnecessarily torn apart.
Sincerely,
The Current Laws on Immigration are Unjust and Unfair:
Please check this link for all of my previous announcements
and articeles that I have archived on the immigration issues:
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Check My Blog out
"The Zebra
3 Report"
Immigration Topics
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