unfreakingbelievable...our justice department is a joke

[CosmicCowboy]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/25/border-agent-jaile-arrest-teen-drug-smuggler/

Justice is OK with the ATF sending guns to Mexican drug cartels but sends a border patrol agent to jail for THIS?

U.S. border agent jailed for improper arrest of suspected drug smuggler

A U.S. Border Patrol agent has been sentenced to two years in prison for improperly lifting the arms of a 15-year-old drug smuggling suspect while handcuffed — in what the Justice Department called a deprivation of the teenager’s constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force.

Agent Jesus E. Diaz Jr. was named in a November 2009 federal grand jury indictment with deprivation of rights under color of law during an October 2008 arrest near the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, in response to a report that illegal immigrants had crossed the river with bundles of drugs.

In a prosecution sought by the Mexican government and obtained after the suspected smuggler was given immunity to testify against the agent, Diaz was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge Alia Moses Ludlum in San Antonio. The Mexican consulate in Eagle Pass had filed a formal written complaint just hours after the arrest, alleging that the teenager had been beaten.

Defense attorneys argued that there were no injuries or bruises on the suspected smuggler’s lower arms where the handcuffs had been placed nor any bruising resulting from an alleged knee on his back. Photos showed the only marks on his body came from the straps of the pack he carried containing the suspected drugs, they said.

Border Patrol agents found more than 150 pounds of marijuana at the arrest site.

**FILE** An unidentified man in Mexico walks near a footbridge across the Rio Grande connecting the United States and Mexico near Acala, Texas, on Aug. 4, 2010. The bridge is one of two structures at opposite ends of a towering $2.4 billion west Texas stretch of steel border fence designed to block illegal entry. Though the International Boundary and Water Commission owns the bridges, which it calls grade control structures, both are unguarded paths into the United States from Mexico. (Associated Press)
The defense claimed that the smuggling suspect was handcuffed because he was uncooperative and resisted arrest, and that the agent had lifted his arms to force him to the ground — a near-universal police technique — while the other agents looked for the drugs.

The allegations against Diaz, 31, a seven-year veteran of the Border Patrol, initially were investigated by Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Office of Professional Responsibility, which cleared the agent of any wrongdoing.

But the Internal Affairs Division at U.S. Customs and Border Protection ruled differently nearly a year later and, ultimately, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas brought charges.

The Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council said the government’s case was “based on false testimony that is contradicted by the facts.”

In a statement, the council said that because the arrest took place at about 2 a.m., darkness would have made it impossible for the government’s witnesses to have seen whether any mistreatment took place. It said Marcos Ramos, the Border Patrol agent who stood next to Diaz, testified that he did not see any mistreatment of the smuggling suspect.

The council said other witnesses made contradictory claims and some later admitted to having perjured themselves. Such admissions, the council said, were ignored by the court and the government. It also said that probationary agents who claimed to have witnessed the assault raised no objections during the incident and failed to notify an on-duty supervisor until hours later.

“Instead, they went off-duty to a local ‘Whataburger’ restaurant, got their stories straight and reported it hours later to an off-duty supervisor at his home,” the council said. “Then the ‘witnesses’ went back to the station and reported their allegations.”

The council also noted that the teenager claimed no injuries in court other than sore shoulders, which the council attributed to “the weight of the drug load, approximately 75 pounds, he carried across the border.”

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas, which brought the charges, is the same office that in February 2006 — under U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton — prosecuted Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean after they shot a drug-smuggling suspect, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, in the buttocks as he tried to flee back into Mexico after abandoning a van filled with 800 pounds of marijuana. Aldrete-Davila also was given immunity in the case and testified against the agents.

Agents Ramos and Compean were convicted and sentenced to 11 and 12 years in prison, respectively.

[ElNono]

Sounds like he needs a better lawyer...

tbh, the piece looks like it was written by one side only... it would be interesting to hear what the other side argues.

[ElNono]

Sounds like he needs a better lawyer...

tbh, the piece looks like it was written by one side only... it would be interesting to hear what the other side argues.

[CosmicCowboy]

That handcuff lift is common police procedure. What bullshit.

[mavs>spurs]

Dude, ICE has been put on notice not to arrest illegal immigrants anymore and to look the other way, as have local police. If people don't know that there is a conspiracy going on by now then they're either A) retarded or B) don't follow the news or politics at all and live in the woods somewhere.

[CosmicCowboy]

Dude, ICE has been put on notice not to arrest illegal immigrants anymore and to look the other way, as have local police. If people don't know that there is a conspiracy going on by now then they're either A) retarded or B) don't follow the news or politics at all and live in the woods somewhere.

Uhhh...I think when they are carrying 75 pounds of pot on their back BP can still stop them as long as they say "do you mind stopping?" and "please" and "thank you".

[Drachen]

Uhhh...I think when they are carrying 75 pounds of pot on their back BP can still stop them as long as they say "do you mind stopping?" and "please" and "thank you".

You mean, if they "offer" you further investigation??

:lol

[mavs>spurs]

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/union-president-testifies-ice-hq-ordered-agents-not-arrest-illegals-including-fugitives

Union President Testifies: ICE HQ Ordered Agents Not to Arrest Illegals--Including Fugitives

By Edwin Mora (http://cnsnews.com/source/edwin-mora)
October 20, 2011
Subscribe to Edwin Mora's posts (http://cnsnews.com/source/74028/feed)






(AP Photo/L.M. Otero)

(CNSNews.com) - Chris Crane, president of a union that represents Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, testified in the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration last week that ICE agents have been told by ICE headquarters not to arrest illegal aliens who do not have a prior criminal conviction even if they are fugitives who have been ordered deported by an immigration judge or are individuals who have illegally re-entered the United States after being deported and thus have perpetrated a felony.

“Aliens who could not be arrested included but were not limited to ICE fugitives that had been ordered deported by a federal immigration judge as well as aliens who had illegally re-entered the United States after deportation, a federal felony,” Crane, who is also an active-duty ICE agent, told the committee on Oct. 12.
“ICE officers and agents also alleged that they were not permitted to arrest or even speak to confirmed or suspected illegal aliens encountered in the field during operations and were prohibited from running standard criminal record checks for wants and warrants,” Crane testified.
Crane had previously testified about the matter in the subcommittee in late July.

“When I last testified before the subcommittee on July 25, 2011, I reported among other things that ICE enforcement removal officers and agents in the field alleged that unwritten directives from ICE headquarters had been issued nationwide ordering officers not to arrest aliens unless it was confirmed that the alien had received a prior conviction for a criminal offense,” Crane told the committee last week.

Since his July testimony, he said, his union has been working with the Judiciary Committee on the issue.

“I would like to thank Chairman [Lamar] Smith and his staff for working with the union regarding this matter after the July 25 hearing,” said Crane. “Chairman Smith provided us with the opportunity to bring officers forward as witnesses. We were also able to turn over several internal ICE documents which appear to not only verify that these activities did in fact take place, but also named several senior level ICE managers allegedly involved in issuing the directives nationwide.

“Second,” Crane testified, “I would like to address the impact and effectiveness of these type of orders. I have never heard of any law enforcement agency in the nation that prohibits its officers from even speaking to or interviewing individuals who are inside a house in which the officers are attempting to affect an arrest.

“From a law enforcement standpoint what could be the possible benefit?” said Crane. “The only purpose for an order such as this is to prevent officers from making arrests which ICE leadership has allegedly stated is its goal. However, these directives not only prevent the arrest of non criminal aliens but also prevent the identification and arrest of very dangerous criminals, potentially individuals involved in terrorist activities.”

Crane told the committee that he believed the ICE policy was putting both the public and ICE agents at risk.

“It not only prevents officers from talking to and arresting persons who may be wanted for crimes but also individuals who are being victimized and in need of assistance,” said Crane. “Certainly, anyone can see that these practices are contrary to effective law enforcement practice and place the public at risk. Many officers will tell you that the majority of their best arrests, the arrests that most benefit public safety, come from unintended encounters with criminal aliens in the course of looking for a different target in the field.

“Of course, these practices also place our officers at risk,” said Crane. “Nothing that I could ever say here today can capture the dynamics as they unfold when a door opens and our officers enter a house that they've never been in before. It's dangerous. Officers don't know who is in the house or what they are capable of doing. Problems often arise that require officers to remain in a house for extended periods. Officers on the scene must have the ability to provide for their own safety. They should never be prohibited from talking to people at the scene, conducting interviews as needed, running appropriate background checks, or even making additional arrests.”


During an Oct. 19 hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about the information Crane had brought forward. Napolitano denied that agents were being told not to arrest fugitives and deportees who had re-entered the country.

“What I'm hearing is that while claiming to arrest more criminal aliens, internal ICE documents show that DHS leadership has ordered field officers not to arrest fugitives and re-entries and leadership efforts to conceal this from the public has led to confusion in the field,” Sessions told Napolitano.

"Well if they say that, they're not reading it correctly because that's exactly not the case,” Napolitano said. “They can be arrested, but at some point in the process there need to be decisions made about who is to be removed."

CNSNews.com recently reported that during fiscal years 2009 and 2010 ICE caught and released at least 28 Iranian who as of this January were considered fugitives in the U.S.--and that ICE would not say whether they were still fugitives as of the beginning of this week. Iran has been designated by the U.S. State Department as one of four state-sponsors of terrorism. The other three are Syria, Sudan, and Cuba.

Chris Crane is president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council 118 of the American Federation of Government Employees. The National ICE Council, according to written testimony Crane presented to the committee, represents about 7,200 ICE employees, who mostly work in ICE’s Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations. Crane said he had been an ICE officer since 2003. Before that, according to Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Elton Gallegly, Crane had served 11 years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

During his time as an ICE agent, Crane told the subcommittee in his written testimony, he has worked in the Criminal Alien Program, which goes after aliens who have been charged with crimes by local or federal law enforcement, and also as part of a Fugitive Operations Team “whose primary function was to apprehend foreign nationals who had not departed the United States after receiving and Order of Deportation from a federal immigration judge.”

[George Gervin's Afro]

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/union-president-testifies-ice-hq-ordered-agents-not-arrest-illegals-including-fugitives

Union President Testifies: ICE HQ Ordered Agents Not to Arrest Illegals--Including Fugitives

By Edwin Mora (http://cnsnews.com/source/edwin-mora)
October 20, 2011
Subscribe to Edwin Mora's posts (http://cnsnews.com/source/74028/feed)






(AP Photo/L.M. Otero)

(CNSNews.com) - Chris Crane, president of a union that represents Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, testified in the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration last week that ICE agents have been told by ICE headquarters not to arrest illegal aliens who do not have a prior criminal conviction even if they are fugitives who have been ordered deported by an immigration judge or are individuals who have illegally re-entered the United States after being deported and thus have perpetrated a felony.

“Aliens who could not be arrested included but were not limited to ICE fugitives that had been ordered deported by a federal immigration judge as well as aliens who had illegally re-entered the United States after deportation, a federal felony,” Crane, who is also an active-duty ICE agent, told the committee on Oct. 12.
“ICE officers and agents also alleged that they were not permitted to arrest or even speak to confirmed or suspected illegal aliens encountered in the field during operations and were prohibited from running standard criminal record checks for wants and warrants,” Crane testified.
Crane had previously testified about the matter in the subcommittee in late July.

“When I last testified before the subcommittee on July 25, 2011, I reported among other things that ICE enforcement removal officers and agents in the field alleged that unwritten directives from ICE headquarters had been issued nationwide ordering officers not to arrest aliens unless it was confirmed that the alien had received a prior conviction for a criminal offense,” Crane told the committee last week.

Since his July testimony, he said, his union has been working with the Judiciary Committee on the issue.

“I would like to thank Chairman [Lamar] Smith and his staff for working with the union regarding this matter after the July 25 hearing,” said Crane. “Chairman Smith provided us with the opportunity to bring officers forward as witnesses. We were also able to turn over several internal ICE documents which appear to not only verify that these activities did in fact take place, but also named several senior level ICE managers allegedly involved in issuing the directives nationwide.

“Second,” Crane testified, “I would like to address the impact and effectiveness of these type of orders. I have never heard of any law enforcement agency in the nation that prohibits its officers from even speaking to or interviewing individuals who are inside a house in which the officers are attempting to affect an arrest.

“From a law enforcement standpoint what could be the possible benefit?” said Crane. “The only purpose for an order such as this is to prevent officers from making arrests which ICE leadership has allegedly stated is its goal. However, these directives not only prevent the arrest of non criminal aliens but also prevent the identification and arrest of very dangerous criminals, potentially individuals involved in terrorist activities.”

Crane told the committee that he believed the ICE policy was putting both the public and ICE agents at risk.

“It not only prevents officers from talking to and arresting persons who may be wanted for crimes but also individuals who are being victimized and in need of assistance,” said Crane. “Certainly, anyone can see that these practices are contrary to effective law enforcement practice and place the public at risk. Many officers will tell you that the majority of their best arrests, the arrests that most benefit public safety, come from unintended encounters with criminal aliens in the course of looking for a different target in the field.

“Of course, these practices also place our officers at risk,” said Crane. “Nothing that I could ever say here today can capture the dynamics as they unfold when a door opens and our officers enter a house that they've never been in before. It's dangerous. Officers don't know who is in the house or what they are capable of doing. Problems often arise that require officers to remain in a house for extended periods. Officers on the scene must have the ability to provide for their own safety. They should never be prohibited from talking to people at the scene, conducting interviews as needed, running appropriate background checks, or even making additional arrests.”


During an Oct. 19 hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about the information Crane had brought forward. Napolitano denied that agents were being told not to arrest fugitives and deportees who had re-entered the country.

“What I'm hearing is that while claiming to arrest more criminal aliens, internal ICE documents show that DHS leadership has ordered field officers not to arrest fugitives and re-entries and leadership efforts to conceal this from the public has led to confusion in the field,” Sessions told Napolitano.

"Well if they say that, they're not reading it correctly because that's exactly not the case,” Napolitano said. “They can be arrested, but at some point in the process there need to be decisions made about who is to be removed."

CNSNews.com recently reported that during fiscal years 2009 and 2010 ICE caught and released at least 28 Iranian who as of this January were considered fugitives in the U.S.--and that ICE would not say whether they were still fugitives as of the beginning of this week. Iran has been designated by the U.S. State Department as one of four state-sponsors of terrorism. The other three are Syria, Sudan, and Cuba.

Chris Crane is president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council 118 of the American Federation of Government Employees. The National ICE Council, according to written testimony Crane presented to the committee, represents about 7,200 ICE employees, who mostly work in ICE’s Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations. Crane said he had been an ICE officer since 2003. Before that, according to Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Elton Gallegly, Crane had served 11 years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

During his time as an ICE agent, Crane told the subcommittee in his written testimony, he has worked in the Criminal Alien Program, which goes after aliens who have been charged with crimes by local or federal law enforcement, and also as part of a Fugitive Operations Team “whose primary function was to apprehend foreign nationals who had not departed the United States after receiving and Order of Deportation from a federal immigration judge.”

CNS news..lol

[boutons_deux]

CNS is a joke. "America's Media Watchdog" :lol

Any other links that confirm watchdog's barking?

[ElNono]

That handcuff lift is common police procedure. What bullshit.

Now we know it shouldn't be when minors are involved.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

CNS is a joke. "America's Media Watchdog" :lol

Any other links that confirm watchdog's barking?

You cannot say a damn thing Mr nakedcapitalism.com.

[boutons_deux]

Yves, Krugman, Roubini, Stiglitz are much more credible than anything coming out of WND, FOX RPN, CNS

[cantthinkofanything]

Yves, Krugman, Roubini, Stiglitz are much more credible than anything coming out of WND, FOX RPN, CNS

Kool Aid, PM5K, silverblkmystic, and lakaluva are much more credible than you.

[CosmicCowboy]

Now we know it shouldn't be when minors are involved.

He was right in the middle of an arrest of a drug mule packing 75 pounds of pot. Remember a BP agent got shot last year doing the exact same thing. I am going to give the good guys the benefit of the doubt every time, and it's not like he dislocated the wetbacks shoulders.

[MaNuMaNiAc]

He was right in the middle of an arrest of a drug mule packing 75 pounds of pot. Remember a BP agent got shot last year doing the exact same thing. I am going to give the good guys the benefit of the doubt every time, and it's not like he dislocated the wetbacks shoulders.

Kind of discredits your point when you're deliberately being a dick about it, don't you think?

sort of like "I'll give the police officer the benefit of the doubt every time, and its not like he dislocated the ######'s shoulders."

yeah, you've got everyone listening to you now

[Blake]

BP agent sounds like a dream job.

[ElNono]

He was right in the middle of an arrest of a drug mule packing 75 pounds of pot. Remember a BP agent got shot last year doing the exact same thing. I am going to give the good guys the benefit of the doubt every time, and it's not like he dislocated the wetbacks shoulders.

Maybe the kid didn't know what he was moving. He's still a kid. I'm sure there's many more details we're missing here.

I'm also pretty sure a judge won't ship LE to jail for nothing.

[ChumpDumper]

Dude knew the rules.

[ElNono]

Ultimately, if there's a jackass, that would be the judge. I would be pissed if the Justice Dept would bring a frivolous suit that gets thrown out.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

So two rookie cops corroborated the beating? Thats what a probationary officer is right?

[boutons_deux]

Kool Aid, PM5K, silverblkmystic, and lakaluva are much more credible than you.

I'm not only credible, and I'm infallible, bitch

[Winehole23]

Not only...(but) also

comma splice

lol infallible