From: Foro de comunicacion para Latinos del suroeste de los EEUU [LAREDL@LISTSERV.CYBERLATINA.NET] on behalf of Devon Pea [devonpena@GMAIL.

COM] Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2013 11:11 AM To: LARED-L@LISTSERV.CYBERLATINA.NET Subject: [LRL] Border Patrol - A History of Corruption and Violence Colegas: Please share this report I prepared on the history of corruption and violence in the Border Patrol. I have also included a summary and link to the just released report by Families for Freedom and the NYU Law School on institutionalized corruption in the Buffalo, NY sector where agents get bonuses for increasing the number of arrests and detentions - which results in an increasing number of citizens and legal immigrants suffering unwarranted harassment and detention in the latest version of racial profiling as a cash incentive program. Civil society organizations must increase pressure ion the Obama Administration and Congress to convene serious hearings and pursue criminal prosecution of BP and ICE thugs. We should also call for the establishment of a bi-national civil society board of inquiry and review, with subpoena powers, to provide objective democratic oversight of an organization that is not just out of control but represents a clear and present danger to our democracy Please go to: http://mexmigration.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-border-patrol-official-violence.html Or read below. Feel free to share and re-post as you deem appropriate. I will be following this up with another report ion the deep roots of this police state organization that we need to bring down. -Devon G. Pea, Ph.D. "Memory is a moral obligation, all the time." -J. Derrida The Border Patrol: Official violence, impunity, and the state of Exception http://mexmigration.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-border-patrol-official-violence.html

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fefZBYTbtOg/UQ1Eh5WBeRI/AAAAAAAAMZ4/yYzoeGDhfk/s1600/896226.jpg> Thugs in uniform? Credit: Indymedia http://www.indymedia.org/images//2007/11/896226.jpg

*Corruption in the U.S. Border Patrol runs deep * EVIDENCE REVEALS A LONG HISTORY OF OFFICIAL CORRUPTION AND VIOLENCE AGAINST IMMIGRANTS Devon G. Pea | Seattle, WA | February 2, 2013

Those of us who grew up in places like south Texas have been observing the Border Patrols violent and corrupt behavior on the U.S.-Mexico border for decades. I am inclined to state that malfeasance has always been endemic in a state police organization that was originally staffed with some of the most corrupt and violent elements of the old Mounted Guard, which operated with impunity from El Paso beginning in 1904. However, the modern Border Patrol (BP) was established under provisions contained in the Labor Appropriation Act of 1924. The early BP was close to a private detective agency. One historian, who studied the 1880s boodler scandal on the U.S.-Canada border, argues that: *Detectives began devising new and more aggressive tactics to prevent boodlers from crossing into Canada, essentially amounting to a makeshift form of border patrol. The official U.S. Border Patrol was not created until 1924, nearly forty years later; these local constables and private detectives were improvising a type of border policing whose only precedent was the Texas Rangers Indian campaigns[i] http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2929126317185761970#_edn1 along the Mexican boundary. * (Unterman 2012:179) <http://3.bp.blogspot.com/7kLCV8z2zyE/UQ1DYQdpKOI/AAAAAAAAMZo/Ez0tcfdKgHw/s1600/ RangersBridge.jpg Texas Rangers, ca. 1892. Source: Cox (n.d.) Professor Untermans study of the boodler scandal boodlers were basically white collar criminals who fled to Canada as fugitives of the law is instructive because the political and economic conditions that existed during the so-called Gilded Age are upon yet again: Violence, corruption, and grotesque extremes in wealth inequalities characterize our period as well. Unterman thus notes how the late 19th and early 20th centuries were also characterized by, patrols and fencesto protect the nation from perceived external dangers like illegal [sic] immigrants. She further notes that we can understand the patrols and fences of the Gilded Age as reactions to a newly

mobile society that was both exciting and terrifying in its destabilizing power. (2012:189) I think this describes the current situation on the U.S.-Mexico border very well, right down to the sense of a state of siege and destabilizing changes wrought of the process of globalization and the consolidation of a national security state. The history of violence and corruption runs deeper than is usually acknowledged. It is easy to forget but the murder of innocent immigrants by BP agents has been a problem for decades. Claire F. Fox in the book, *The Fence and the River: Culture and Politics at the U.S.-Mexico Border* found evidence that as far back as the 1970s the border was highly militarized by Border Patrol agents who have shoot to kill orders for all Mexicans trying to cross (1999:104). One example of this shoot to kill culture of impunity comes from the Reagan years: On the evening of June 12, 1992, three *mexicanos* crossed the border without inspection near Nogales, Arizona. Two BP agents spotted the braceros and in the ensuing chase, BP Agent Michael Elmer shot one of the undocumented workers, Dario Miranda Valenzuela, in the back and killed him. Elmer claimed self-defense and his partner, Thomas Watson, described his partner as happylike somebody that had shot their first deer. He was elated, pumped up, [bragging], I got one. Reports indicated that after being shot, Miranda could have been helped and provided with medical attention to survive. Instead, the two officers dragged the wounded mans body to a nearby ditch and left him there where he bled out and died about thirty minutes later. There was an indictment and a trial but despite testimony by Watson against Elmer, the jury acquitted Elmer on the basis of a self-defense argument; Miranda was unarmed. (Ong 1995:757)

<http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--ZOZoL7xuw/UQ1CwCD6c2I/AAAAAAAAMZY/DRStGiXmVTU/s1600/CBPCorruption.jpg While investigations increase, prosecution and conviction outcomes are rare. Source: Checkpoint USA www.checkpointusa.org/blog/index.php/2010/09/16/p225

Social scientists have been documenting corruption and violence for decades and it is important to clarify to the public that these problems are not the exclusive domain of Mexican law enforcement. One recent report highlights an interview conducted with a former drug runner who stated, The only way to

move large quantities of drugs through the United States-Mexico border, you have to corrupt a border official or two (Mendoza and Sherman 2009:1; also see Aguirre Hernndez, Slack, and Whiteford 2009:12). Indeed, the same study by a skilled pair of Arizona-based investigative journalists found that: *Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Border Patrol (USBP) and contractors such as Wackenhut have all been involved in high profile scandals with corruption. Border agents have been apprehended allowing vans filled with drugs or undocumented immigrants through the border or acting as scouts for smugglers. Mendoza and Sherman using Freedom of Information Act requests and interviews found that since 2007 to 2009 more than 80 enforcement officials at all levels-federal, state and local have been convicted of corruption.* (Mendoza and Sherman 2009:1)

This pattern of the murder of immigrants by police agents without fear of prosecution is a form of institutional racism and indicative of the state of exception that we have been writing about in this blog since 2008. This evidence suggests that the Border Patrol (BP) has long been known for routine corruption and widespread acts of criminal violence against immigrants. The police organization is completely out of control and apparently immune to public scrutiny and criticism. It represents a clear and present danger to our democracy. Apparently, this attitude about the lack of value of an immigrant or native life has transferred seamlessly into the modern Border Patrol and remains a shameful stain on the record of the Obama Administration. Obamas Justice Department is doing absolutely nothing consequential to end the impunity with which this organization operates. Now comes a report from a law school professor at New York University and a grassroots group known as Families for Freedom documenting abuse and corruption within the BP on the northern border (Buffalo sector). The report found that the BP has used a $1 million discretionary fund to pay bonuses to agents who ratchet up arrests and detentions of suspected aliens. Below, I am presenting a summary of this report for the convenience of my readers and followers. We will continue to report on corruption and violence within the BP and urge our readers and followers to participate in ongoing efforts to increase public pressure on the Obama Administration and Congress. It is way past the time for serious Congressional hearings, criminal investigations and prosecutions of BP agents by the FBI, and the development of a bi-national citizen review board with subpoena power to subordinate the BP threat to freedom and democracy. To defend our prospects for a genuine democracy we must subject the Border Patrol to the rule of law under the guidance and control of our civil society organizations.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/kFzAsfFANpQ/UQ1DH3OUowI/AAAAAAAAMZg/BIki8JclCBg/s1600/USBP.jpg *New report uncovers nearly 300 wrongful arrests by Border Patrol* SCHEME ENRICHED AGENTS WITH BONUSES FOR QUOTAS Families for Freedom | New York, NY | January 29, 2013 On the heels of Obamas CIR plan to expand border enforcement, a new report uncovers nearly 300 wrongful arrests by Border Patrol and almost $1 million in cash and other incentives. A new report from Families for Freedom in collaboration with New York University (NYU) Immigrant Rights Clinic entitled, Uncovering USBP:Bonus Programs for United States Border Patrol Agents and the Arrest of Lawfully Present Individuals<http://familiesforfreedom.org/resources/families-freedom-new-report-uncoversnearly-300-wrongful-arrests-border-patrol-and-almost>reveals crucial information about the incentives and consequences of USBP practices. Using detailed new data from the USBP station in Rochester, New York and the Buffalo Sector that were obtained through a Freedom of Information lawsuit, the report reveals the existence of various incentive programs provided to Border Patrol agents in their quest to apprehend individuals of color, many of whom have legal status. The report also documents the broad array of persons with lawful status who suffer at the hands of USBP. The release of the report contains the first data on U.S. Border Patrols(USBP) discretionary bonus programs that include cash bonuses, vacation awards, and distribution of gift cards to border patrol agents. Data shows bonuses reached up to $2,500 a year per agent. This program has been ramped up from a yearly budget of a few thousand dollars in 2003 to nearly $200,000 in 2011. In total, from 2003 to 2011, close to $1 million dollars were allocated for cash awards for the Buffalo Sector alone. The report also provides that as a result of USBPs policing practices, close to 300 cases of wrongful arrests have been reported, the vast majority are people of color from Africa, South and East Asia, and the Caribbean. The report also provides concrete evidence of the wide array of persons of lawful status who are arrested by USBP, including tourists, persons with work or student visas, lawful permanent residents and United States citizens. In just one program, between 2006 and 2011, in one USBP station there were almost 300 documented cases of arrest and detention of persons with lawful status. The actual number is probably far higher because USBP did not formally instruct its agents to document these arrests until June 2010.

Anetta, US Citizen, Families for Freedom member Abraham Paulos, Executive Director, Families for Freedom Nancy Morawetz, NYU Professor and Co-Director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic Christian Ramirez, Human Rights Director, Southern Border Communities Coalition Ryan Bates, Co-Chair Northern Border Coalition

*Contact information* English: Abraham Paulos Abraham@familiesforfreedom.org 773-425-6944 Espaol: Esther Portillo-Gonzales esther@familiesforfreedom.org347-585-7462 *Bibliography* Acua, Rodolfo A. 2010. *Occupied America: A history of Chicanos*.6thEdition. New York: Pearson. Aguirre Hernndez, Jorge M., Jeremy Slack, and Scott Whiteford 2009. Corruption at the border: Violence and security concerns. The Puentes Consortium 2009-10 (December 2). Cox, Mike n.d. The Texas Rangers: From horses to helicopters. *Texas Almanac*. http://www.texasalmanac.com/topics/history/texas-rangers-horses-helicopters (Accessed February 2, 2013). Fox, Claire F. 1999. *The Fence and the River: Culture and Politics at the U.S.-Mexico Border*. Minneapolis-St. Paul: U. of Minnesota Press. Mendoza, Martha and Christopher Sherman 2009. Border corruption Rising on US side. *Arizona Daily Star*, 1. www.dailystar.com. (Accessed January 31, 2013). Ong Hing, Bill 1995. Border patrol abuse: Evaluating complaint procedures available to victims. *Georgia Immigration Law Journal* 9:757. Paredes, America 1970. *With a pistol in his hand: A Border Ballad and its Hero.* Austin: U. of Texas Press. Unterman, Katherine 2012. Boodle over the border: Embezzlement and the crisis of international mobility, 1880-1890. The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 11:2:151189. *Endnote* ------------------------------

[i] <http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2929126317185761970#_ednref>TheTexas Rangers Indian campaign targeted Native Americans and Mexicans along the U.S.-Mexico border in South and West Texas. This official campaign of state violence against indigenous peoples included spontaneous murders and intentional assassinations. The belligerence of the Rangers led to the famous adages about shoot first and let God sort them out laterand I got one. For an introduction to this episode, as recounted by a former Texas Ranger, see Cox (n.d.). For critical Chicano perspectives on the Texas Rangers, see Acua (2010) and Paredes (1970). Posted 14 minutes ago by Devon G. Pea http://www.blogger.com/profile/16444690604040637632 Labels: juridical corruption http://mexmigration.blogspot.com/search/label/juridical%20corruption police violence http://mexmigration.blogspot.com/search/label/police%20violence police corruption http://mexmigration.blogspot.com/search/label/police%20corruption border militarization http://mexmigration.blogspot.com/search/label/border%20militarization Texas Rangers http://mexmigration.blogspot.com/search/label/Texas%20Rangers Border Patrol http://mexmigration.blogspot.com/search/label/Border%20Patrol undocumented workers' rights http://mexmigration.blogspot.com/search/label/undocumented%20workers%27%20rights>

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