Washington – The chief of the Border Patrol urged U.S. House members not to lose sight of the daily dangers faced by federal agents as the lawmakers respond to a recent confrontation between law enforcement and military-uniformed drug smugglers along the Rio Grande.
Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar said Tuesday that agents regularly encounter individuals hurling rocks at them from across the Mexican border, ramming their vehicles and sometimes firing at them.
“I do not want in any way to minimize the seriousness of each and every one of these incursions. I also do not want leave the impression our borders are under siege by the government of Mexico entities or people attempting to pass themselves off” as being with the Mexican government, Aguilar said.
He urged the lawmakers to “not allow the high media profile” of the recent confrontation to cause them to “lose sight of the everyday threats” agents face.
But his characterizations of the border were not shared by Texas sheriffs who followed Aguilar as witnesses in a hearing before the House Homeland Security subcommittee on investigations.
The hearing was called to probe a Jan. 23 incident in which Texas law enforcement encountered smugglers in sport utility vehicles on Interstate 10 in West Texas and tried to pull one vehicle over on suspicion of drug smuggling.
An ensuing chase led to the border where a green military Humvee was used to try to tow one of the SUVs out of the river when it became stuck. Heavily armed men unloaded bales of suspected marijuana as well.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has scheduled a hearing for March 1 on the incident.
Aguilar and the sheriffs each showed videos to underscore their views.
Aguilar’s grainy video showed men on an elevated fenced cliff hurling large rocks at an agent at the foot of the fence in Nogales, Ariz.
A dispatcher’s instructions to the agent to get out of the area can be heard and an agent can be heard saying, “Please call for backup.” Another video shows a drug smuggler’s vehicle ramming the right front of a law enforcement vehicle at high speed.
Hudspeth County Deputy Sheriff Esequiel Legarreta, who was one of the first on the scene at the river Jan. 23, showed a video in which a Humvee can be seen amid desert brush and bales are being tossed from a vehicle before heavy smoke and flames appear. The Humvee was parked on the American side of the river.
Aguilar told the panel that between fiscal years 2001 and 2005, 144 “incursions” – an unauthorized crossing by individuals who appear to be Mexican government personnel – into the United States have been documented. He said they have declined 50 percent since 2001, with 19 in 2004 fiscal year and seven between Oct. 1, 2005 and Jan. 1.
Rep. Mike McCaul, subcommittee chairman, also acknowledged “there is little doubt that the majority of these incidences …
are accidental.” Aguilar said he could not discount the possibility that Mexican military was involved in the Jan. 23 incident, but also said drug cartels are using similar tactics and using military uniforms. The Mexican government has said those involved were impostors.
The Texas sheriffs, however, disagreed.
“I’m inclined to believe they were military,” said El Paso County Sheriff Leo Samaniego.
Their skepticism was shared by McCaul, R-Austin, and New Mexico Republican Rep. Steve Pearce, a Homeland Security member who sat in on the hearing.
Holding up a photo showing individuals firing on border agents from Mexico, McCaul said: “It just seems to me it’s getting worse, not better and cartels are getting more dangerous.” Pearce disagreed that the border is not under siege as Aguilar said.
“My constituents believe it to be and seeing that video makes me believe it to be,” Pearce said.
The sheriffs, most of whom said their county governments paid for their trip to Washington, urged the lawmakers to provide them more resources.
“It is crucial that the local law enforcement have additional manpower to confront this escalating activity,” said Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West.
Other Texas sheriffs and staff who attended included Presidio County Sheriff Danny Dominguez, Val Verde County Sheriff Dwayne Jernigan, Dimmit County Sheriff Doug Sample and Tom Sanchez, Webb County sheriff’s assistant.
