Isabel Garcia

(In this official photo from the Pima County Legal Defender's website, Garcia is actually posing while reading a book, rather than overseeing acts of hatred and violence directed at elected officials with whom she disagrees)

 

07-14-08 Isabel Garcia attended a book signing at the Barnes and Noble bookstore on East Broadway in Tucson last week. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was there to promote his new book "Joe's Law". Garcia was there to protest against the "hatred" and "racism" she accuses Sheriff Arpaio of promoting. How did she do this? With a disgraceful display of hatred and violence, of course. She was accompanied by the usual assortment of followers that she always has around her at these types of "protests".

 

We have two videos of Garcia. In the first video, you will see her overseeing a brutal beating administered to a "pinata" in the likeness of Sheriff Arpaio. This display is carried out by a young male and a young female. Garcia is seen urging them on and then directing them to separate the "head" from the "body" of Sheriff Arpaio after they beat it with sticks. After the body is separated Garcia approaches, picks up the head, and proudly announces to those around her "The head."

 

In the second video, Garcia can be seen proudly walking around displaying Sheriff Arpaio's severed "head".

 

Although Garcia's behavior is no surprise to us, we are constantly amazed that she is allowed to remain on the Pima County payroll as she constantly "protests" and exhibits disgraceful, unprofessional behavior, not to mention the groundless allegations she spreads without just cause or proof. Garcia is not elected to her position, she is appointed. She recently attended every day of the Nick Corbett trial in Federal Court. A case with which the Pima County Legal Defender's office has no official relationship and no official interest in following. It is as if she answers to nobody and is completely unaccountable for her actions and her time. 

 

Garcia and her gang were eventually ordered off the Barnes and Noble property.

 

Video 1	Video 2

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We give you Senator Barack Obama. Americans have sold themselves out, and many of them don't even realize it yet. We can't wait for the unending directives from an Obama or McCain administration telling us how we're prohibited from doing our jobs. Obama has maliciously slandered ICE agents by painting pictures of them "terrorizing communities", ripping babies away from nursing mothers, "detaining" people and not giving them access to legal counsel, and tearing families apart.

 

Mr. Obama, you are an ignorant, lying, pandering ass. How dare you besmirch the reputations of a bunch of fine Americans trying to protect this country. If you have proof of ICE agents "ripping" babies from their nursing mothers you should provide them. But you don't. Your actions are disgraceful.

 

You can see Mr. Obama in action here as he panders to an organization known as "La Raza".

06-28-08 Local 2544 President Edward Tuffly, Executive VP Brandon Judd, and Treasurer George McCubbin spent Thursday afternoon and much of Thursday night with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Maricopa County deputies, who were engaged in a crime suppression sweep in Mesa, Arizona. We met privately with Sheriff Arpaio and his two top commanders. We stood with Sheriff Arpaio during his press conference to show our support for what he and his deputies were attempting to accomplish. Sheriff Arpaio introduced Tuffly and PLEA President Mark Spencer at the beginning of the press conference and thanked us for being there. We then accompanied MCSO detectives and deputies during the enforcement action in Mesa. We will post a full report here soon. We wanted to see for ourselves what was going on with the MCSO crime suppression sweeps. We will plainly tell you up front that what we found is not even remotely close to what most in the media are reporting. More to follow.

 

07-03-08 The press conference we attended with Sheriff Arpaio was interesting. Most of the questions were fine. Then Telemundo showed up. They set up a camera (they were late), put a mike on the podium, and the "reporter" promptly asked the dumbest question of the night. "Are you a racist?" Sheriff Arpaio answered briefly with the obvious. We have found nothing about him that even remotely suggests he is a "racist". We believe he has adopted children who are not "white". His staff at MCSO (we're referring to those staff members who walk into his office and interact with him personally) includes males and females from all backgrounds. We observed professonal interaction with female deputies and office staff, black deputies, hispanic deputies, etc. Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas met with us as well, and we have heard the same ridiculous allegation leveled at him. Thomas is married to a hispanic woman, and his children are hispanic. The entire "racist" allegation is a smokescreen designed to deflect attention from the real issue. It is a shame that activists and some in the media get away with lodging baseless allegations and nobody challenges them. Further, it has always been our experience that the real "racists" are usually the ones constantly hurling the "racist" label. They are of that mindset, so they assume everyone else is as well. Lastly, the deputies we accompanied in Mesa were mostly hispanic, they were very professional, and we saw absolutely zero evidence of "racial profiling" or anything suggesting "race" was a factor in their operation. They stopped vehicles, regardless of the occupants' skin color, for traffic/equipment violations. Pretty simple stuff. 

 

The media was in a frenzy in Mesa, attempting to document something that wasn't there. We observed photographers showing up at traffic stops and barging in with cameras. The deputies we spoke with conveyed that the media was hardly ever interested in photographing anyone being stopped and/or arrested unless they were "hispanic". A review of the photos posted by the Arizona Republic shows that out of 48 pictures posted, many were of the same guy dancing in the street to Mexican music as he "protested" the sweeps. Another series of pictures showed one illegal alien who was arrested. Those two scenes completely dominated the 48 pictures that the Republic chose to portray the sweeps. Hardly a fair representation of what really transpired.

 

Unidentified Photographer at MCSO Traffic Stop

Click here for higher resolution photo 

 

On Thursday evening we were immediately struck by the lack of illegal aliens roaming the streets of Mesa. Word had leaked about the sweeps (many pointed their finger at Mesa PD Chief George Gascon, but we never verified where the leaks originated). We have agents who live in and around Mesa, agents who grew up there, and agents who have family there. We are always amazed at how many illegal aliens we see when we are off duty. They are literally everywhere and number in the thousands. However, the day of the sweep, there were almost none. The streets looked deserted, hardly anyone on the sidewalks, and very little traffic. It was very obvious to us why more arrests weren't made.

 

Dan Saban, who is running for Sheriff in Maricopa County, was reportedly handing out "immigrants' rights" cards to people in Mesa (we did not personally witness this, but we got it from reliable sources). We assume that is his way of trying to gain attention. We are not surprised that Saban spent several years as the Chief of the Buckeye Police Department before deciding to run for Sheriff again, and the Buckeye police officers' association chose to endorse Joe Arpaio. 

 

George Gascon, Chief of the Mesa Police Department, assigned over 130 police officers to "protect" about 80 protesters. We have previously made our feelings about Mr. Gascon clear. He is certainly not helping us. Gascon has chosen to coddle illegal aliens and the activists who want them here instead of enforcing the law. He also appears to ignore the fact that he has over 35,000 outstanding warrants in Mesa that need to be cleared up. Fortunately for him, he doesn't have to run for office. He is appointed. We are confident that the citizens of Mesa would give him the boot. The pro-illegal alien protesters shouted "Gascon, Gascon" when he appeared. We want to make clear that we support the rank-and-file Mesa police officers 100%.

 

We were extremely impressed with the professionalism of everyone in the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. It is an absolute shame that they are often portrayed negatively in the press. We look forward to observing additional crime suppression sweeps in the future, and we fully support what MCSO is trying to do. Interior enforcement helps us do our jobs more effectively.

 

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6-13-08 The National Border Patrol Council has reached an agreement with the Agency regarding the Voluntary Relocation Program. You can view the signed agreement here and the remedy portion here.

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05-23-08 A Tucson Station steward has been asking for years that the Agency allow us to wear a more practical undershirt. Read a memo here. Read the Agency's response and the steward's rebuttal here.

 

05-01-08 We have endorsed Joe Arpaio in his bid to be re-elected as the Maricopa County Sheriff. Buckeye Police Chief Dan Saban is running against Sheriff Arpaio. Saban is a very poor choice, for many reasons, and the police union in Buckeye voted to endorse Arpaio as well. Read the endorsement here.

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Phil Gordon

 

04-13-08 Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon has written a letter to the United States AG asking that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio be investigated for "civil rights violations". In the letter, Gordon cites the Arizona Republic as the source of information leading him to believe that Arpaio is committing civil rights violations. Gordon's pandering is shameful. As we all know, many newspapers don't tell the whole story, and many newspaper reporters are extremely biased. Their stories only tell what they want the public to know. They often conveniently leave pertinent things out of their stories (we know that must be shocking to Mayor Gordon, but it's the truth). Gordon is the mayor of the fifth largest city in the United States of America and he presents a request for a civil rights investigation based on a few newspaper stories?

 

Gordon targets Sheriff Arpaio in his letter, but we all know it is the rank-and-file deputies who will pay the price if DOJ investigates these ridiculous allegations. The rank-and-file deputies are making the stops and arrests, and they will be the ones who are dragged through the mud, regardless of whether or not they actually did anything wrong (look at what Grant Woods and Ed Rheinheimer are doing to Nick Corbett). What Gordon has really done here is smear the reputations of the fine men and women who work as Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies. Nice job Mayor Gordon. Keep pandering for votes. Gordon can try to hide behind his anti-Sheriff Joe propaganda, but he's not fooling us. We watched Gordon being interviewed on Lou Dobbs a few months back, and he was very unimpressive then. We find him even less impressive now.

 

Gordon has been the mayor of Phoenix for years, and he has supervised the transformation of Phoenix into a full-fledged sanctuary city that has been overrun by illegal aliens. He has had a willing accomplice in Phoenix "Public Safety Manager" Jack Harris. Now that he has let things become such a mess, with Phoenix police officers and others being gunned down by illegal aliens, Gordon wants to draw negative attention to one of the few leaders actually trying to do something about the problem, Joe Arpaio.

 

Read Mayor Gordon's smear-job letter based on what he calls "legitimate" news stories here. This guy is disgusting.

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George Gascon

 

04-10-08 George Gascon has been pandering to illegal aliens for nearly two years in Mesa, Arizona. Gascon came to Mesa from the LAPD, where he was an assistant chief. Los Angeles has been completely overrun by illegal aliens because of lax enforcement and pandering politicians like Gascon. Now Gascon has helped facilitate a huge problem in Mesa, and he wants to blame Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for trying to help clean it up. Gascon is typical of certain high-ranking law enforcement officers who cower in fear every time the radical pro-illegal immigration forces start mouthing off. If any civil unrest develops in Mesa, Gascon should be held accountable for allowing things to get so bad. He's every bit as much a disgrace as Phoenix Police "Public Safety Manager" Jack Harris. Joe Arpaio is elected by the citizens in Maricopa County. If they don't like the job he's doing they will boot him out. It's a shame that people like Harris and Gascon don't face the same scrutiny from the citizens they are supposed to serve. Neither would survive.

 

Rampant crime, gang problems, stolen vehicles from the Phoenix area crossing the border into Mexico daily and then being used to smuggle illegal aliens and drugs back into our country, and it's all Joe Arpaio's fault because he actually does his job and tries to enforce the laws? Give us a break Chief Gascon. Shoulder the blame for your own mess and quit hiding behind the "blame Sheriff Joe" propaganda.

 

Read an article on Gascon's ridiculous shenanigans here.

that almost everyone who is against ILLEGAL immigration is routinely labeled by most of the mainstream news media with the nasty "anti-immigrant" label, even when they fully support LEGAL immigration to this country? We assume the news media is smart enough to realize that there are two types of "immigrants" - those who play by the rules and come here legally, and those who decide they don't have to play by the rules and sneak across the border illegally. Do we call everyone who withdraws money from a bank a "bank robber"? Why not?

03-12-08 Local 2544 has proudly endorsed Andrew Thomas in his bid for re-election as the Maricopa County Attorney. Thomas has been a tremendous supporter of Border Patrol agents, and he continues to support our mission. We appreciate the job he is doing, and we look forward to working with him and his department in the years to come. Read the endorsement letter here.

Evil Twins - Ed Rheinheimer and Grant Woods

 

Grant Woods, Cochise County's Quarter-Million Dollar Man, is a Liar and a Hypocrite

 

The Dishonorable Grant Woods

 

03-10-08 Another Trial? - After this mistrial, Grant Woods and Ed Rheinheimer immediately engaged in a new round of character assassination against Nick Corbett. It is truly despicable watching these two clowns get more bloodthirsty by the day as they continue to ruin a good man's life because he did his job. Woods immediately ran outside the courtroom after the mistrial was declared and disclosed to the media that he had "new evidence" about Corbett's "anger" problem. Ed Rheinheimer proudly thumped his chest and disclosed that he will "re-try" this case, and that "this wasn't about a pair of gloves". All this before even knowing what the jury vote was when they deadlocked. All this without even analyzing what precluded them from getting their coveted conviction of a Border Patrol agent. Irresponsible? Costly? Ego-driven? Absolutely, but it's even worse than that.

 

This "new evidence" is garbage. Attending an "anger management" counseling session can be looked at two ways: 1. You went to anger management counseling because you actually had an anger problem and you wanted to take care of it responsibly and professionally; or, 2. You went to the counseling because it was the easiest way to put an incident behind you (kind of like attending a driving class on a Saturday as a way to get out of a speeding ticket - it doesn't mean you're a bad driver, rather, you may have had a temporary lapse in judgment or attention, and yes, it could happen to any of us, even Ed Rheinheimer and Grant Woods). Woods and Rappelyea dug up every possible ounce of dirt they could on Corbett, and that's all they could find after going through hundreds of thousands of dollars in Cochise County taxpayers' money. Great job guys, now you can take that Hawaiian vacation you so richly deserve.

 

We believe Mr. Rheinheimer may have some other problems, and we will be looking into those problems with the same zeal that he displayed in wrecking Agent Corbett's life for political reasons. He let undue influence from the Mexican government and the radical special interest groups taint his decision-making ability. He let Grant Woods basically take over his office, and he is now a Grant Woods puppet, incapable of running a prosecution or making sound decisions. This is the biggest case Mr. Rheinheimer will ever have, and he is clearly enjoying the big media stage. The only problem is that he blew it. He accepted a very shoddy investigation, complete with tainted witnesses and missing evidence. If it had not been a Border Patrol agent being accused, this case would have never gotten off the ground. Open season has been declared on Border Patrol agents, spurred by the successful railroading of Agents Ramos and Compean.

 

Grant Woods is soaking the Cochise County taxpayers, and those taxpayers are funding his never-ending quest for more money and notoriety. He is laughing all the way to the bank. His pathetic attempts to portray himself as a champion of the poor and oppressed are a political ploy. He is only a champion of Grant Woods and his ever-increasing bank account. He is nothing more than a high-priced, hired gun, blow-hard. We can only laugh when he makes statements like "Now he's locked in to his story" referring to Corbett's account of the shooting. It may help sell newspapers, and it may provide fuel for the special interest groups, but the truth of the matter is that Nick Corbett has given the exact same account of this shooting from Day 1. Grant Woods wants the public to think that Corbett is hiding something and that Woods was able to "lock" him in to a "story" with his masterful examination on the stand. What a complete joke.

 

Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever has supervised one of the worst investigations we have ever seen. He has supervised missing evidence, sloppiness, arrogance, failure to properly handle witnesses, and complete incompetence. We have never been to a trial where the "case agent" wasn't sitting at the prosecutions table. It's standard practice. Consider that in this case, the case agent was a Cochise County detective, but she never sat at the prosecutions table. Instead, they hired an outside "case agent", private investigator Lee Rappelyea. He sat at the prosecutions table for the entire trial. Yes, it was so bad that a "private investigator" was the "case agent". We are convinced that Barney Fife could do a better job running a Sheriff's Department. It's just that bad. We would like to point out that while we are highly critical of Sheriff Dever and a couple of detectives, we don't want to detract from the majority of the rank and file deputies who do the dirty work every day. This isn't directed at them.

 

If Ed Rheinheimer is incapable of prosecuting major cases, and Larry Dever's department is incapable of properly investigating cases, what are they being paid to do? Both of these men possess such incompetence that the Cochise County taxpayers had to hire outside help to do their jobs for them. And they still lost. Now they want to do it again? There are some oustanding people in Cochise County, and they deserve one hell of a lot better than they're getting from these two elected representatives. Professionalism and competence should be demanded from both these men. If they can't properly do the jobs they were elected to do (which they obviously can't), then they should get out of the way and let someone else take over.

 

We are fully prepared to defend Nick Corbett through another trial, and another, and another. We'll defend him, we'll hire more expert witnesses, we'll file one motion after another, and we will not stop until we clear his name. Don't ever expect us to apologize for standing up for this man and providing him the finest defense we can possibly muster. This fiasco is an embarrassment to everyone involved in bringing it to trial. The only winners here are Grant Woods, the Mexican government, and the radical pro-open borders crowd (BAN and Isabel Garcia).

 

03-07-08 Mistrial - It's official. The jury deadlocked and the judge declared a mistrial. Grant Woods and Ed Rheinheimer nearly tripped over each other getting out to the media in front of the courthouse so they could start spinning this. Woods boldly declared that he had some "new" revelations about Corbett having an "anger" problem. Mr. Woods will be in for a surprise if this goes to trial again. His "new" revelations are not what he may think they are. Woods was seen sitting in his Ford crew cab pickup after he was done putting on his media show, and he was visibly upset talking on his cell phone for around 15 minutes, (we watched him as he sat in his truck with his door open). Rheinheimer can't even stand on his own two feet, so we have little respect for him. He hides behind Woods. Despite all their bold talk and chest-thumping, we'll see if the Cochise County taxpayers can stomach wasting thousands upon thousands more dollars on this political charade if Rheinheimer and Woods go to trial again. We are investigating all our options with regards to Mr. Rheinheimer and his abuse of power and the misuse of his position. We are currently planning our strategy. Stay tuned.

 

Rheinheimer is enjoying his 15 minutes of fame at Nick Corbett's expense. Woods is a.........well, we have known what he is for years. Woods is currently 0-3 against the Border Patrol. He hired an illegal alien maid and was fined for it. He went after the Border Patrol agents involved in the Chandler operation in the 1990's, calling their conduct "outrageous". He was dead wrong on that one as well. After a thorough investigation they were cleared of ALL the allegations leveled at them. He now has failed to convict Nick Corbett, despite having all that money and all that help. We have come to believe Woods has spent way too much time under a sun lamp. His ego is huge, and his favorite part of the day must be when he wakes up in the morning and looks at himself in the mirror.

 

03-04-08 Day 5 - Nick Corbett testified this morning. He joined the Border Patrol at age 35. He is now 40. He served 4 years in the United States Marine Corps. He testified, very credibly, that he shot Javier Dominguez because Dominguez was trying to smash his skull with a rock. There had also been 7 or 8 illegal aliens close by near the border fence yelling at him and making gestures, which heightened his sense of alertness (this is a bad area for rockings and assaults). Grant Woods launched into a confusing series of questions, with the obvious purpose of confusing Corbett to elicit damaging testimony. For instance, he kept repeatedly asking Corbett where his "back" was facing during the confrontation, while using a very confusing series of questions and physical references, such as "Say this is the right rear corner of the vehicle (gesturing toward the front of his podium). Where is your back facing?" He failed miserably (he did manage to confuse most of us sitting in the courtroom though). He also kept asking Corbett what other witnesses had testified to during the trial. The judge finally got fed up with Woods' meaningless theatrics, and admonished him to stop asking Corbett what other witnesses had stated because it had no probative value. 

 

Elmer Pellegrino, the Director of the police academy at Fullerton (CA) College testified. He explained how officers experience "framing" and how reality is distorted when they are involved in traumatic experiences such as shootings. He also explained how officers often won't hear anything, experience "tunnel vision", and how they focus on the threat they are facing rather than anything around them. Officers often get details about the shooting wrong, they have no idea how many rounds they fired, and they will often think something took a long time to transpire, when in reality it may have only taken seconds. In other words, everything slows down in their minds. Some officers have even reported that they could see the bullet coming out of their weapon. Pellegrino, who has many years experience as a homicide investigator for LAPD, explained some of the major mistakes the Cochise County "detectives" made. They didn't collect physical evidence (gloves, rocks, etc.), they didn't separate the witnesses to ensure independent statements, and they didn't properly secure the scene of the shooting. Pellegrino did an outstanding job. He publicly revealed his rates for research and testimony, unlike Woods, the quarter-million dollar man who acts like he's the ultimate unpaid servant in humble service to the poor and the downtrodden. He's actually just an overpaid bully.

 

Cochise County JP David Morales testified for the prosecution (and you thought he was just an independent judge who heard all the facts and made an informed decision about proceeding to trial on this case). Morales said he has been a JP for 10 years. Morales said he didn't see the Mexican Consulate officer coaching witnesses in his courtoom, then he admitted he couldn't watch everything going on in his courtroom. Nevermind that there were at least 4 other people in the courtroom who watched the Mexican Consulate officer giving head signals, hand signals, and other signals to the illegal alien witnesses before they answered questions. Morales also explained how he uses "psychotherapy" to evaluate witnesses and decide if they are being truthful in his courtroom. We will comment no further on that ridiculous statement, but perhaps Cochise County voters need to decide if this guy is competent to run a courtroom.

 

During final arguments, Woods was at his theatrical, bullying, self-promoting worst. And that's saying something. He spoke of illegal aliens as these "poor young people out there" who "had little clue what they were doing".  He made statements like, "These kids don't know a thing about forensic evidence." He then launched into a tirade directed at law enforcement officers. Woods stated "officers on the street carry what's called a throw-down gun" so they can shoot innocent people and get away with it. He then went a step further and said "Border Patrol doesn't need that, they just need a rock." To make Corbett look like a vicious murderer, Woods said "He blew up his heart. Obliterated his lung.", referring to the damage done to Dominguez' internal organs by the bullet. In reality, Corbett didn't even know if he had hit Dominguez when he fired the round. Woods also seemed to take great pride in an "enhanced video" produced by DPS. He urged the jury to "watch it hundreds of times" during deliberations. The "enhanced video" doesn't show much of anything. It shows a vehicle pulling up, a door opening, Agent Corbett coming around the rear of his patrol vehicle, just like he said he did, a confrontation of some type, and a body going down. That's it. None of this is in HD, and it certainly doesn't support any of the lies that Woods concocted during this trial. Woods admitted that Cochise County SO did a terrible job investigating this shooting, and said "Next time I hope they'll do a better job. But it doesn't make any difference in this case." That statement is astounding. As Sean Chapman pointed out, for Nick Corbett there is no "next time". He only gets one investigation, and one trial. Woods stated that the "hand signals, that's just totally made up", referring to the Mexican Consulate officer's behavior at the preliminary hearing in Bisbee. Another Woods lie. Woods then accused the defense team of "trying to appeal to bias against Mexicans and the Mexican government". We agree that there was plenty of "bias" in this case, all of it directed at an innocent Border Patrol agent trying to do his job.

 

During the defense team's closing arguments, Woods, who was seated closest to the jury at the prosecutions table, used every dirty little trick available to him to distract the jury and get their attention off Chapman. He would constantly shake his head as Chapman spoke to the jury, make gestures with his arms, move around in his chair, move his chair around, move papers around on his table, talk to Tyrone Mitchell, his co-persecutor, and roll his head around. All he should be doing during that time is taking notes and politely allowing the defense team to make its arguments. They afforded him that courtesy throughout the trial. It's too bad Woods doesn't possess 1/10th the courtesy and professionalism that the defense attorneys displayed. His lackey "private investigator", Rappelyea, engages in similar conduct, just not to the degree that Woods does.

 

Chapman explained why Border Patrol agents don't run and hide every time we are confronted with a rock, as Woods and his DPS use-of-force "expert" said we should do. If every illegal alien knew that we would just run and hide when they had a rock in their hands, every illegal alien coming into this country would soon have a large rock in his hands when we approched them.

 

Grant Woods then made his seemingly never-ending rebuttal to the defense team's closing arguments. He droned on and on, repeating the same things over and over. Woods passionately denied that he had ever portrayed that Corbett "executed" Dominguez, as alleged by Chapman during his closing arguments. Well, yes he did. Another Grant Woods lie. He railed about the illegal alien witnesses and the "victim" being "dragged through the mud". No mention of Agent Corbett being dragged through the mud for the past year. He referred to Dominguez as "Little Javi", as if they were long lost friends. He launched into a loud tirade about how this was "not an emotional thing", in response to some of Chapman's earlier comments. Then he launched into a theatrical "emotional thing" of his own by describing how "Little Javi" was "run through the mud". Woods derisively referred to Corbett as "the biggest guy in town". He said of the illegal aliens' $10,000 smuggling fee (that they lost when they were arrested) "No money problem here. That's made up.", in an attempt to show that the illegal aliens wouldn't have tried to escape arrest for a mere $10,000. He insinuated that the illegal aliens had a lawsuit filed on their behalf, but that they didn't even know about it. Yeah right, happens all the time. He claimed that there would be no "damage lawsuit" filed to try to collect money for Dominguez' death. Sure, and we have some beachfront property in Douglas we want to sell you. He said of the illegal aliens, "They deserve better than to be dragged through the mud here." Again, no mention of him dragging Agent Corbett through the mud. Woods stated that it was "an unprecedented situation to have a video of a crime". Well, we hate to burst Woods' bubble, but there have been literally thousands of "crimes" caught on video during the last few decades. We have many "videos" that have cleared Border Patrol agents from malicious prosecutions such as the one Nick Corbett was just put through. We wish the video of this incident was more clear. It's just bad enough that Woods was able to distort the facts and smear a good man's name. It seemed Woods would never stop, when he finally caught himself and said he "wouldn't go through the rest of it", referring to his rebuttal notes. You could feel the relief in the courtroom.

 

But he wasn't quite done yet. Woods ended by once again loudly invoking the preamble to the Declaration of Independence. "All men are created equal, endowed with certain........" He apparently forgot to review this material with his own son, who earlier in the day got huffy outside the courtroom because he didn't think he should have to take his cell phone back to his vehicle like the rest of us had to do (this judge allows no cell phones in his courtroom, and there is no place in the courthouse to store your cell phone). Woods' son, after being denied entry into the courtroom and told he should take his cell phone back to his car asked "Does Grant Woods have a cell phone?", obviously thinking he would be granted special privileges by invoking the name of his father. The guard said he didn't know if Grant Woods had a cell phone. Woods' son then stated "Well, he's my father." The guard replied that Woods' father should have told him not to bring a cell phone to the courtroom. Woods' son then exclaimed "Well, he asked me to be here. He can hold the phone for me." The guard didn't back down, and replied "I'm sorry sir. We can't allow any phones in the courtroom." Woods' son, visibly perturbed at having to follow the same rules as the rest of us, then left to dispose of his cell phone. Apparently, growing up privileged with a famous father makes you a little more "equal" than all those other folks to which our Declaration of Independence applies.

 

The jury is now sequestered. We await a verdict.

 

03-03-08 Day 4 - The Santa Cruz (CA) County Medical Examiner, Dr. Mason, testified that the shooting could have taken place as the defense team portrayed it. Mason is a decorated Vietnam veteran, he was awarded the Bronze Star, and he has conducted between 8,000 and 9,000 autopsies. Grant Woods vehemently objected to Mason giving his professional opinion as to what could have happened (of course, Mason's professional opinion contradicted Grant Woods' lies, and we certainly can't have that in a court of law). Woods also seemed to take exception to "the union" paying for professional defense witnesses. Apparently, Woods' acceptance of $250,000 to "prosecute" this case is fine, but Agent Corbett has no right to a vigorous and well-funded defense. Hypocrisy at its finest. Woods then did a comical job of simulating the handling of a firearm. Mason called him out for his pathetic attempt to show that Agent Corbett could have struck the deceased with his hand instead of the butt of the handgun. The three illegal alien "witnesses" previously testified that Corbett had struck the deceased on the head or neck with his handgun prior to shooting him, but there were zero bruises or abrasions on the body. This has caused a slight problem with their credibility, and Woods has spent huge amounts of time trying to demonstrate that the butt of the gun could have missed Dominguez. Woods is trying to explain the lack of bruises or abrasions to preserve the credibility of the illegal alien "witnesses". Woods continuously displayed the weapon with his finger on the trigger and his hand slid way down on the butt in a pathetic attempt to sway the jury. Mason became frustrated at Woods' showboating, and told Woods he was handling the weapon "all limp wristed". Mason asked for the weapon to demonstrate the proper handling of same. Mason then admonished Woods, "If you're going to hold the damned thing, do it right!" Woods appeared flustered at being called out for his theatrics and backed down. He constantly badgered this witness and asked him point blank, in a sarcastic tone, if it was "the union" paying his fees.

 

CAG PAIC Pete Hermansen testified about BP use-of-force. Hermansen did an oustanding job. He was not allowed to cite any assault statistics (Woods doesn't want the truth to come out in front of the jury). He testified that BP agents are taught to arrest people, not to back down and run for cover when an illegal alien brandishes a rock, unless in their discretion the agent thinks it's appropriate. Since Woods had no substantive arguments, he attacked Hermansen by asking him about his previous "union" involvement and if he was aware that the "union" was paying for Corbett's defense. He even asked Hermansen if he was currently a "union member". We're pleased that Woods is so interested in our union local, but we don't see how attacking us at the trial will help him accomplish anything productive.

 

Agent Dove Haber, a PIO from TCA, testified about the hand and head signals displayed by Mexican Consualate officer Oscar De La Torre at a previous hearing in Bisbee. De La Torre was caught red-handed coaching the three illegal alien "witnesses" when they testified. Haber did an excellent job of explaining what she saw. Before any of the three illegal alien "witnesses" answered a question, they would look at De La Torre to see how he wanted them to respond. Even after being admonished by the JP judge, De La Torre continued his coaching of the witnesses. The Mexican government has been involved in this fiasco from the outset. They enjoy seeing Border Patrol agents put in prison. De La Torre was conspicuously absent from the courtroom today.

 

At about 2 p.m. Pima County Legal Defender Isabel Garcia entered the courtroom. She stayed for the duration of the day. We're not sure when she has time to do the job Pima County taxpayers are paying her to perform. We don't know who her boss is or to whom she is accountable, but perhaps they should start checking her time sheets. She is not representing anyone at this trial, and the shooting took place in Cochise County. She is only there to pursue her personal anti-Border Patrol agent and open borders agenda.

 

02-29-08 Day 3 - Grant Woods and Company called a use-of-force "expert" in an attempt to show that Agent Corbett made many mistakes during the encounter with the illegal aliens. The use-of-force "expert", Bud Clark, said Corbett should have stayed in his vehicle when threatened with a rock (see below photos to view the aftermath of what happened to another agent in the same area who was in his vehicle when he was hit in the head with a rock - the agent suffered serious head wounds and was rendered unconscious by the blow - you can see the rock on the floorboard in the 2nd photo - about the same size rock with which Dominguez threatened Corbett). Clark also said that Agent Corbett should have "retreated" when confronted with the rock. Really? There is a slight problem with Clark's assertions. He works for DPS. He doesn't even know what our policies are regarding use-of-force issues. He admitted as much on the stand. He admitted he would have to defer to a Border Patrol use-of-force expert. Our policies are much different than the DPS policies. DPS doesn't work on the border, they don't confront rock-throwers on a daily basis, and they don't arrest illegal aliens by the millions. Just as we wouldn't pretend to tell DPS how to enforce traffic laws on state highways, they don't tell us how to enforce immigration, customs, and drug laws on the border. Nice try Mr. Woods, but you might want to try an "expert" who actually knows the pertinent subject matter next time. Nick Corbett was trained to operate under Border Patrol use-of-force policies. Comparing apples to oranges at a murder trial is bad business. We appreciate DPS, but this guy was out of line.

 

Cochise County detective Wendy Adney testified. She first claimed that DPS was asked to check Corbett's gun for evidence of any use as a blunt force instrument (the "witnesses" claimed that Corbett struck Dominguez on the back of the head or the neck with his pistol). She later admitted that she never asked DPS to check for hair, skin, and/or DNA. She would not even acknowledge that Cochise County failed to collect the gloves Dominguez was wearing during the shooting incident. However, the prosecution team has already stipulated this fact at the trial.

 

Rene Dominguez-Rivera (brother of the deceased) and Sandra Vidal-Guzman (sister-in-law of the deceased) made more contradictory statements. Rene denied that he had told Francisco (the deceased illegal alien) to stop running during the encounter, then admitted that he had previously testified that he had told Francisco to stop running. Both Rene and Jorge (brothers of the deceased) had stated they had decided to "surrender" before Corbett arrived at the scene, but their testimony conflicts with this assertion. You really can't tell what their story is, it changes depending on the day of the week. It appears they don't like being bothered with silly details or their previous testimony.

 

Sandra Vidal-Guzman admitted that there was never any talk of surrender, and that their only goal was to escape apprehension and get back to Mexico (as is obvious, and as anyone with any real-world knowledge and common sense would realize).

 

 

02-28-08 Day 2 - Francisco Javier Dominguez' brother took the stand, and was exposed as he told lie, after lie, after lie. He would deny something on the stand, and then when he was shown earlier testimony or statements he had made contradicting what he was presently saying, he would change his story. There were a lot of "mas o menos" answers, and it was obvious that there is no continuity to his story. He again claimed that Agent Corbett had hit his brother in the back of the head or neck with his Service pistol, but there were zero marks or contusions in either location on the body.

 

Grant Woods continues to display his arrogant showboating. At one point, while a defense attorney was successfully arguing an issue with the assistance of a display, Woods arrogantly walked between the judge and the defense attorney, moved the display, and then had to be asked to place it back in its previous location so that the witness could see it. This was an obvious attempt at disruption and distraction (the jury was present watching this), and was another obvious cheap trick to try to upset the momentum of the defense team. Unlike Mr. Woods, both defense attorneys continued to display the utmost in courtesy and professionalism. 

 

Cochise County "detective" Ursula Ritchie, took the stand. She conducted one of the worst "investigations" we have ever seen. This woman's complete lack of fundamental investigative skills is embarrassing. She left evidence behind at the scene, failed to follow up on important aspects of the case, failed to properly separate witnesses prior to questioning, and bungled just about everything she touched.

 

The Mexican government's actions are being exposed during this trial as well. The three "witnesses" upon which this case was built, all of whom are related to Francisco Javier Dominguez, were told soon after the shooting that the "President of Mexico" was watching the case closely, and that it was "important" that Corbett not come out of this shooting "clean". The "witnesses" are still living in Tucson, they have an apartment, they claim they are now working here, and they admitted the Mexican government has provided them food, an apartment, clothing, an attorney (via "Derechos Humanos" in Los Angeles), and a steady stream of advice on how to use this shooting incident to further their personal agendas (United States residency and money), and the Mexican government's agenda (open borders). The "witnesses" have already sued the United States government, courtesy of our old friends at Catholic Social Services.

 

The usual array of "protesters" used Dominguez' death to peddle their open borders agenda outside the courthouse once again (Border Action Network and No More Deaths). 

 

02-27-08 Day 1 - The trial for Nick Corbett began at the Federal District Courthouse in Tucson. The political showmanship, Border Patrol hate groups, and radical activism that has dominated the political persecution of Corbett was on display everywhere, from the courthouse steps to the actual courtroom. Corbett is charged with three crimes - 2nd Degree Murder, Manslaughter, and Negligent Homicide.

 

Grant Woods, in his opening remarks, made some pretty wild statements. He is 100% political showman. Watching him in person is nothing short of nauseating. Woods has a long, documented history of going on tirades against Border Patrol agents in this state.

 

Here are some of Woods' statements in court this morning:

 

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are............." Woods made a big show out of reading part of the United States Declaration of Independence, and then dramatically told the jury we were going to find out if it still held "true".

 

Woods displayed a huge, poster-size picture of Dominguez to the jury. He then went on to call Dominguez by his purported nickname, "Javi". Throughout the rest of the morning Woods continually referred to Dominguez as "Javi" in an attempt to endear Dominguez to the jurors. The gang tattoo "Javi" had on his hand wasn't brought up. As he displayed the sympathetic picture of "Javi", Woods said that "Javi", "while surrendering, was hit, yanked, and shot through the heart" by Agent Corbett. Woods overall portrayal of Agent Corbett was that of a maniacal, out-of-control, bloodthirsty, cold-blooded murderer. Unbelievable. 

 

Francisco Javier Dominguez, the illegal alien shot by Agent Corbett, was, according to Woods, "not an illegal alien. He was a human being." That was Woods' first lie. Dominguez was an "illegal alien" (note to Woods: all illegal aliens are human beings).

 

At the time Agent Corbett tried to arrest Dominguez, Woods stated that Dominguez and the others were merely trying to turn themselves in, when Corbett exited his patrol vehicle and shot Dominguez without provocation, in broad daylight, with at least 6 witnesses right there, video cameras nearby recording everything, and at least one fellow agent within 100 yards of him. That's the ridiculous story that Woods is trying to sell. It's disgraceful.

 

Woods stated that he was "fellow law enforcement" who didn't like to prosecute anyone from "law enforcement". He said this with a straight face. Woods is NOT "law enforcement". He's a private attorney. He just recently was paid to prosecute the Sheriff in Springerville, Arizona. The Cochise County taxpayers are paying him a reported $250,000 to persecute Corbett. He's nothing more than an overpriced political showman with an agenda who has a severe and longstanding dislike for Border Patrol agents and the laws we're sworn to uphold. Woods wants an open border. Woods was caught employing an illegal alien, and was fined for it a few years back. He ended by saying that he "respects the Border Patrol, but..........." Well, no he doesn't, never has, and never will.

 

Woods' persecution team consists of former U.S. Attorney Tyrone Mitchell (unknown if he was trained by Johnny Sutton on how to persecute Border Patrol agents), and a "private investigator", among others. They seemed to take great joy in excoriating Corbett. It was truly stomach-turning to watch them in action.

 

Below are some photos so you get an idea as to what was going on at the courthouse this morning. At the lunch break, notorious BP hater and propagandist Isabel Garcia (who moonlights as the "Pima County Public Defender" and is paid by the taxpayers) made a bee line for the television news reporters stationed outside. Garcia and her comrades have one goal, open borders. They don't want any enforcement of our immigration laws, and Nicholas Corbett is just one more pawn in their never ending crusade to see that we are hindered at every turn when we try to do our jobs. 

 

Local 2544 is putting up Corbett's defense, and we're very proud to do it. This could happen to any of us, especially given the current political climate. It doesn't matter if you're a trainee right out of the Academy or if you've been an agent for 20 years. We're all susceptible to false allegations and political railroading. Remember that.

 

If you want an education, attend part of this trial. You will see what those who are out to destroy us are capable of. They could care less if you spend the rest of your life in prison for something you didn't do. They have their open borders/massive illegal immigration agenda, and they'll stop at nothing to carry it out. Don't believe us? Go see for yourself.

 

Isabel Garcia (right) couldn't get to the Channel 4 news reporters fast enough during the lunch break to spread her hatred.

 

Jennifer Allen (at left in yellow shirt) instructing one of her fellow propagandists on their next move in front of the Federal Courthouse.

 

A shameful "Border Action Network" display in front of the Federal Courthouse during the Nick Corbett trial.

 

A pitiful "No More Deaths" display in front of the courthouse. Nobody was paying any attention to them.

 

Grant Woods' private investigator, Lee Rappelyea (at right with gray hair) leaving the courthouse with a witness. Rappelyea is a past president of the Arizona FOP. He is now a Grant Woods lackey. His demeanor in the courtroom is that of a bully. He exudes arrogance and seems to enjoy watching a good man suffer.

 

02-25-08 Local 2544 was able to raise $20,000 for Agent Pena and his family. We presented the check on Friday, February 22nd in Casa Grande. A contract employee from the Willcox station was the raffle winner. We'll deliver the television to her soon. We want to thank everyone for their help and participation with this event. Agent Pena and his family were extremely grateful for the support they have received from everyone in the Border Patrol since the unfortunate on-duty accident which left him paralyzed. His spirits remain high. He thanks God that he was able to survive the accident, he can still talk, and that he can still hold his daughter and his wife. This guy has truly been an inspiration to all who have been in contact with him. We'll post a few pictures of the motorcycle ride and the check presentation soon.

 __________________________

Bill Cloud - Candidate for Cochise County Sheriff

 

2-19-08 We have endorsed Bill Cloud for Cochise County Sheriff. He will be running against Larry Devers in the upcoming Republican primary. We will be urging all our members to vote for Bill at election time. If you haven't registered to vote, please do so.

 

Our endorsement letter can be found here. Cloud's website, which includes a link for voter registration, can be accessed here.

 

 __________________________

 

1-28-08 Border Patrol Agent Luis Pena from the Casa Grande station was severely injured recently while patrolling the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation. Agent Pena suffered spinal injuries, and is confined to a wheel chair. Agent Pena was training for a boxing match at the time of the accident, and the doctors who treated him stated that had he not been in such tremendous physical condition he may not have survived the accident at all. Agent Pena has maintained a remarkable attitude throughout his ordeal, and he has been an inspiration to everyone who has visited him in the hospital. Agent Pena has gone out of his way to help and encourage other patients at the neurological center he was admitted to, which demonstrates his attitude toward life. 

 

Agent Pena is due to be released from the hospital soon. He and his family will be confronting some expenses due to his condition. Local 2544 has purchased a 61" Panasonic television, including the stand, and we are donating the television to be raffled for Agent Pena. We hope to sell 2,500 tickets at $10 each. On a date to be determined in February we will ride to Agent Pena's hotel to deliver a check for $25,000 to him and his family. Agent Pena will pick the winner of the television from the raffle ticket stubs. We are encouraging agents (including managers) and their families to participate in the ride. We will stage near I-10 in Tucson, pick up additional riders in the Casa Grande area, and then travel to the Phoenix area.

 

We are distributing raffle tickets to Chief Stewards at all 8 stations, and we will distribute some at Sector Headquarters as well. Please buy a ticket to support Agent Pena. If you have any questions please contact the Local 2544 President.

 

Update 1-30-08 Agent Pena will be staying in the Casa Grande area after his release from the hospital. As such, we will stage in Tucson and travel to Casa Grande to deliver the check. We will be posting a date for the ride soon.

 

Update 2-5-08   The motorcycle ride will take place on Friday, February 22nd. We will depart the Local 2544 Union office at 9:30 a.m. The office is located close to the freeway at 2410 West Ruthrauff Road. Each participant in the ride will receive a shirt from the Local. We will meet in Casa Grande at about 10:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn, where we'll have a luncheon, presentation of the check to Agent Pena, and a drawing for the winner of the raffle.

  

 

Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar

 

2-1-08 These photos (below) were taken east of Tucson as Agent Aguilar's body was being transported from Yuma, Arizona to El Paso, Texas on January 25th. Law enforcement officers from a variety of agencies pay their final respects to a fine American hero who made the ultimate sacrifice trying to protect this nation's borders. America has lost one of its finest. We will miss you Border Patrol Agent Aguilar.

 

 

1-26-08 This is the entrance to a "National Forest" in Southern Arizona. It features beautiful, wide open views, nice roads, oak trees, a pleasant climate, lots of wildlife, and is paid for and maintained by the American taxpayers. It also features lots of smuggling activity (both drugs and illegal aliens), tons of trash, stolen cars, shooting (non-sportsmen), and a pit in your stomach if you dare take your family there for a "relaxing" day, weekend, or vacation. Needless to say, it's almost always bereft of the good, solid, taxpaying American citizens who should be enjoying it. With the above welcome sign, it's shocking that more people don't decide to spend some "quality" time in our beautiful National Forests in Southern Arizona.

 

And Senator McCain's answer to all the mayhem on our border in his "home" state of Arizona? Another huge amnesty program, of course (the last one worked so well he thinks it's time to do it all over again). If he becomes president (God forbid), the rest of America can start looking forward to these types of "recreational" areas as well. Another popular recreational area near the Arizona border just featured a Border Patrol agent and a fine family man snuffed out in broad daylight by a ruthless smuggler. Thanks for your support Senator McCain! Please keep selling us out so we can look forward to more deaths, more rockings, more shootings, more assaults, and more mayhem. If McCain can contribute to this much mayhem in his "home" state by encouraging millions more illegal aliens to come here with incessant pandering and promises of future massive amnesty programs, just think of the damage he can do as your president.

 

__________________________ 

12-30-07 This hearing has been scheduled for March 20th and March 21st. We expect that the case may settle prior to the hearing. If not, we are ready to go. We have hired another attorney to help with the case (in addition to our Local 2544 staff attorney). We have also hired an accountant to help with the backpay calculations. We will continue to hire additional professional help as necessary.

 

We fully expect certain Agency managers to launch another offensive against the Union by starting their scare tactics again. Therefore, we would like to make the record clear now - the current Local 2544 president warned then CPA Aguilar and then ACPA Colburn seven years ago that they were violating the law and that they needed to stop their illegal pay practices. They refused to even discuss the situation and they arrogantly dismissed the issue by stating "We don't see it that way." The Local was then forced to file a grievance. 

 

After years of stall tactics and other underhanded shenanigans by the Agency, especially the thoroughly incompetent former INS attorneys who worked for Johnny "Every Apprehension is a Failure" Williams, we are nearing a resolution to the grievance. The grievance is sound, it's based on the law, and all timelines were met. Chief Aguilar and his arrogance will cost the taxpayers a bundle soon. Those are the plain facts. We will forcefully rebut any management assertions to the contrary. In the meantime, please don't buy in to their tired old strategy of blaming the "union" for their own arrogance and lack of leadership.

 

We will post more specific information soon.

 

Update 1-16-08 The time period for this grievance is from mid to late 2000 to about the first part of 2006. The pay situation was corrected after CPA Aguilar left. We have not heard any complaints of improper compensation since about the beginning of 2006, and we don't anticipate any. Management, the Union, and employees have been able to reach reasonable agreements regarding checkpoint staffing and compensation for the benefit of everyone since CPA Aguilar left.

 

Update 1-17-08 Just as we predicted, Chief Aguilar issued a memo on January 14, 2008 titled "Use of Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime (AUO) at Checkpoints". In the memo, Chief Aguilar states "Checkpoints are a particular concern because it appears managers have used AUO to compensate employees who provide coverage for routine gaps in shift changes." This statement is not only disingenuous, it's comical. Why? Because Chief Aguilar is that "manager". He is the ONLY manager who has insisted that agents be compensated with AUO instead of RSOT where appropriate. We have had ZERO problems in this sector with any other CPA for the last 25 years. We had no problems with checkpoint compensation before Aguilar arrived here, and the problem was fixed soon after Aguilar left this sector. We haven't had a problem since. This is vintage David Aguilar. You'll notice he doesn't deny anything, he merely states that "it appears managers have used AUO......" Since this problem was brought directly to Chief Aguilar's attention a number of times prior to October of 2000, we can only assume that his memory has been suddenly jogged and this revelation just recently hit him, seven years later. In mid to late 2000 Tucson Sector agents were driving 80+ miles one way just to get to a checkpoint. Agents were spending 2 and 3 hours in commute time, and they were ordered to remain in place at the checkpoints until relieved. Agents were routinely working 12 and 14 hour days while assigned to some checkpoints. After this went on for some time, and management ran out of volunteers, they started ordering agents to work the AUO. Agents complained to Local 2544, and we spoke with CPA Aguilar a number of times trying to get him to back down. He flat refused to even compromise. At that point a Tucson station steward filed a grievance (in October 2000). The Agency has needlessly stalled that grievance until now, and for no good reason other than to save Aguilar from cleaning up the huge mess he left here.

 

Chief Aguilar's memo included an attachment outlining the differences between AUO and RSOT. These two forms of pay have been law for many decades. There is nothing new in Aguilar's memo. It is merely intended to scare agents and to try to turn agents against this Local. We predicted it would happen, and two weeks later, it has happened.

 

Lastly, we ask that Laredo Sector agents consider the source of information when they hear all these scare tactics that are going around. Carlos X. Carrillo was part of the problem here in Tucson. This is the same clown who said it is no longer our job to arrest illegal aliens. He has no authority to simply stop AUO. AUO is the law. The last time we checked, Carlos Carrillo has to follow the law like everyone else. He has no honor. He is just one more mindless soldier in an army of Aguilar puppets.

 

Update 1-25-08 Agents in Texas report that managers there are spreading lies about this grievance. According to what we were told today, managers are telling employees that they are going to "4 shifts" and "cutting AUO" because of an arbitration ruling in Tucson. The employees are being told that management is under a "nationwide mandate" to do so. It's a nice smear campaign, but it's entirely untrue. There has been no hearing, no "ruling", and no "settlement" of this case. It is interesting to note that McAllen Sector recently settled a case over backpay for the exact same issue. In that case, the Agency was forced to issue backpay to agents who were ordered to remain in static positions until replaced. The agents were ordered to claim AUO, but they were clearly entitled to RSOT. The Union there filed, agreed to a settlement, and money was paid out. The only difference in the cases is that ours involves checkpoints rather than static positions. The notion that a grievance filed in Tucson in October of 2000 is suddenly causing all these problems in Texas over seven years later is laughable. The fact of the matter is that the Agency, under the ego-driven "leadership" of David Aguilar, is attempting to turn agents against the "union". We would hope that agents throughout the country see through this smear campaign and take a little initiative to find out what the real story is before believing everything some manager with a huge axe to grind tells them.

 

We have asked the National Border Patrol Council leadership to look into the events currently taking place in Texas.

 

Update 1-27-08 The lies and Union bashing coming from David Aguilar and his managers continues unabated. A PAIC in Texas has issued orders to his managers in an e-mail message. The PAIC tells his managers how to abuse AUO, including routinely "directing" agents to continue working traffic on AUO, and to "call in agents back (sic) once they have gone home or from their days off for as long as you need them", which is to be "paid as AUO". His little ruse may work for awhile, until it becomes obvious that all this routine "directed AUO" is administratively controllable (note to PAIC: AUO is an acronym for Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime). The manager goes on to state that "The four shifts are a result of the latest law suit filed and won by the Union out in Arizona." Really? That's news to us. Maybe we just missed the court date for this alleged "law suit". There never was a "law suit". The grievance we assume he's referring to when he says the "latest law suit" was actually filed over 7 years ago. There hasn't even been an arbitration hearing yet. Don't let the facts interfere with this PAIC's work of fiction though. It's astonishing that high level managers put out such disinformation and that they are never held accountable for their actions. We didn't notice if David Aguilar's favorite motto, "Honor First", was included in the e-mail message. It will also be interesting to see how all these managers at HQ will continue to justify their own "AUO" since they think they need to drop the hammer on field agents. Leave it to HQ to create a problem where none exists.

 

1-24-08 A Douglas Border Patrol agent shot a man after a traffic stop on Hwy. 191 this morning. The agent is a Union member, and we are providing attorneys and other support at the scene. Based on what we have learned, we are convinced the agent did everything properly. We stand behind him 100%. Unfortunately, this shooting incident will be investigated by some of the same unprofessional and thoroughly incompetent Cochise County Sheriff's investigators who railroaded Nick Corbett. We will be scrutinizing everything they do to make sure this agent's rights are protected from the outset.

 

Update 6 p.m. This agent was dragged for a short distance by the smuggler (the agent became entangled with the truck door when the smuggler attempted to flee). While the agent was being dragged he was able to retrieve his pistol and shoot the smuggler. We are unsure at this time if the smuggler will live. We have received uncomfirmed information that the toxicology tests on the smuggler may indicate that he had ingested a large amount of cocaine prior to the encounter. We are fortunate the agent wasn't severely injured or killed during this incident. We would like to thank Douglas station management for handling this incident with professionalism and compassion. They did a very good job of providing support for the agent, which makes all of our jobs easier.

 

While we continue to face the reality of corruption, stolen vehicles, ruthless smugglers and dead Border Patrol agents on our southern border, it is shameful that politicians like Senator John McCain continue to lie to the American people about their disgraceful immigration records while they sell us out at every opportunity. McCain is the worst of the worst. He is a pro at throwing out stupid, unrealistic sound bites like "I'm not going to call a soldier in Iraq and tell him that I'm deporting his mother." However, he fails to offer any real solution, and worse, he continues to be part of the problem.

 

We will post further updates on this incident as necessary. 
 

1-19-08 A Yuma Sector agent was killed in the line of duty this morning at about 9 a.m. The agent was attempting to place a spike strip in front of a fleeing vehicle, when the fleeing vehicle's driver veered into him, killing him. We have received some preliminary information on this incident, but we will withhold it until things settle down and the Agency has a chance to notify the next of kin. A link to a story in the Yuma Daily Sun is posted here.

 

Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar

"Blessed are the Peacemakers"

 

1-24-08 A man suspected of murdering Agent Aguilar has been arrested in Mexico. The man, pictured below, allegedly has a prior smuggling conviction. Read a story on the arrest here.

 

 

1-9-08 We are constantly amazed at the shrill hysteria coming from the anti-Border Patrol crowd in Southern Arizona which is spread by some in the media. The frightful prospect of "deputizing" one Border Patrol agent so that he or she can participate fully in a Sheriff's Department task force is cause for great alarm and consternation according to Isabel Garcia, "Kat" Rodriguez, and other purveyors of misinformation and scare tactics. What they and some of the local press would have you believe is that there is a conspiracy afoot to create a massive army of "deputized" Border Patrol agents. The agents would roam around stopping innocent citizens for minor traffic infractions to promote an "institutionalized racial profiling" agenda. Further, Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias is "very concerned" about the "precedent" it may set. Nevermind that the "precedent" has already been set, when Sheriff Dupnik was "deputizing" Border Patrol agents as far back as the 1990's so that they could participate fully in anti-crime task forces. There was never a complaint, never an incident, and never any kind of controversy whatsoever during the time these agents were "deputized". But let's not allow facts to interfere with the hysteria here. Elias and others simply get away with spreading fear and disinformation to prevent a simple act which is no threat to anyone except criminals. Nobody will call them on it, nobody in the mainstream press will correct their misinformation, and Garcia, Rodriguez, Elias and the rest of them will crow about how they stopped a massive injustice from taking place. All the talk about "racial profiling" and other unfounded allegations will continue. It's too bad that so many citizens of this state don't bother to get all the facts before they believe what they read in the media and start jumping to conclusions..

 

Unfortunately, Sheriff Dupnik has now buckled to the political pressure put on him by these radical activists. The people who really pay the price are the citizens. Once again, the radical activists and the criminals win, the vast majority of taxpayers and citizens lose.

 

The radical activists have one agenda. They want open borders, and they want continued massive illegal immigration. They will use every trick in the book to ensure their agenda goes forward, like it has for decades now. It's a sad state of affairs.

 

An article on Sheriff Dupnik's withdrawal of his request is linked here. As we have stated on a prior occasion, we will no longer link to any articles from the Arizona Daily Star or the Tucson Citizen. They now force online readers to register and supply a personal e-mail address to access their online articles. Supplying personal information to newsgroups can subject you to unwanted spam and can be an intrusion into your privacy. We use the Arizona Republic and the Sierra Vista Herald, among others, for local stories now.

 

 

1-2-08 Local 2544 has been asked for some time now about an endorsement for one of the current presidential candidates. One candidate has already asked for our endorsement. We have made no decisions as to who we may endorse. However, we can state without reservation that we will not endorse Senator John McCain, even though he is currently representing our home state of Arizona in the Senate. Senator McCain has never been serious about immigration enforcement, and he has never been serious about supporting the Border Patrol. He has routinely minimized and trivialized the illegal immigration problem in this country. The only "solution" he has ever offered is a massive new amnesty program designed to reward illegal aliens who have succeeded in violating our laws. If Senator McCain succeeds in becoming the President of this great nation, we believe it would be a disaster for border security and the enforcement of our immigration laws. We believe the American people have already seen enough of this type of behavior from our politicians.

 

For those who care about the issues of illegal immigration and border security, we ask that you not support Senator McCain under any circumstances. Don't be fooled by any "tough" talk he may use now regarding illegal immigration and border enforcement. His actions over the years, his complete lack of support for rank-and-file Border Patrol agents, and his incessant calls for more "amnesty" programs for the illegal aliens who succeed in violating our laws have done all the talking we care to hear. We honor Senator McCain's past military service, but we have Border Patrol agents routinely assaulted, shot at, killed, crippled, and otherwise injured trying to do an often "unpopular" job for this country, and Senator McCain has sought to sell us out and sell our mission out at every turn. Of all people, he should understand what it's like to serve your country and to have politicians and others turn their backs on you. Please honor Senator McCain's military service, but support someone else for President.

 

Update 1-8-08 It has come to our attention that Senator McCain is once again denying that he ever supported "amnesty" for illegal aliens. His record is very clear. He has always been an unabashed supporter of amnesty for illegal aliens, and he has routinely aligned himself with Senator Edward Kennedy on the issue of illegal immigration. Senator Kennedy has the worst record of any politician we have ever seen on the illegal immigration problem in this country. He and McCain, along with President Bush, have been part of the problem. Their incessant calls for amnesty have no doubt encouraged more illegal aliens to enter this country. McCain and Kennedy have sent the message at every opportunity that this nation is not serious about enforcing immigration laws. Senator McCain cannot hide from his record, and it is disgraceful that he constantly attempts to twist facts and mischaracterize his true record on illegal immigration. Saying that a bank robber merely made an "unauthorized withdrawal of funds" doesn't make him or her any less of a bank robber.

 

Here's a definition of amnesty: "an act of clemency by an authority (as a government) by which pardon is granted esp. to a group of individuals <illegal-alien farm workers seeking amnesty —National Law"

 

Entering this country without the proper authorization is a crime under Title 8, United States Code, Section 1325 (regardless of what former NYC Mayor Giuliani would have Americans believe).

 

Update 1-9-08 The Washington Times has posted an article on our position. Click here.

 

12-18-07 "Do you want me to take the people that were working the Goudeau case and have them chase corn vendors? Don't think so," Harris said, referring to Mark Goudeau, the Baseline Killer suspect who was arrested in September 2006 in connection with nine murders.

"If you were in my position, would you take those very limited resources and divert them to go after landscapers and dishwashers because they're in the country illegally? Sorry. I've been a cop for 36 years. I disagree with that concept." Arizona Republic

 

Mr. Harris apparently just doesn't get it. This is the same police department that just recently had another officer gunned down by an illegal alien (unknown if the illegal alien was a "corn vendor", "landscaper", or "dishwasher"). Remember, this illegal alien had previously been arrested twice by the Scottsdale Police Department, and was released back on the street both times. Harris comes off as extremely arrogant and condescending, and we're not impressed with his arguments either. According to a survey by the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, the vast majority of rank-and-file Phoenix Police Department officers want to have the flexibility to contact ICE when they run into someone they suspect is an illegal alien. Parts of Phoenix are absolutely overrun with illegal aliens. Harris' characterization of illegal aliens as innocent "corn vendors", "landscapers", and "dishwashers" is a tired old argument meant to minimize the illegal alien problem in this country, and someone should call him on it. In addition, nobody has ever suggested mandating that Phoenix PD ignore other criminal investigations to chase "corn vendors", "landscapers", and dishwashers". Mr. Harris is being disingenuous, and he knows it. We assume he is an intelligent human being, and he is attempting to paint a picture designed to scare Phonecians into thinking that major crimes will go without investigation because all the cops in Phoenix will be tied up enforcing immigration law. This is a nice scare tactic, but it's irresponsible and without merit. We suggest that Harris get off his high-horse and listen to his rank-and-file officers. We suggest that Harris start listening to the folks who pay his salary. If he can't carry out the lawful will of the people who pay him, he should resign and let someone else do the job. We have listened to people like Harris for years as they minimize, degrade, and politicize the illegal immigration issue in this country, and they are part of the problem.

 

It isn't just Harris. INS and Border Patrol managers shamefully shut down the Border Patrol station in Phoenix years ago because they were afraid of the same things Harris claims to be afraid of. Namely, "racial profiling" allegations and other assorted "allegations" that are the natural byproduct of some law enforcement work. Nevermind that the vast majority of these "allegations" are found to be without merit. Anybody with $100 can file a lawsuit, and it's a shame that the activists scare people like Jack Harris so much. When the rule of law breaks down and laws are ignored, the results are what you currently find in much of the City of Phoenix. It's an absolute mess. Obviously, the status quo isn't working too well. Perhaps that should be a clue that change is in order.

 

Read the story here.

 

Update: 12-21-07 The Mesa Police Chief agrees with Harris, which is no surprise. This guy has a long track record of cuddling up to illegal aliens and making excuses for doing nothing about the massive illegal alien problem in Mesa. He uses the same flawed logic that Harris uses to scare people - "If we spend all our time chasing poor, innocent, illegal aliens we will have to let rapists, murderers, serial killers..........." You get the picture. It's all a big, overblown lie, but they keep getting away with it. See the story here.

 

 

Mesa Police Chief George Gascon
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12-17-07 Cochise County has a supervisor named Paul Newman (there are a total of 3 county supervisors in Cochise County). It was reported by various news sources in 2004 that Newman was stopped at a Border Patrol checkpoint in his taxpayer-funded county vehicle. A Border Patrol service dog alerted on his vehicle, indicating an odor of marijuana was present. Newman subsequently had his county car taken away from him. Newman is a member of the same county board of supervisors that hired Grant Woods to prosecute Border Patrol Agent Nick Corbett. Read a news report on Newman's marijuana incident here.

 

Mr. Newman's official county web page can be accessed here.

 

Click here to read some of the shrill hysteria being spread by Newman and other activists about attempts to secure this nation's border. One activist even reports that she "almost cried" when she saw the fence being built on the border. We assume she is much happier looking at the tons of trash and the vast physical damage left behind by illegal aliens who successfully cross the border. Newman claims the fence keeps Americans "locked in". Huh? We would like to assure Mr. Newman that we have never witnessed hordes of Americans desperately trying to illegally invade Mexico by the millions to take advantage of their disastrous economy and their rampant political corruption. Notice the typical "racist" allegation in the picture below, which is always the last line of defense for organizations who can't win an argument on merit.

 

 

12-10-07 A Tucson Sector agent was the victim of a home invasion by four armed men early Sunday morning. The agent is a K9 handler, and he has a take-home patrol vehicle. It is possible, though unconfirmed at this time, that he was targeted because he is a Border Patrol agent. The agent was fired upon in his home, he returned fire at some point, and the suspects fled. We have information that one of the suspects was shot and killed at some point during the confrontation. The suspects' vehicle and a body have reportedly been recovered at this point.

 

Notice to agents: Due to the fact that it is possible these suspects specifically targeted a Border Patrol agent, we are urging you to use extreme caution at home, especially if you have a take-home vehicle or if you wear your uniform shirt to and from work. We have recently had a number of thefts throughout Tucson Sector where the thieves broke into off-duty agents' personal vehicles and stole work related items. Further, even if you have an unmarked take-home vehicle, if it has DHS plates on it, you are easily identified.

 

From all appearances, this agent did everything right. He was a Union member, and we will provide attorneys for him throughout the coming investigation.

 

We will post more information as we are allowed to release it.

 

Update: 12-19-07 This agent has been transferred after a request was made by Local 2544. Thanks to CPA Gilbert and HQ personnel who acted quickly on this request and made it happen. We won't divulge details, but the agent was transferred for his safety and that of his family. As a reminder, off-duty agents are still being targeted by criminals. Duty gear, uniforms, radios, and other law enforcement items are being stolen. PLEASE SECURE YOUR GEAR to help prevent this from happening. We just had another incident where an off-duty agent's car was burglarized, and they stole all his gear.