SHOULD PRESIDENT BUSH PARDON BORDER PATROL AGENTS RAMOS AND COMPEAN?

Border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean

January 5, 2008 (San Diego's East County) — Assemblyman Joel Anderson has written a letter to President George W. Bush requesting a pardon for Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compeon.  Both are currently in prison, serving 11 and 12 year sentences after being convicted by a jury of shooting the unarmed Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the rear, then attempting to cover up their actions.  Davila was later sentenced to two years for marijuana smuggling.

"The sentencing and imprisonment of Ramos and Compean and the severe impact on their families has demoralized the rest of the U.S. Border Patrol which is the nation's first line of defense against the massive influx of illegal aliens into the U.S.," Anderson wrote, noting that the East County Assembly district that he represents is significantly impacted by illegal immigration.  "These men have already served nearly two years in prison, subjecting their wives and children to extreme emotional and financial hardship."

But Enrique Morones, founder of Border Angels in San Diego and a national advocate of immigrants' rights, condemned Anderson's action.  "Anderson obviously supports the criminal behavior of Ramos and Compean," Morones wrote in an e-mail to East County Magazine.  "They shot an unarmed man in the back, then they tried to hide the evidence and then did not report the crime.  When the victim was in the hospital in Mexico, they asked him what happened and he mentioned he had been shot by the Border Patrol.  When they checked, they realized the two agents had lied." 

Minutemen members stage protest in midwest seeking freedom for jailed border patrol agents. (Photo courtesy of Campo Minutemen)

Prosecutor Johnny Sutton cut a deal for Davila to testify against the agents in exchange for having charges of illegal entry into the U.S. dropped, Morones noted.  "It was also discovered that the victim was trying to cross drugs and that he had a record.  The Border Patrol did not know this when they shot the man on the back."  According to testimony at trial, Davila was running away from the agents when he was shot multiple times, with one of the shots penetrating his urethra.

Sutton faced a U.S. Senate inquiry in 2007 into why he prosecuted Ramos and Compean. Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar Tuesday testified at the hearing that from February 1, 2005 to June 30, 2007, there were 1,982 incidents where Border Patrol agents have been assaulted in incidents ranging from rock-throwing to shooting.  In response, Border Patrol agents responded with deadly force on 116 occasions, reported CNN's Lou Dobbs reported CNN's Lou Dobbs. A bill seeking to pardon the agents has been signed by 100 members of Congress, including several Democrats.  California Senator Diane Feinstein has also called for a pardon.

Salon.com published an article dispelling much of what has been aired on some conservative talk radio stations regarding the Ramos and Compean case:

  "The ballad of Ramos and Compean is a story that one side of America's polarized culture has gotten all wrong and that much of the other side -- and the rest of the country -- has never even heard," stated the Salon article which notes that federal law requires that agents must have probably cause to believe they will be harmed in order to use deadly force.  Fellow Border Patrol agents testified against Ramos and Compean, Salon reported, describing in detail how agents hid shell casings and asked a third agent to dispose of them. Neither agent ever reported the shooting; they were arrested a month later.  Davila, freed following his testimony, later tried again to smuggle drugs into the U.S. and was arrested and jailed. 

"So justice was served, and all three deserve to be and are in jail," Morones concluded. 

Estela de Los Rios at the Center for Social Justice in El Cajon took issue with Anderson's reference to immigrant's impact on East County.  "Immigration continues to be the scapegoat and the political card for officials that know little about our hard-working 12 million immigrants who contribute significantly to this country," she said. "Not only does the economy benefit from 7 billion plus but immigrant children are serving overseas, studying hard in our universities and becoming good citizens on a daily basis."

Anderson urged Bush to consider issuing a pardon for the jailed agents before leaving office on January 20th, "or at the very least the commutation of their sentences."