Ultimately, I'd love to live in a world of open borders. I think that we should move towards that world at all deliberate speed consistent with our security needs. Until that happy day arrives, we have a need to properly control our borders including arresting those who cross illegally. The Border Patrol apparently disagrees.
I don't care whether the Minutemen are vigilantes or neighborhood watch or a border version of the Guardian Angels. There is no excuse for an official of the US government to order his subordinates to relax enforcement of the law so that more violators escape capture and punishment (such as it is in immigration cases). It's purposeful dereliction of duty and conduct that should not be protected by civil service rules. You have a job to patrol the border then you should patrol the border as best you can or stop drawing a paycheck.
Now the original Washington Times article may very well be wrong. Tom Tancredo is renowned for having an immigration ax to grind. The number of Border Patrol officers reporting this (about a dozen) makes it less likely that it's a political spin piece and more a criminal flouting of the rule of law under color of authority.
The next step is likely to get friendly journalists embedded in another effort and simply not tell the Border Patrol until a week or two of patrolling has already gone by. That would make any political adjustments of the type described above by either US or Mexican governments that much more difficult.
Posted by TMLutas at May 14, 2005 05:32 PM