February 11, 2007

Ex-Border Patrol agent deserves a Bush pardon

By By Marc M. Harrold
Special to The Clarion-Ledger

“Do they want us to catch them or not?” former U.S. Border Patrol Agent Ignacio “Nacho” Ramos once asked. As he sits in a federal penitentiary in Yazoo City, he probably feels the answer is: “no.”

Agent Ramos served seven years in the U.S. Navy and the last 10 years as a U.S. Border Patrol agent. In 2005, Ramos was nominated for Border Patrol Agent of the Year. By all accounts, he was a model agent and excelled at what is one of the most dangerous jobs in law enforcement.

Two years ago this month, what appeared to be a fairly common chase along the border created an unfortunate snowball of misplaced loyalties and questionable government priorities that landed Ramos in the cell where he was beaten by five men, most likely after his attackers (themselves illegal immigrants) watched Ramos’ case highlighted Saturday night on America’s Most Wanted.

ALTERCATION NEAR BORDER

From the various accounts, the following paints the “broad strokes” of what led Ramos to prison, prosecuted by the same government to which he had given his adult life:

Then-Border Patrol Agent Jose Alonso Compean discovered drag marks and other indicators that drugs had recently been smuggled across the border. Seeing a van leaving the area, he radioed to agents ahead. The driver, aware that he had been spotted, turned back towards Compean and bailed out on foot. He ignored several commands to stop given in both English and Spanish.

A brief struggle ensued before the perpetrator broke free and continued toward the border. The man turned and pointed something “shiny” at Compean. Believing it was a gun, Compean fired at the perpetrator.

Agent Ramos heard the shots and responded. He, too, ordered the man to stop. Instead, the man turned and pointed something both experienced agents thought was a gun at Ramos. Ramos fired one shot. The man did not stop and Ramos thought he had missed. Ramos did not miss, and a bullet lodged in the side of the suspect’s buttocks.

This is consistent with the perpetrator being in a “bladed” stance in order to shoot at the agents, not simply running from the agents. The man reached the Rio Grande, crossed it and got into a waiting vehicle.

Next, the agents returned to the van to find that it contained approximately 800 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated million dollars. Good work, right? Not so fast.

The “victim” in this case is a drug-smuggler named Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila. Did he cross back over the border and complain? No. Federal prosecutors offered him immunity to come back into the U.S. and provide testimony against the agents though it seems clear that Aldrete-Davila’s crimes were, by far, the most serious.

Please read the rest of this travesty…here.