Arrest in videotaping incident came swiftly

The investigation started after a Saguaro High School student noticed a lunch worker following a classmate while angling a box lid with a camera hidden in it under her skirt.

That student notified administrators. And a day later, Richard Espinoza-Valdez, 28, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was arrested on charges that could land him in jail for seven years.

View the police report release on Saguaro High incident

Espinoza-Valdez, who had worked at three Scottsdale schools as a temporary food services, was arrested Nov. 6.

A clearer picture of how police identified victims emerged Tuesday, when police released the report in the case.

A student originally alerted the school about the worker’s behavior Nov. 5. Assistant principals Robert Akhbari and Greg Sackos watched Espinoza-Valdez during lunch the next day as he followed a girl in a short dress, angling the box top beneath her skirt, the report says.

The administrators asked Espinoza-Valdez if they could look through his camera. He obliged.

Akhbari noticed a recent video clip, but couldn’t make it play. When he asked Espinoza-Valdez to play the clip, the food worker instead deleted the image and denied anything inappropriate had been on the camera.

When police interviewed him, Espinoza-Valdez admitted to taking 10 videos at Saguaro, Chaparral High School and Scottsdale Fashion Square.

Espinoza-Valdez told police he had started his videotaping about a month earlier. He said he enjoyed looking at them and was especially interested in capturing images of girls between 16 and 19.

Police recovered three deleted videos featuring images from under girls’ skirts.

In the next few days, police identified three victims between the ages of 14 and 17.

Police have stopped looking for additional victims, Sgt. Mark Clark said. “We’re not able to determine where the rest of (the incidents) took place, so we don’t believe there is anymore follow up we can do to identify victims,” he said.

Two Saguaro victims told police they hadn’t been aware the video had been taken. One student said she noticed a food services worker walking close behind her, “but was afraid to turn around and confront him.”

Espinoza-Valdez was indicted on one felony count of surreptitious videotaping and photographing, two counts of attempted surreptitious videotaping and photographing and two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct.

HERE.

Border Control Cross-Dressers
Meet the GOP’s immigration drag queens.

By Michelle Malkin

Every Democrat running for president thinks anti-illegal immigration activists are all racists and xenophobes. Do we really need a Republican nominee for president who thinks the same way?

Breakout GOP candidate Mike Huckabee, the soft-on-border control former governor of Arkansas, scored a jaw-dropping endorsement Tuesday from Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project. Despite a long gubernatorial record opposing employer sanctions and pushing tax-subsidized illegal alien education benefits, Huckabee won Gilchrist’s support by unveiling a last-minute, tough-sounding homeland security plan.

Trouble is, Huckabee has downright and longstanding contempt for his new bedfellows of convenience.

Read the rest here: NRO online

News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 11, 2007
Contact: Chuvalo J. Truesdell
PIO/AFD
Number: 404-893-7124

Mexican-Based International Drug
Trafficking Organization Takes Big Hit in US
Large Amounts of Cocaine, Crystal Methamphetamine and Millions of Cash Seized

DEC 11 — Atlanta, GAFederal, state and local agents completed the initial searches and arrests in two multi-jurisdictional, multi-agency investigations coordinated through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) program. The investigations targeted major Mexican drug trafficking organizations that smuggled cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States for distribution in Georgia, California, North Carolina, New York, and elsewhere. These investigations focused on two separate Mexican-based drug organizations that regularly cooperated in using transportation routes into and out of the Atlanta area.

The evidence seized during the searches and arrests just over the past two days includes 111 kilograms of cocaine, 17 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, approximately $8,000,000 to $10,000,000 in cash and at least 32 firearms, including handguns and assault rifles.

Cash and Weapons Seized
The two investigations were code named “Operation Shooting Star” and “Operation Latitude Adjustment.”

Operation Shooting Star was initiated in October 2006 and was led by the David Wilhelm Atlanta OCDETF Strike Force. In March 2006, the Atlanta High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force began investigating the Georgia-based traffickers identified in Operation Latitude Adjustment. Both investigations have been designated as OCDETF investigations, which recognizes the highest priority cases for Federal drug prosecution.

Operation Shooting Star has resulted in arrests of 35 individuals and the execution of 19 search warrants. Operation Latitude Adjustment has resulted in the arrests of 12 individuals and the execution of six search warrants.

Investigators determined that the targeted organizations regularly transported large quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana from the Mexican states of Nuevo Leon, Guerrero, and Michoacan to the Atlanta area, and then transported currency accumulated from the sale of the drugs back through Atlanta to be smuggled across the Southwest border to Mexico.

Rodney G. Benson, Special Agent in Charge of DEA Atlanta said, “Today, law enforcement disrupted and dismantled two distinct, but inter-related Mexican-based drug trafficking organizations that shared common resources. These organizations might still be thriving, had it not been for the spirited efforts of over 300 dedicated law enforcement officers representing a myriad of agencies. We have removed in excess of 27 million dollars of filthy money from these traffickers and have taken thousands of pounds of dangerous drugs off of our streets. True justice has been served.”

Drugs Seized
United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said, “These operations have crushed two major drug trafficking organizations. The seizure of all this dope and all this money and the arrest of all of those players in the organization means that somewhere in Mexico right now, there are some very unhappy drug kingpins. Our message to them is that we will continue to do everything we can to make the Atlanta area a place where they don’t dare to operate. The two operations are allegedly linked by drug dealers using the same couriers of both drugs and money. Targets in both Operation Shooting Star and Operation Latitude Adjustment received narcotics from common suppliers in Mexico. These are on-going investigations and our many agencies working together will continue the aggressive fight against the illegal drugs that poison communities in Georgia and across the country.”

Jack Killorin, Atlanta HIDTA Director, said, “Today’s operation is a major strike against the Mexican drug cartels that have made the Atlanta Metropolitan area a hub of drug distribution in the Eastern United States. In Georgia, this result required the highest level of coordination among the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Wilhelm OCDETF Strike Force and the Atlanta High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force. The HIDTA effort was led by a DEA Special Agent and an Atlanta Police Department investigator, but involved all HIDTA participating agencies. Communities around the country are benefiting today from their collaborative effort, dedication, and no small sacrifice.”

In Operation Shooting Star, the drug trafficking organization allegedly coordinated the receipt and distribution of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana to states all along the Eastern Seaboard and into the Midwest. The organization also used Atlanta as the hub for the collection of drug proceeds from its East Coast distributors for shipment back to Mexico. In just the six months preceding the takedown, Operation Shooting Star seized over $12,000,000 in drugs and drug proceeds just from the Atlanta area, along with numerous weapons, including handguns and assault rifles. The investigation also has identified and dismantled sham businesses established by the organization that were used to facilitate and disguise its drug trafficking activities.

The 20 defendants indicted by a federal grand jury on December 4, 2007, in Operation Shooting Star are:

JOSE LUIS BENITEZ-TORNES,a/k/a “Cholo”; MARIO ALBERTO GUERRERO- MARTINEZ, a/k/a “Moyo,” and “Pepe”; “EL AS,” a/k/a “Ace,” (real name unknown); FNU LNU, a/k/a “Liceniado”; FNU LNU, a/k/a “Rucco”; FNU LNU, a/k/a “Tejon”; FNU LNU, a/k/a “Peluche”; EDGAR CAMACHO TORRES, a/k/a “Pollo”; RAMIRO OCHOA PENALOZA, a/k/a “Medico”; OPHELIA PINEDA; FRANCISCO VEGA SANTANA, a/k/a “Frai”; ENEYDA ROMERO MOLINA, a/k/a “Nena”; FNU LNU, a/k/a “Jonathan”; JOAQUIN SUAREZ FLORES; JUAN ANTONIO RAMOS SANCHEZ; “JORGE” (real name unknown); LUIS CORDERO PENA; JOSE MACIAS MARTINEZ; JESUS EMMANUEL GUADARRAMA; FELIPE SANTANA; and FAUSTO VILLA-MOJICA, a/k/a “Guero.”

25 additional defendants were charged by criminal complaints filed on December 6 and 7, 2007, in Operation Shooting Star:

ALFONSO RODRIGUEZ FRANCO, a/k/a “CHAVO”; KEVIN JIMENEZ-CASTILLO, a/k/a “JOSE”; J. JESUS TORRES-OCHOA; JOSE MENDOZA-SOLORZANO; DAMIAN LOPEZ-GONZALEZ, a/k/a “UM-2″; ALEJANDRO GUTIERREZ-BEIZA; ANTERO PINEDA-CAMACHO; JULIAN ORTUNO-HERRERA; MARTIN MAGANA-BERNAL; ANGEL HARO-PEREZ, a/k/a “UM-23″;ARTURO TORRES-ZARAGOZA, a/k/a “ANDRES FRUTOS”; JESUS GARCIA CORONA, a/k/a “UM-76″; LEOPOLDO CASTANDA HERRERA; JOSE JESUS ESPINOZA FARIA; JOSE MAGANA ZAVALA; SALVADOR GONZALEZ-FLORES; JULIO CESAR AVALOS CERPAS, a/k/a “CESAR”; VICTOR GONZALEZ-FLORES; AURELIO CHAVEZ MALDONADO, a/k/a “KIYE”; CARLOS ALBERTO GUTIERREZ; JOSE TAPIA-CORNESO, a/k/a “UM-144″; MANUEL MAGANA-SAGRERO; LORENZO PINEDA-IBARRA, a/k/a “UM-1247″; JUAN AGUIAR MARTINEZ, a/k/a “UM-237″; and MARCO ANTONIO RODRIGUEZ MAGANA, a/k/a “TONO.”

In Operation Latitude Adjustment, the drug trafficking organization allegedly used Atlanta primarily as a transshipment and distribution point. While some of the drugs may have stayed in the Atlanta area for consumption, investigating agents believe the majority of the drugs were forwarded to other areas along the East Coast of the United States, including Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, and Virginia.

The California portion of the operation, called Operation Funk 49, began in April 2004, after tips led investigators to distributors in San Diego, California, which began a three-year undercover investigation in that area. Federal, state, and local law enforcement in San Diego have executed over a dozen coordinated search warrants resulting in the arrests of 59 defendants there, as well as the confiscation of 1,246 pounds of cocaine, 604 pounds of methamphetamine, two pounds of heroin, and over $9.1 million in cash. In Georgia, over 585 pounds of cocaine were seized as well as $1.26 million dollars. An additional $767,000 was seized by DEA in New York as the result of information uncovered in the investigation.

22 defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta on December 4, 2007, in Operation Latitude Adjustment as follows:

RAMIRO CAMPUZANO VELAZCO a/k/a “Compadre,” 38, of Atlanta; RIGOBERTO SANCHEZ a/k/a “Rigo,” 22, of Buford, Georgia; GUILLERMO CAMPUZANO VELASCO a/k/a “Memo,” 23, of Buford, Georgia; MARCO ANTONIO GONZALEZ PULIDO age unknown, a/k/a “El Musico,” of Marietta, Georgia; TROY PALMER, 43, of Atlanta, Georgia; ROBERT RICHARDS, 30, of Atlanta, Georgia; NOAH NEVILL, 25, of Atlanta, Georgia; JOHN DENNIS CHAPMAN, 57, of Atlanta, Georgia; FERNANDO LNU (last name unknown) a/k/a “Nando,” age unknown, of Atlanta, Georgia; WILLIE LNU, age unknown, of Duluth, Georgia; ERIC LNU, age unknown, of Duluth, Georgia; ESTEBAN LNU, age unknown, of Buford, Georgia; ROSA LNU, age unknown, of Norcross, Georgia; “PINTOR” real name and age unknown, of Texas; “TITO,” real name and age unknown, of California; FAUSTINO GUTIERREZ PLANCARTE, a/k/a “Josillo,” 38, of Sacramento, California; JUAN CARLOS QUEZADA, 26, of Palo Alto, California; and BRIAN JOHN PRATTICO, (age unknown) of Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, defendants believed to be located in Mexico include: LUIS GONZALES HERRERA a/k/a “Francisco Ramirez” and “Pepe;” MIGUEL RUBIO ZAMORA, a/k/a“Javier Arreola,”and “Rana;” LUCIO GONZALEZ MARTINEZ, a/k/a “Manuel Gonzalez-Pacheco,” and “Chano;” DONA COLUMBA VELAZCO; and “ALMA,” (real name unknown).

These cases are being investigated by Special Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Wilhelm Atlanta OCDETF Strike Force, Atlanta HIDTA Task Force, DEA San Diego Field Division and San Jose Resident Office, and the South Carolina State Patrol.

The Wilhelm Atlanta OCDETF Strike Force is comprised of agents and officers from the DEA, FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, United States Marshal’s Service, Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, Doraville Police Department, Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Georgia Department of Corrections, DeKalb County Police Department, and Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles. The Strike Force is named in honor of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Assistant Special Agent in Charge David G. Wilhelm, who was murdered in Atlanta in March 2005.

The Atlanta HIDTA Task Force is comprised of investigators from the Atlanta Police Department, DEA, the Georgia National Guard, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, ATF, the Fulton County Police Department, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Georgia Department of Corrections, the Cobb County Police Department, the Alpharetta Police Department, the Roswell Police Department, the East Point Police Department, the Clayton County Police Department, IRS-Criminal Investigation, ICE, the DeKalb Police Department, the Gwinnett County Police Department, the Georgia State Patrol, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, and the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office. Other members of the HIDTA are the United States Attorney, the Fulton County District Attorney, the Georgia State Attorney General, the Gwinnett County District Attorney, the DeKalb County District Attorney, and the Cobb County District Attorney.

DEA Atlanta Field Division SAC Benson recommends parents and children educate themselves about the dangers of drug abuse by visiting DEA’s interactive website at www.justhinktwice.com

###

From the Tucson Citizen

“Hit gone bad”; Mexican gang fails to kill border patrol agent, family
MARY BUSTAMANTE

In what inside police sources describe as a “hit gone bad, ” a dead man found on the South Side has been connected to the armed invasion of the home of an off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent and his family.

Tucson police Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said investigators have determined that Christian Gomez, 20, who had been shot to death, was one of the suspects in the invasion, which occurred at 4:50 a.m. Dec. 9. His body was found almost five hours later in a desert area south of Irvington Road and First Avenue, Pacheco said.

A Border Patrol agent, whom police would not identify, said four armed intruders forced their way into his home and one fired a gun at him as the agent retreated.

The agent then got his duty weapon and “returned fire as the suspects fled the area in a Kia (sport utility vehicle),” Pacheco said. He added that the agent, who immediately called 911, didn’t know whether he hit any of the intruders.

“We are under attack,” the agent said. “Our families have been targeted by Ms-13 and other violent gangs.”

About two and a half hours later, a police officer saw smoke near Campbell Avenue and Virginia Street, just north of Drexel Road. A Kia SUV was “fully engulfed in flames,” Pacheco said, adding that bullet holes were found in it after the fire was put out. Police suspected it was the vehicle in the home invasion.

Subsequently, detectives identified and arrested Mark A. Escobar Jr., who they believe to have been the driver, Pacheco said.

He is being held in the Pima County Jail on $500,000 bond on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, arson of an occupied structure, armed robbery and aggravated robbery.

Detectives still are looking for additional suspects. Inside police sources reveal a growing anger amongst the rank and file, who believe that local government open border policy, and a “hands off” approach to illegals, has significantly increased their danger.

“We all know what happened to Officer Nick Erfle up in Phoenix.” Last month Officer Nick Erfle, a father of three, was knocked to the ground and shot three times in the face, by a Mexican Illegal who had been deported the month before.

The Border Patrol is doing an administrative investigation of the agent’s use of force, said Public Information Officer Jesus Rodriguez. He said it is policy for the agency to investigate any agent-involved shooting, on or off duty.

He said he doesn’t expect a report for a week or more.

The home invasion is being investigated by the Tucson Police Department, which asks anyone with information to call 911 or 88-CRIME.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE.

The big bald ugly guy on the radio: Wilson Smith’s “WHAT’S GOIN’ON”?

Read Wilson Smith’s terrific BLOG and listen here.

James Stoll/Letter to the Editor: Spokesman for illegals promoting anarchy

Marietta Daily Journal

Published: 12/12/2007

It would seem that Mr. Pellegrino has some difficulty with the English language. He does not seem to understand the meaning of the phrase “breaking the law.” I will try to explain what it means, in this country.

* If someone walks into a bank and robs a bank teller, that is called “breaking the law” and he or she should be punished.

* If someone walks into a store and takes store products without paying, that is called “breaking the law” and he or she should be punished.

* If someone breaks into a home and takes its contents, that is called “breaking the law” and he or she should be punished.

* If someone breaks into a country and takes jobs from its citizens and/or social services that are paid for by that country’s citizens, or by those who use them, without paying for them, that is called “breaking the law” and he or she should be punished.

* If someone who resides in this country illegally requests a license to start a business, to either pay himself or other illegals like himself, that is called attempting to “break the law” and his or her request must be denied, or the person granting the license would be guilty of aiding and abetting someone else to “break the law,” in which case both parties should be punished.

Now, what else don’t you understand about the phrases “Breaking the law” or “Attempting to break the law”? It is universally recognized that they have the same meaning in every civilized nation on this earth and in any language in which they are spoken.

I do not understand why Pellegrino is chastising us for being “anti-illegals.” Doesn’t that term mean the same as “anti-unlawful” or “anti-lawbreakers”? What are we supposed to be: “pro-illegals” or “pro-bank robbers” or “pro-burglar”? Tell me, how can any law-abiding citizen of any nation not be “anti,” or against, everyone or anything that is “criminal” or “unlawful,” regardless of who or what they are talking about?

Wouldn’t it be a strange place to live if everyone who lived there would be “pro,” or supportive, of everyone who chose to break the laws of the land in which they live? When I went to school, they called that type of situation “anarchy.” Is that Mr. Pellegrino’s dream for the future of our nation? If so, I wouldn’t care to live there.

James Stoll

Kennesaw

WFAA-TV — Dallas
Immigration crackdown sends invaders packing

Irving, Texas — The city of Irving’s crackdown on rundown apartments and illegal immigration may be driving some families out of town. — Oscar Alvarado said it is definitely the reason he has decided to pack up and move on. — “I am leaving for another city because they are getting tough,” he said. More here

Added 19 December 2007: PHOTOS OF RALLY HERE

‘Respect our laws’

Published: 12/09/2007

By Marcus E. Howard
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer

MARIETTA – Dozens ( Note from D.A. no offense to the reporter, but that would be about a dozen “dozens””…) of folks gathered outside the Cobb Courthouse on Saturday to rally in support of Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren’s enforcement of immigration laws.

Warren was presented with an award by the Dustin Inman Society, a coalition led by activist D.A. King that is dedicated to informing the public on the consequences of illegal immigration, for his office’s initiation of section 297 (g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1996 this year.

“As long as I’m sheriff of Cobb County, I can assure you that the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office will be proactive in using any resources that enhance our ability to combat the criminal element of this community,” said Warren, to a loud sound of applause.

“And that is not for any political reason, awards or anything – although we appreciate it and our staff appreciates it – but that’s what we’re suppose to being doing.”

The sheriff also issued a warning to those who break the law and find themselves behind bars in Cobb.

“If you’re arrested for a crime and you’re brought to the Cobb County Jail, and any other city, county, state and any federal agency wants you, we’re going to notify that agency and give them an opportunity to come pick you up – so stay out of Cobb County Jail.”

The award was presented to Warren as the first Dustin Inman Society Georgia Sheriff of the Year Award.

Billy and Kathy Inman, parents of 16-year-old Dustin Inman, who was killed in 2000 as a result of a vehicle collision involving an illegal immigrant, were in attendance at the rally.

“We got to keep doing what’s right and I feel Mr. Warren is doing that and hopefully setting an example for the rest of the country,” Billy Inman said. “I don’t want what happened to my family to happen to any of ya’ll, cause it can.”

King said the rally wasn’t about opposition to a particular ethnic group or national origin, but instead, the law.

“We are not here about immigrants,” he said. “We are here about people who are in the country illegally and law enforcement officers who have the courage to use the tools that were made available by the federal government.”

The rally for Warren came in the wake of concerns raised by advocates for the Latino community, such as the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials and Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which have questioned his aim in finding illegal immigrants in Cobb.

In early June, the Cobb Sheriff’s Office began screening Cobb Jail inmates to identify illegal immigrants and initiate deportation procedures after several deputies completed federal certification to do so, per 287(g).

Rich Pellegrino of Mableton, who attended the rally in opposition of Warren’s efforts, said he believes the sheriff’s actions are misguided.

“We’re all a nation of immigrants,” said Pellegrino, founder of the Cobb-Cherokee Immigrant Alliance, a grassroots organization that seeks to welcome immigrants.

“Whether you’re a documented or a foreign resident, we all have equal rights under the Constitution.”

Pellegrinao said plans by Jerry Gonzalez, GALEO’s executive director, and other organizations to protest in opposition to the rally ended Monday because of problems in securing a permit from Marietta Police. The lack of a permit resulted in the small scope of the rally and concern for any illegal immigrants who may have participated.

Nonetheless, the majority of those at the rally were in support of the enforcement of immigration laws. Many held large U.S. flags and placards that read “Thank You! Cobb County for 287 (g)” and “Thank You Sheriff Warren, Enforce Our Law.”

Cobb Commission Chairman Sam Olens was one of several speakers at the rally. Other elected officials present included Northwest Cobb Commissioner Helen Goreham and State Rep. Steve “Thunder” Tumlin (R-Marietta).

“It wasn’t courage,” Olens said of the Cobb Sheriff’s Office enforcement of 287 (g). “It was the right thing for them to do.”

Ann Pratt of Marietta was among Warren’s many supporters at the rally. She said she decided to attend because she feels more needs to been done in the country in regards to enforcement of immigration laws.

“It has nothing to do about Hispanics,” she stressed. “It’s about following the law like we’re suppose to do.”

Rich is a not too bright guy who is need of constant attention and who has adopted Jerry Gonzalez as a hero. Try to be as nice as possible to him…he has trouble thinking, or figuring out what and who really represents a “fringe minority”.

Yawn…warning, Rich’s little missive to the MDJ against my proposal to require ID and proof of legal immigration status for aliens to obtain a business license in Cobb is more than 440 words.
dak

Rich Pellegrino/Letter to the Editor: Latest sign of anti-illegals paranoia

Published: 12/09/2007

It appears that some Cobb Commissioners, including the chairman, are being influenced by the anti-immigrant rhetoric, fear and paranoia of Dustin Inman Society head D.A. King, disguised in a cloak of reason and security, who requested that “legal residency” be required for Cobb Business Licenses.

Commissioners, please beware and do not be fooled and follow this alleged “reasoning” down the thorny road of hate and fear, especially in this season of good will.

This is just another mean-spirited attempt to drive an entire community further underground – an already embattled community and people (due to the inaction of the federal government and unwise actions of the Cobb sheriff) – a people, like all immigrants before them, who are presently trying to comply with state and county laws and ordinances in order to help feed, shelter and clothe their own families, and to provide employment for others, while expanding the county tax base. What could be more American and Georgian than this?

Yet some would attempt to remove their means of livelihood and would place their families on welfare at the same time complaining about their drain on resources. What logic is this? It is the same twisted logic that prevents these temporarily undocumented good people from getting driver’s licenses in this state so that the law enforcement community’s goals of law and order are aided, traffic safety is really promoted, and space in the jail can be reserved for those who commit real crimes. That is why some local police officers with whom I’ve talked, as well as police departments around the country, are in favor of granting them driver’s licenses – which is completely logical – and why they are against sheriff’s departments acting as agents of immigration enforcement that destroys all efforts at community policing and trust building – completely illogical.

However when the public and elected officials are swayed by the extreme fear and paranoia generating tactics of a loud fringe minority, like King and his followers, this is what happens and all logic (as well has human empathy and compassion) is thrown out the window.

I know, some of you single-minded folks are going to say what you always say when this issue arises, “What don’t you understand about the word “illegal?” but I am sorry. The reason the good Lord gave us brains and minds is so that we can see all sides of an issue. Like a wise man once said: “There are at least three sides to every story” – so nothing is either “black or white” or “legal or illegal.” Another very wise Man said: “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”

Rich Pellegrino

Mableton

How Eisenhower solved illegal border crossings from Mexico
By John Dillin

Christian Science Monitor ( READ ENTIRE REPORT HERE)
2006

WASHINGTON

George W. Bush isn’t the first Republican president to face a full-blown immigration crisis on the US-Mexican border.

Fifty-three years ago, when newly elected Dwight Eisenhower moved into the White House, America’s southern frontier was as porous as a spaghetti sieve. As many as 3 million illegal migrants had walked and waded northward over a period of several years for jobs in California, Arizona, Texas, and points beyond.

President Eisenhower cut off this illegal traffic. He did it quickly and decisively with only 1,075 United States Border Patrol agents – less than one-tenth of today’s force. The operation is still highly praised among veterans of the Border Patrol.

Although there is little to no record of this operation in Ike’s official papers, one piece of historic evidence indicates how he felt. In 1951, Ike wrote a letter to Sen. William Fulbright (D) of Arkansas. The senator had just proposed that a special commission be created by Congress to examine unethical conduct by government officials who accepted gifts and favors in exchange for special treatment of private individuals.

General Eisenhower, who was gearing up for his run for the presidency, said “Amen” to Senator Fulbright’s proposal. He then quoted a report in The New York Times, highlighting one paragraph that said: “The rise in illegal border-crossing by Mexican ‘wetbacks’ to a current rate of more than 1,000,000 cases a year has been accompanied by a curious relaxation in ethical standards extending all the way from the farmer-exploiters of this contraband labor to the highest levels of the Federal Government.”

Years later, the late Herbert Brownell Jr., Eisenhower’s first attorney general, said in an interview with this writer that the president had a sense of urgency about illegal immigration when he took office.

America “was faced with a breakdown in law enforcement on a very large scale,” Mr. Brownell said. “When I say large scale, I mean hundreds of thousands were coming in from Mexico [every year] without restraint.”

Although an on-and-off guest-worker program for Mexicans was operating at the time, farmers and ranchers in the Southwest had become dependent on an additional low-cost, docile, illegal labor force of up to 3 million, mostly Mexican, laborers.

According to the Handbook of Texas Online, published by the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical Association, this illegal workforce had a severe impact on the wages of ordinary working Americans. The Handbook Online reports that a study by the President’s Commission on Migratory Labor in Texas in 1950 found that cotton growers in the Rio Grande Valley, where most illegal aliens in Texas worked, paid wages that were “approximately half” the farm wages paid elsewhere in the state.

Profits from illegal labor led to the kind of corruption that apparently worried Eisenhower. Joseph White, a retired 21-year veteran of the Border Patrol, says that in the early 1950s, some senior US officials overseeing immigration enforcement “had friends among the ranchers,” and agents “did not dare” arrest their illegal workers.

Walt Edwards, who joined the Border Patrol in 1951, tells a similar story. He says: “When we caught illegal aliens on farms and ranches, the farmer or rancher would often call and complain [to officials in El Paso]. And depending on how politically connected they were, there would be political intervention. That is how we got into this mess we are in now.”

Bill Chambers, who worked for a combined 33 years for the Border Patrol and the then-called US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), says politically powerful people are still fueling the flow of illegals.

During the 1950s, however, this “Good Old Boy” system changed under Eisenhower – if only for about 10 years.

In 1954, Ike appointed retired Gen. Joseph “Jumpin’ Joe” Swing, a former West Point classmate and veteran of the 101st Airborne, as the new INS commissioner.

Influential politicians, including Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson (D) of Texas and Sen. Pat McCarran (D) of Nevada, favored open borders, and were dead set against strong border enforcement, Brownell said. But General Swing’s close connections to the president shielded him – and the Border Patrol – from meddling by powerful political and corporate interests.

One of Swing’s first decisive acts was to transfer certain entrenched immigration officials out of the border area to other regions of the country where their political connections with people such as Senator Johnson would have no effect.

Then on June 17, 1954, what was called “Operation Wetback” began. Because political resistance was lower in California and Arizona, the roundup of aliens began there. Some 750 agents swept northward through agricultural areas with a goal of 1,000 apprehensions a day. By the end of July, over 50,000 aliens were caught in the two states. Another 488,000, fearing arrest, had fled the country.

By mid-July, the crackdown extended northward into Utah, Nevada, and Idaho, and eastward to Texas.

By September, 80,000 had been taken into custody in Texas, and an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 illegals had left the Lone Star State voluntarily.

Unlike today, Mexicans caught in the roundup were not simply released at the border, where they could easily reenter the US. To discourage their return, Swing arranged for buses and trains to take many aliens deep within Mexico before being set free.

Tens of thousands more were put aboard two hired ships, the Emancipation and the Mercurio. The ships ferried the aliens from Port Isabel, Texas, to Vera Cruz, Mexico, more than 500 miles south.

The sea voyage was “a rough trip, and they did not like it,” says Don Coppock, who worked his way up from Border Patrolman in 1941 to eventually head the Border Patrol from 1960 to 1973.

Mr. Coppock says he “cannot understand why [President] Bush let [today’s] problem get away from him as it has. I guess it was his compassionate conservatism, and trying to please [Mexican President] Vincente Fox.”

There are now said to be 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens in the US. Of the Mexicans who live here, an estimated 85 percent are here illegally.

Border Patrol vets offer tips on curbing illegal immigration
One day in 1954, Border Patrol agent Walt Edwards picked up a newspaper in Big Spring, Texas, and saw some startling news. The government was launching an all-out drive to oust illegal aliens from the United States.

The orders came straight from the top, where the new president, Dwight Eisenhower, had put a former West Point classmate, Gen. Joseph Swing, in charge of immigration enforcement.

General Swing’s fast-moving campaign soon secured America’s borders – an accomplishment no other president has since equaled. Illegal migration had dropped 95 percent by the late 1950s.

Several retired Border Patrol agents who took part in the 1950s effort, including Mr. Edwards, say much of what Swing did could be repeated today.

“Some say we cannot send 12 million illegals now in the United States back where they came from. Of course we can!” Edwards says.

Donald Coppock, who headed the Patrol from 1960 to 1973, says that if Swing and Ike were still running immigration enforcement, “they’d be on top of this in a minute.”

The Patrol veterans say enforcement could also be aided by a legalized guest- worker program that permits Mexicans to register in their country for temporary jobs in the US. Eisenhower’s team ran such a program. It permitted up to 400,000 Mexicans a year to enter the US for various agriculture jobs that lasted for 12 to 52 weeks.

• John Dillin is former managing editor of the Monitor.