Southern Border Developments

[Confed999]

It was legal to buy a negro before Abe Lincoln changed the law

Abe didn't do it, he can't pass laws.

Bush intervened to save Terry until the Judges could intervene

Jeb and George both used the legislature. They didn't do it themselves, they don't have the power.

[ChrisF202]

Armed standoff along U.S. border

http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_3430815

Police face Mexican military, smugglers
Armed standoff along U.S. border
By Sara A. Carter and Kenneth Todd Ruiz, Staff Writers
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Mexican soldiers and civilian smugglers had an armed standoff with nearly 30 U.S. law enforcement officials on the Rio Grande in Texas Monday afternoon, according to Texas police and the FBI.


MSNBC Video Interview
• Reporter Sara A. Carter MSNBC interview on Border incursion
Related Articles:
• Homeland chief plays down Mexican incursion reports
• Mexican troops aiding smugglers, says report
• Border agents unaware of gang death threat
• Report: MS-13 gang hired to murder Border Patrol
Special Section Online: Beyond Borders
Blog Site: Beyond Borders Blog

Mexican military Humvees were towing what appeared to be thousands of pounds of marijuana across the border into the United States, said Chief Deputy Mike Doyal, of the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Department.

Mexican Army troops had several mounted machine guns on the ground more than 200 yards inside the U.S. border -- near Neely's Crossing, about 50 miles east of El Paso -- when Border Patrol agents called for backup. Hudspeth County deputies and Texas Highway patrol officers arrived shortly afterward, Doyal said.

"It's been so bred into everyone not to start an international incident with Mexico that it's been going on for years," Doyal said. "When you're up against mounted machine guns, what can you do? Who wants to pull the trigger first? Certainly not us."

An FBI spokeswoman confirmed the incident happened at 2:15 p.m. Pacific Time.

"Bad guys in three vehicles ended up on the border," said Andrea Simmons, a spokeswoman with the FBI's El Paso office. "People with Humvees, who appeared to be with the Mexican Army, were involved with the three vehicles in getting them back across."

Simmons said the FBI was not involved and referred inquiries to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE did not return calls seeking comment.

Doyal said deputies captured one vehicle in the incident, a Cadillac Escalade reportedly stolen from El Paso, and found 1,477 pounds of marijuana inside. The Mexican soldiers set fire to one of the Humvees stuck in the river, he said.

Doyal's deputies faced a similar incident on Nov. 17, when agents from the Fort Hancock border patrol station in Texas called the sheriff's department for backup after confronting more than six fully armed men dressed in Mexican military uniforms. The men -- who were carrying machine guns and driving military vehicles -- were trying to bring more than three tons of marijuana across the Rio Grande, Doyal said.

Doyal said such incidents are common at Neely's Crossing, which is near Fort Hancock, Texas, and across from the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

"It happens quite often here," he said.

Deputies and border patrol agents are not equipped for combat, he added.

"Our government has to do something," he said. "It's not the immigrants coming over for jobs we're worried about. It's the smugglers, Mexican military and the national threat to our borders that we're worried about."

Citing a Jan. 15 story in the Daily Bulletin, Reps. David Dreier, R-Glendora, and Duncan Hunter, R-San Diego, last week asked the House Judiciary Committee, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, the House Homeland Security Committee and the House International Relations Committee to investigate the incursions. The story focused on a Department of Homeland Security document reporting 216 incursions by Mexican soldiers during the past 10 years and a map with the seal of the president's Office of National Drug Control Policy, both of which were given to the newspaper.

Requests by Dreier, chairman of the House Rules Committee, and Hunter were made in jointly signed letters.

On Wednesday, Chertoff played down the reports of border incursions by the Mexican military. He suggested many of the incursions could have been mistakes, blaming bad navigation by military personnel or attributing the incursions to criminals dressed in military garb.

Mexican officials last week denied any incursions made by their military.

But border agents interviewed over the past year have discussed confrontations those they believe to be Mexican military personnel.

"We're sitting ducks," said a border agent speaking on condition of anonymity. "The government has our hands tied."

- Sara A. Carter can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at (909) 483-8552.

- Kenneth Todd Ruiz can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at (909) 483-8555.

Its amazing, we can go thousands of miles accross the world and fight a wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to find a single man but we cant even stop a few Mexican soldiers from protecting drug and immigrant smugglers as they cross the border? The US Department of Homeland Security has addmited that Mexican armed forces and police members have crossed the border and gone 2 miles or more into the US over 200 times in the past decade. These blatant violations of our sovereignty and safety MUST end. Congress should declare war on Mexico.

[bonehead]

That sounds like a good mission for our national guard units. Unfortunately, until one of the mexican military drug pushers, dumps a load of pot on Bush's door step for his daughters to party with, GW won't lift a finger. The last time I checked, drugs were not any part of the nafta agreement so the drug smugglers should be delt with by using extreme prejudice. Those basterds should be SHOT ON SIGHT each and every time they cross the border. Bush's inactions on this matter (and our last two president's) are nothing short of criminal.

[Horrido]

This is the EXACT situation that militias and the Second Ammendment are for. The citizens of the area need to possy-up, and start killing anyone that crosses that border from the south. Machineguns are no match for precision shooting en masse.

[Ballguy]

I say we deploy HRT and the majority of all the federal law enforcement special ops teams.

[Ballguy]

This is the EXACT situation that militias and the Second Ammendment are for. The citizens of the area need to possy-up, and start killing anyone that crosses that border from the south. Machineguns are no match for precision shooting en masse.

Its a job for law enforcement. Not vigilantes.

[Horrido]

Its a job for law enforcement. Not vigilantes.

Are you so unobservant to not realize that law enforcement has FAILED!

Are you so brainwashed as to not understand that protecting your home from foreign invasion is NOT vigilantism?

I am CONSTANTLY AMAZED at your complete lack of comprehension of the situation, and at how you are so willing to pawn responsibility and duty off on ineffective and dysfunctional organizations. In an ideal world, yes, call the proper authorities, and they would come and take care of the problem. THIS IS CLEARLY NOT HAPPENING!

What is your alternate solution? I really want to know. Calling authorities is resulting in ZERO RESPONSE!

[ChrisF202]

Sorry Ballguy, but the Federal government has no intention of stopping the invasion. Its up the Minutemen, Ranch Rescue, etc to stop this.

[Ballguy]

Deploy BORTAC and the SRT teams, which are the Border Patrol's special ops guys. Untrained civilians are not going to stop the military: Here are the various units I think should be deployed:

HRT
BORTAC
Maybe half of the SRT's
FBI local SWAT teams
Various national guard units.
Various federal special ops teams
And aerial observation units.

[Ballguy]

Sorry Ballguy, but the Federal government has no intention of stopping the invasion. Its up the Minutemen, Ranch Rescue, etc to stop this.

The current administration never ceases to amaze me......... deploying paramilitary forces is probably not the answer.

[Horrido]

Deploy BORTAC and the SRT teams, which are the Border Patrol's special ops guys. Untrained civilians are not going to stop the military:

They are TOO FEW to cover the border, and your dear government has failed to deploy even that small amount. Untrained civilians can certainly stop Mexican military, and anybody else for that matter, from crossing the border if they so choose. Ambushing and killing a few Mexi-military druggies is no big challenge.

The current administration never ceases to amaze me......... deploying paramilitary forces is probably not the answer.

This is not a "current administration" issue, this is a FEDERAL GOVERNMENT issue...For the PAST TEN YEARS, which, if you have since forgotten, included SLICK WILLY!

Again, I DEMAND that you propose a viable solution. The government has failed, you have no means to support your argument that law enforcement will solve the problem. You can clearly not call on them to rectify the situation.

[Ballguy]

[QUOTE=Horrido]They are TOO FEW to cover the border, and your dear government has failed to deploy even that small amount. Untrained civilians can certainly stop Mexican military, and anybody else for that matter, from crossing the border if they so choose. Ambushing and killing a few Mexi-military druggies is no big challenge.

rifles and handguns are no match for trained soldiers, machine guns, and military vehicles.

This is not a "current administration" issue, this is a FEDERAL GOVERNMENT issue...For the PAST TEN YEARS, which, if you have since forgotten, included SLICK WILLY!

Who are you trying to offend? I didn't like bill either

I am fairly confident that BORTAC, the SRT's, HRT, and most of the other units I cited could take on the mexicans in small groups.

[Ballguy]

Again, I DEMAND that you propose a viable solution. The government has failed, you have no means to support your argument that law enforcement will solve the problem. You can clearly not call on them to rectify the situation.[/QUOTE]


Apparently, when the minuteman were deployed, crossings dropped along certain sectors.

Now, deploy thousands of federal agents and heavy weaponry........ I think we will see crossings plummet.

[highsea]

Gee, we have the best neighbors. Yesterday there was a shootout at the Canadian border in Blaine. Two guys wanted for murder in California were trying to get into Canada.

US authorities notified the Canadian border guards, who promptly abandoned their posts. Of the 4 guards and 2 supervisors, only the supervisors remained, although they moved quite a distance back from the actual crossing.

Car chase, a shootout, and we collected the two wanted men about 4 feet from Canada. Lol, only had to shoot one of them.

[Horrido]

rifles and handguns are no match for trained soldiers, machine guns, and military vehicles.

Want to make a bet? I would LOVE to know your experiences with firearms, law enforcement, and military to support your stance. I've shot competition alongside police from local to federal, and US military. Not often impressed, either. Those property owners know the terrain, would have superior numbers and mobility, and superior quality, range, and accuracy in their weapons. Many would almost certainly be veterans and/or hunters, as well. They could more than easily hunt down and kill groups of Mexican military and drug dealers as described. You HIGHLY overrate the training and equipment soldiers receive, especially third-rate forces such as Mexico. Heavy machine guns would make little difference, as a ranged attack from cover would be difficult to locate to bring counterfire to bear. Besides, if an armed battle did erupt, maybe the Feds would get off their asses and finally do something of value.

Who are you trying to offend? I didn't like bill either

I am fairly confident that BORTAC, the SRT's, HRT, and most of the other units I cited could take on the mexicans in small groups.

Those groups are still too small to adequately cover the border. You still have not come up with a viable solution.

You've demonstrated consistantly that your confidence is horribly misplaced.

To be honest, I'm caught in a crisis of conscience regarding you: Either you are a troll and should be banned, or if you're sincere (which is even more frightening, in my opinion), left as an example of why liberals should NEVER be permitted to wield power or authority.