Global Rumblings: Border Agents Jailed Today for Securing Border!

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Two brave U.S. Border Patrol agents -- Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean -- are headed to prison for a combined 23 YEARS!

Their sentences begin TODAY -- January 17 -- IN FACT, THEY MAY ALREADY BE IN PRISON ONCE YOU READ THIS LETTER!

Their crime?

Defending our nation's southern border against illegal alien drug smugglers.

In other words, these two men are in jail for what Congressman Tom Tancredo called, "doing their job" -- securing the border.

Here are the facts:

Border Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean spotted a suspicious van on U.S. soil near the U.S.-Mexico border.

The van was being driven by an illegal alien -- Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila -- who was smuggling 743 pounds of marijuana into the United States.

When the illegal alien and drug smuggler saw Agents Ramos and Compean, he ran for the border. The agents heard gun shots while pursuing Davila on foot.

According to media reports, Davila at one point turned toward the pursuing agents and pointed what appeared to be a gun. The border agents fired their weapons at the fleeing illegal alien drug smuggler.

Davila was hit in his buttocks -- although Compean and Ramos apparently did not know it at the time -- and Davila didn't even slow down. He jumped into a waiting van and sped off in the night.

What happened next is so unbelievable, so outrageous that it should boil the blood of every American.

Apparently outraged that a foreign illegal drug smuggler was shot in the buttocks, Johnny Sutton -- U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas -- ordered a full-scale, no stone un-turned, investigation of COMPEAN AND RAMOS!

The illegal alien drug smuggler Davila received full immunity for his testimony against Agents Ramos and Compean. Not only that, he was given full medical care at an Army medical center in El Paso courtesy of U.S. taxpayers.

As The New American put it:

"Incredibly, while agents Ramos and Compean and their families face economic ruin, emotional devastation, and real physical danger, as a result of that 15-minute chase, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila -- an admitted felon and drug smuggler -- has not only gotten off scot-free, he stands to become a rich man, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayers. In a seemingly unbelievable turn of events, agents for the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security contacted the smuggler in Mexico and offered him complete immunity if he would testify that the Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean had violated his civil rights."

We couldn't make this up if we tried.

Sutton charged these two heroes with Causing Serious Bodily Injury, Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Discharge of a Firearm in Relation to a Crime of Violence, and -- get this -- a violation of the "civil rights" of an illegal alien.

In other words, he threw the book at them.

What about the illegal alien drug smuggler you ask? DAVILA WAS AGAIN CAUGHT SMUGGLING DRUGS INTO THE UNITED STATES! And Sutton gave him immunity from prosecution from those crimes as well.

Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personalized Blast Fax Messages to President Bush and the leaders of the House and the Senate.

Tell them TODAY that the President MUST use his power of presidential pardon, as granted by the United States Constitution in Article II, Section 2, to pardon Agents Ramos and Compean! The American people will not tolerate the imprisonment of two brave border patrol agents who did nothing more than pursue an enemy of their country.

This terrible wrong must be righted before these brave men spend another second in prison.

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What Happened at the Trial?

The actual arrest should give you an indication of what is going on here: Instead of calling the two agents into headquarters, the Department of Homeland Security sent two SWAT teams to stage a high-profile arrest at each house, during which they bullied the two men and their stunned and terrified families.

At the trial, the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Kanov, dismissed Agent Ramos's testimony that he saw "something shiny" in Davila's hand. She said Ramos "couldn't be sure it was a gun he had seen."

In other words, if it's dark and you can't be absolutely certain that the shiny thing you see pointed at you and your fellow agent is a pistol, don't fire until you get a bullet between your eyes. Then you'll know for certain it's a gun.

Also, the prosecutor said it was a violation of Border Patrol policy for agents to pursue dope dealers on the run. As she explained it:

"Agents are not allowed to pursue. In order to exceed the speed limit, you have to get supervisor approval, and they did not."

Ramos, who had a stellar 10-year record and who had been nominated for the Agent of the Year award, said in reply:

"How are we supposed to follow the Border patrol strategy of apprehending terrorists or drug smugglers if we aren't supposed to pursue fleeing people? Everybody who's breaking the law flees from us. What are we supposed to do? Do they want us to catch them or not?"

The answer to Officer Ramos's question is: OBVIOUSLY NOT!

That's why criminals like Davila are crossing our borders every single day.

And when two law enforcement officers try to carry out the will of the American people -- when they try to do their jobs -- they are handcuffed and hauled off to prison.

Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean deserve to be commended for their bravery and service to our country, not charged by our government for supposedly violating an illegal alien drug smuggler's "Civil Rights."

What the system has done to these agents is wicked and must be undone immediately.

Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personalized Blast Fax Messages to President Bush and the leaders of the House and the Senate.

Tell them TODAY that the President MUST use his power of presidential pardon, as granted by the United States Constitution in Article II, Section 2, to pardon Agents Ramos and Compean! The American people will not tolerate the imprisonment of two brave border patrol agents who did nothing more than pursue an enemy of their country.

This terrible wrong must be righted before these brave men spend another second in prison.

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What About the Jury?

Question: What about the jury? Why did all 12 jurors agree that both Border Patrol officers were guilty?

Three jurors now say THEY DIDN'T WANT TO VOTE GUILTY and are disturbed by the verdict.

Robert Gourley, Claudia Torres, and Edine Woods say they were told the verdict HAD TO BE UNANIMOUS, which was flat-out untrue.

After the trial, at least two jurors gave sworn statements that they had been pressured to render a guilty verdict and did not understand that a hung jury was possible.

In addition, some jurors allegedly bullied other jurors, intimidating them into changing their votes.

One juror said he thought that 10 years in prison for the agents was excessive punishment. "Had we had the option of a hung jury," he said, "I truly believe the outcome may have been different."

Another said of the jury foreman, "I felt like he knew something about the judge that we did not know. I did not think that Mr. Ramos or Mr. Compean was guilty of the assaults and civil rights violations."

In light of these juror statements, defense attorney Mary Stillinger asked that the verdict be set aside, but the judge oddly, arbitrarily denied the motion.

Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personalized Blast Fax Messages to President Bush and the leaders of the House and the Senate.

Tell them TODAY that the President MUST use his power of presidential pardon, as granted by the United States Constitution in Article II, Section 2, to pardon Agents Ramos and Compean! The American people will not tolerate the imprisonment of two brave border patrol agents who did nothing more than pursue an enemy of their country.

This terrible wrong must be righted before these brave men spend another second in prison.

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What are Others Saying?

People all over the country have expressed their indignation at this sickening misuse of our judicial system, which further hamstrings and intimidates our Border Patrol.

Tom Tancredo -- Congressman, anti-illegal immigration activist, and author of In Mortal Danger -- said: "This is not the message that our legal system should be giving to the drug cartels that are smuggling drugs, people and terrorists across our borders."

Andy Ramirez, of the non-profit Friends of the Border Patrol, said: "This is the greatest miscarriage of justice I have ever seen. This drug smuggler has fully contributed to the destruction of two brave agents and their families and has sent a very loud message to the other Border Patrol agents: If you confront a smuggler, this is what will happen to you." [Emphasis Mine]

55 Members of Congress are demanding that President Bush pardon these brave border agents and 12 of these Members sent a letter to President Bush, which reads in part: "We ask that a full investigation of this case be ordered immediately. We are confident that during such an investigation you will find that these Border Patrol agents were acting within the scope of their duty and were unjustly prosecuted. Also, we ask that you use your power of presidential pardon, as granted by the United States Constitution in Article II, Section 2, to pardon these two Border Patrol agents."

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher has even called Agents Compean and Ramos, "heroes."

These expressions of outrage and anguish underline the monumental importance of this case.

The drug cartels, gangs, and even terrorists seeking to exploit our nation's open borders have just seen the light turn green. The Border Patrol has been stripped naked. It can't fire a gun without risking more than ten years in prison. It can't violate the speed limit without saying, "Mother, may I?" And if it detains an illegal alien dealing drugs, it may be violating his civil rights?

If you think illegal immigration is a problem, wait till you see what happens now that Compean and Ramos have been hauled off to prison in chains.

There's not a moment to lose -- without a pardon, Agents Compean and Ramos will languish in a jail while they appeal a conviction that should have never happened in the first place!

These two brave border agents MUST NOT spend one more second in prison. That's why we must flood Congress and the White House with faxes demanding a full pardon of Agents Compean and Ramos.

Concerned Americans like us must pressure President Bush to issue a full and immediate pardon for Agents Compean and Ramos.

Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personalized Blast Fax Messages to President Bush and the leaders of the House and the Senate.

Tell them TODAY that the President MUST use his power of presidential pardon, as granted by the United States Constitution in Article II, Section 2, to pardon Agents Ramos and Compean! The American people will not tolerate the imprisonment of two brave border patrol agents who did nothing more than pursue an enemy of their country.

This terrible wrong must be righted before these brave men spend another second in prison.

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These Border Agents Can't Really Be Innocent?

This miscarriage of justice is so flagrant... so egregious... that many people have written us and asked if we are telling the whole story.

Actually, for the sake of full disclosure, Ramos and Compean did disregard two departmental procedures, which we will point out just to illustrate the absurdity of this entire prosecution.

First, Compean and Ramos should have NEVER pursued Davila in the first place. Departmental procedures require that agents obtain the approval of a supervisor before pursuing a suspect.

In other words -- per departmental procedures -- when Davila started to run for the Mexican border, Compean and Ramos should have STOPPED... radioed a superior and asked for permission to pursue him.

As Eagle Forum Founder Phyllis Schlafly put it:

"A major argument used by the prosecution during the trial was that our government has a policy forbidding agents from chasing suspected drug smugglers without first getting permission from supervisors. That sounds like a no-arrest policy . By the time an agent gets permission, a smuggler can be out of sight and safely back over the border." [Emphasis Mine]

Secondly, Compean and Ramos neglected to mention in their report that shots had been fired. There is no dispute of that fact. Compean and Ramos were wrong...

But... Is it fair and just to send two law enforcement officers to prison for a combined 23 years for pursuing a dangerous drug smuggler and neglecting to report that shots were fired?

Hardly... in most cases, such actions warrant a few days of suspension without pay!

Schlafly again:

"How did the prosecution go from an administrative violation for failing to report a firearm discharge, with the penalty of perhaps a five-day suspension, to prosecution for intent to commit murder?"

Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personalized Blast Fax Messages to President Bush and the leaders of the House and the Senate.

Tell them TODAY that the President MUST use his power of presidential pardon, as granted by the United States Constitution in Article II, Section 2, to pardon Agents Ramos and Compean! The American people will not tolerate the imprisonment of two brave border patrol agents who did nothing more than pursue an enemy of their country.

This terrible wrong must be righted before these brave men spend another second in prison.

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The U.S. is Sending the Wrong Message to our Border Patrol.

Retired Border Patrol Supervisor David Stoddard -- a Border Patrol veteran of 27 years -- said of Ramos and Compean's situation, "This is outrageous. This whole incident tells the Border Patrol agents all over the country it's better to go out to their areas of responsibility and bring a portable DVD player and watch a movie, because that way you won't get into trouble."

In fact, this situation has destroyed the morale of our Border Patrol agents. According to one source, "A lot of agents are now saying, 'We don't want to be the next Ramos and Compean.'"

If President Bush pardons officers Compean and Ramos, he will be sending a strong message that America is committed to securing our borders -- that our brave border patrol agents can do their jobs without fear of prosecution by our own government.

If he signs these pardons, it will infuse the Border Patrol with a new sense of pride and purpose. They will know the President of the United States stands behind them with all the awesome power of his office.

It's an outrage that Agents Ramos and Compean will be locked up next to the same brand of criminals, thugs, and gang members that they dedicated their lives to putting behind bars.

And it's an even bigger outrage that they are convicted and jailed... while our government is trying to grant AMNESTY to at least 12 million illegal aliens currently living and working in our country.

Let's flood Congress and the White House with faxes demanding a pardon of these two Border Patrol Agents.

Let's demand that our Congressional leaders, who talk a big game about border security, use their influence to urge the President to exercise his pardon power.

Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personalized Blast Fax Messages to President Bush and the leaders of the House and the Senate.

Tell them TODAY that the President MUST use his power of presidential pardon, as granted by the United States Constitution in Article II, Section 2, to pardon Agents Ramos and Compean! The American people will not tolerate the imprisonment of two brave border patrol agents who did nothing more than pursue an enemy of their country.

This terrible wrong must be righted before these brave men spend another second in prison.

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Let The Legal System Takes Its Course.

That's what some -- particularly the Administration -- are saying. But the appeal process in this country is very long!

Consider the anguish the Compean and Ramos families will face while these brave men spend years in prison -- possible with men they helped put away -- waiting for the appeals process to run its course.

Ramos has three sons, ages 6, 9, and 13.

Compean also has three children, the youngest only a few months old. His wife is in a wheelchair.

            Ten lives ruined because somebody wants to globalize North America.

Please think of these poor people. Pray if you are so inclined.
But most importantly, DO SOMETHING TO REVERSE THIS GROSS MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE!

Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personalized Blast Fax Messages to President Bush and the leaders of the House and the Senate.

Tell them TODAY that the President MUST use his power of presidential pardon, as granted by the United States Constitution in Article II, Section 2, to pardon Agents Ramos and Compean! The American people will not tolerate the imprisonment of two brave border patrol agents who did nothing more than pursue an enemy of their country.

This terrible wrong must be righted before these brave men spend another second in prison.

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Yours In Freedom,

Jeff Mazzella
President
www.cfif.org

The CFIF Action Alert is a service to the conservative community. If you would like to subscribe please go to www.cfif.org/signup.

Center for Individual Freedom
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