Bush Urged to Block Mexican Military

The U.S. Border Patrol’s largest union local has asked President Bush to put an end to the scores of Mexican military incursions into the United States that have put Border Patrol agents at risk of being injured or killed.

{snip}

In a letter Saturday to Mr. Bush, Mr. Tuffly asked the president to “take a strong stand against” Mexican military incursions.

He said Mexican soldiers have made hundreds of incursions into the United States and that some of them resulted in agents coming under gunfire and being detained at gunpoint.

{snip}

The NBPC represents all of the agency’s 16,000 nonsupervisory agents. Mr. Tuffly’s local is the union’s largest, with about 3,000 members.

White House officials said Wednesday that they had not received the letter and referred inquiries to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

CBP spokesman Michael Friel acknowledged that the Mexican military has made incursions into the United States and said those incidents have been treated seriously and reported up the chain of command. He said protocols have been developed to ensure that the incidents are resolved as “quickly and safely” as possible.

{snip}reduction in the number of incursions.

Last week, the State Department and the Border Patrol in Washington described the Aug. 3 incursion as a “momentary misunderstanding,” saying the Mexican soldiers did not know where they were and needed to make certain that the detained agent was who he said he was—although rank-and-file Border Patrol agents in Arizona said he was dressed in uniform and was driving a well-marked, white-and-green agency vehicle.

The incident occurred on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation, a major corridor for smuggling humans and drugs.

{snip}

“During past incursions, the Mexican government has denied it had soldiers in the area. They have blamed impostors, even when military Humvees were involved,” he said. “Time after time they have gotten away with these incursions and time after time our government has not taken a forceful stand against them.”

{snip}