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President still under fire for taking no action in Border agents' case
By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
AgapePress
March 12, 2007
(AgapePress) -- President George W. Bush continues to face criticism for refusing to pardon two former U.S. Border Patrol agents that are serving lengthy prison sentences for shooting an illegal alien drug smuggler along the U.S.-Mexico border. White House spokesman Tim Goeglein says President Bush was asked about the case involving Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean in February and "made it clear that it was important the case be looked at."
The case involving the former Border Patrol agents "is more than on the radar screen," Goeglein stated. But one activist advocating for the two men's freedom is raising questions about the president's motivations where Ramos and Compean are concerned.
Ron De Jong is a spokesman for Grassfire.org, a group that has collected more than 300,000 citizen petitions calling on President Bush to pardon the two former agents. But De Jong says the president "is committed to an open borders agenda."
In order to facilitate that agenda,De Jong asserts, the president "has got to essentially send a message to our border agents that is one of leniency towards drug smugglers, terrorists, day workers and any other illegal that wants to cross our borders." He says Bush wants effectively to neutralize America's Border Patrol agents.
"And he has done that," the Grassfire.org spokesman contends, "by using Ramos and Compean and Gilmer Hernandez and others as scapegoats."
Guillermo "Gilmer" Hernandez is a former Texas sheriff's deputy who was charged and convicted of violating an illegal immigrant's civil rights. His "crime" occurred during an incident in which he fired his weapon at the tires of a car carrying seven illegal immigrants as the vehicle sped away, reportedly just after it narrowly missed running him down.
Like Compean and Ramos, Hernandez was convicted with the help of testimony by illegal aliens, who were granted immunity from prosecution. And, like the two Border Patrol agents, he has become the subject of heated debate as many supporters clamor for his pardon and release and raise questions about what many see as the overzealous prosecution of law enforcement and Border Patrol officers who were trying to do their duty.
De Jong says President Bush has sent a "ripple of fear" through the U.S. Border Patrol agency and, in doing so, "has put our nation in danger." The grassroots activist says he and hundreds of thousands of other Americans are "outraged and terrified" that U.S. District Attorney Johnny Sutton chose to prosecute two Border agents instead of a Mexican drug smuggler.
De Jong says he believes Sutton is one of the most aggressive prosecutors against U.S. Border Patrol agents because "he's a Bush appointee and a friend of George Bush's." The petition drive organizer suspects the president of going to Sutton and promising to reward his efforts if he went after the border agents.
"I think George Bush has gone to him," De Jong says, "and -- this is the only thing that I can figure out -- that Bush made some sort of promise to Johnny Sutton, [essentially saying], 'Hey, look: if you take care of me, you do this, and there'll be a judgeship somewhere for you.'"
The President has ignored thousands of petitions and phone calls, as well as members of congress "banging on his door," pleading that the agents be set free, De Jong notes. He says President Bush has had more than enough time to review the case.
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