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Chief Fisher's Letter to the Editor of San Diego
Union Tribune Newspaper
"The
deliberate, unmitigated violence against my agents is going to
stop." With these few words, I directed my command staff to
find a way to make this directive become reality and to establish a new
way of doing business. Today, we stand resolute and committed to this
objective.
Many
of you may be aware of our operational deployments along the border
with Mexico
as the increase of violence against Border Patrol Agents continues at
unprecedented levels. Last year, one out of every four assaults
against agents along the 2,000 miles of border with Mexico occurred in San Diego . Not only is this trend continuing, but it
is dramatically increasing; since October 2007 we have recorded over
100 assaults thus far. Nearly twice a day, the men and women of
the San Diego Sector Border Patrol, who
have unselfishly taken an oath to protect this great Nation, are
subjected to violent assaults from criminals operating in Mexico .
These
assaults include smugglers throwing large rocks at the agents (at times
after the rocks have been wrapped in cloth, doused in kerosene and lit
on fire), launching glass bottles, large pieces of wood, steel ball
bearings fired from sling shots, to name a few. To those who
would argue that this violence is perpetrated by juvenile delinquents
and that we should expect this as a "cost of doing business",
I offer the following: criminal organizations (alien smugglers
and drug smugglers) are hiring known criminals to cross into the United
States illegally, create a diversion, and lure our agents into an
ambush. When our agents respond, the criminals use military style
tactics and "triangulate" their offensive, pinning down the
agents in a violent assault. While the agents seek cover, the
smugglers move people and contraband over the fence into our
neighborhoods.
In
response to this criminal activity, I have deployed the Special
Response Team to these dangerous border areas. Border Patrol
Agents are authorized to deploy less-lethal munitions as necessary to
protect and defend themselves and other agents against life-threatening
assaults being perpetrated by criminals in Mexico . We will continue to use reasonable force in
self-defense as necessary to protect our front-line agents from
imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm.
My
primary responsibility as the Chief Patrol Agent in San Diego is to the
border security mission and to ensure, to the extent that I can within
the law and consistent with agency policy, a safe and secure border for
our men and women. To do less would be at the very least
irresponsible and at worst, malfeasance. We will not relinquish
ground under operational control nor will we retreat from our
front-line deployments; the threat is real, our border security mission
critical, and failure is clearly not an option.
Michael
J. Fisher
Chief
Patrol Agent
United States Border Patrol
San
Diego Sector
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