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Border Patrol team investigates last week's Mexican-soldier confrontation
By Diana Washington Valdez
El Paso TimesA U.S. Border Patrol Shooting Review Team is investigating allegations that Mexican Army soldiers who entered the country illegally last week near Sunland Park fired weapons at two Border Patrol agents.
"We are convinced shots were fired (at) the agents," said Jerry Armstrong, deputy chief of the Border Patrol-El Paso sector. "We don't know how long the investigation will take, but we are taking this incident seriously."
Neither of the Border Patrol agents was injured. They were patrolling the area on horseback.
U.S. State Department officials said Mexican army soldiers have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally 47 times in since 1995. This was the first time they reportedly fired at U.S. federal agents.
Armstrong wouldn't say whether investigators found bullet casings where the shots were fired, "because it's part of the ongoing investigation."
He said the shots reportedly were fired within U.S. territory, roughly half a mile from the border near Sunland Park.
"The standoffs ... were extremely tense. Two shots were fired and weapons were pointed on both sides," said Paul Berg, Border Patrol Chief at Del Rio, Texas, who along with Armstrong and others provided details about the incident. This is their account:
Remote crossing
Two Humvees with Mexican soldiers aboard knocked down a barbed-wire fence at the border and entered the United States illegally after spotting a Border Patrol vehicle nearby, Berg said.
The remote desert area where the soldiers entered at 10:30 p.m. March 14 is dotted with brush-covered mounds. Dirt roads and trails and utility lines criss-cross the mesa.
Rabbits and coyotes have the run of the land, which is heavily patrolled because it's a popular crossing point for undocumented immigrants and drug smugglers.
On the Mexican side, a road runs parallel to the fence, and on the U.S. side, a parallel dirt road is used by Border Patrol agents. From the fence, Mount Cristo Rey is visible to the east.
The standoff
That night, Berg said, "the (two Humvees) split up. One followed the Border Patrol vehicle while the second chased agents ... on horseback."
The Border Patrol agent in the vehicle drove off on a dirt trail in a northwesterly direction, which is U.S. Bureau of Land Management property. The Humvee followed him for nearly a mile, all the way to the Border Patrol horse barn adjacent to the Camino Real landfill.
The second Humvee gave chase to Border Patrol agents on horseback.
Armstrong said "a standoff occurred" during three separate encounters between the soldiers and Border Patrol agents.
"The Mexican soldiers thought they were in Mexico," Armstrong said. "There was a standoff. Weapons were drawn."
"They yelled to our agents,'You're in Mexico, drop your weapons.' Our agents yelled back, 'You're in the United States, drop your weapons," he said.
Call for backup
Border Patrol agents at the barn area called Sunland Park city police for backup.
"We sent three uniformed police officers in three police vehicles," said Sunland Park Police Chief Ricardo Perez. "Our vehicle lights were flashing. We were very obvious."
Near the barn area, police and agents convinced the Mexican captain that he and his men were in U.S. territory. The captain then ordered his men to surrender and turn over their weapons. The officer told Border Patrol officials he thought they were chasing a drug smuggler.
Meanwhile, "the second (Humvee) drove near one of the Border Patrol agents on horseback," Berg said. "The agent identified himself ... and ordered the (Humvee) to stop. This (Humvee) then began to pursue the mounted agent screaming for him to stop, and a shot was fired."
"The Border Patrol agent eluded the (Humvee) and safely concealed himself in nearby draw," Berg said. "Another mounted Border Patrol agent (saw) what was happening. (He) was sighted by the soldiers (who) immediately began to pursue him ... screaming at him to stop."
Another chase
Berg said the mounted agent identified himself but was forced to retreat. The Humvee chased him until it got stuck in a sand dune, halfway between the barn and the fenceline. Two other Border Patrol agents arrived and confronted the soldiers.
The agents and soldiers yelled back and forth about which country they were in. Two of the Mexican soldiers started to head back toward Mexico, and one of the Border Patrol agents on horseback challenged them to stop.
The agent "lit them up with his flashlight and one of the soldiers fired a shot," Berg said.
The agent allowed them to continue toward the stuck Humvee. The soldiers got the Humvee free, and the Border Patrol agents backed off while the Humvee fled to Mexico.
Armstrong said Border Patrol agents were armed with .40 caliber pistols but did not return fire. Perez said "the Mexican soldiers had "NATO-type automatic weapons."
Agents praised
Paul Wells, watch commander at the Santa Teresa Border Patrol Station, said, "Our agents showed remarkable restraint in these situations ... they used their brains instead of their guns."
The Border Patrol sent a letter of commendation to the Sunland Park police for their assistance.
"They said our officers helped diffuse an armed confrontation, which could have easily escalated into a serious shootout," Perez said.
Officials said the Mexican soldiers recently came to the border from the interior of Mexico. They formed part of a special federal anti-narcotics operation in the Juárez border region.
Armstrong said most of the soldiers captured at the barn area "were very young. One of them was 17 years old."
They were taken to the Santa Teresa Border Patrol Station, where they were processed as undocumented immigrants before they, their Humvee and drug-detection dog were returned to Mexico.
Mexico investigating
While Mexican officials have not conceded that their soldiers fired any shots at Border Patrol agents, a spokesman said the Mexican government was investigating. They called the incursion "a regrettable error."
"We have several federal authorities looking into this," said Marco A. Fraire, spokesman for the Mexican consulate general in El Paso.
Sunland Park resident Cris Stewart said, "There should be a well-marked boundary so this doesn't happen again. We could have gotten into a war with Mexico over something like this."
In a prepared statement, U.S. consulate general Edward Marquez said U.S. and Mexican officials discussed the incident at the March 17 meeting of the Border Liaison Mechanism in Juárez.
"The Mexican military commander in the area explained that Mexican personnel involved in the incident were new to the region and unfamiliar with the lightly marked border," Marquez said. "Their discussion underscores ... the need to avoid such incursions in the future."
Chief takes the heat
El Paso sector Border Patrol Chief Luis Barker got caught fire from some Border Patrol agents for releasing the nine Mexican soldiers hours after their capture.
An association of Border Patrol agents in California called for his resignation.
Jim Stack, president of Local 1929, the union that represents El Paso sector Border Patrol agents, said that while the union has not called for Barker's resignation, "We have asked for a thorough investigation by higher authorities."
"Some of the agents feel we let the Mexicans off too easily," he said.
In Barker's defense, Berg said, "The shooters escaped into Mexico. Had they not escaped, (Barker) would have vigorously pursued prosecution."
Barker met with the soldiers' Mexican commander at the Paso Del Norte station before ordering their release.
Armstrong and Berg, who's also chief of U.S. Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent's Association, which represents Border Patrol managers, said holding the nine Mexican soldiers to extract revenge would have made matters worse.
"We need to work with the Mexican officials," Armstrong said.
"INS Commissioner Doris Meissner stands behind the decision by Chief Barker 100 percent," said Tim Counts, spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service Central Regional District in Dallas.
The military's role on the border has been controversial. The Juárez bar association that represents most of the city's lawyers have criticized the Mexican government for using soldiers to patrol civilians.
On the U.S. side, Joint Task Force Six, the military anti-drug support agency at Biggs Army Airfield, suspended ground patrols after a Marine fatally shot a teen in Redford, Texas, in 1997.
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