Time is Running Out for Bush to Free Border Agents

With a little over two months left in office, President Bush has the opportunity to right an incredible injustice. He has the constitutional power to pardon former Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. Bush should step forward and grant freedom to these agents who were doing their job protecting America.

For those how haven't followed this case, Agents Ramos and Compean shot an illegal alien as he was fleeing back to the Mexican border. The illegal alien, Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, was in the process of smuggling approximately a million dollars worth of marijuana into the U.S. What happened next has set the stage for President Bush to take action in his closing days as president.Rather than being commended for protecting America's borders, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton decided to prosecute the agents. Sutton granted Davila immunity in exchange for testimony. Sutton said the agents "shot 15 times at an unarmed, fleeing man." Sutton also claims that the agents "decided to lie about it, cover it up, destroy the evidence, pick up all the shell casings and throw them away where we couldn't find them, destroy the crime scene and then file a false report."

In a statement issued in January, 2007, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) said that it was "irresponsible" to punish Agents Ramos and Compean with jail time.
"The Border Patrol is America's first line of defense against the constant and unrelenting efforts of drug and human smugglers to illegally enter the United States," said Congressman Hunter. "Agents Compean and Ramos fulfilled their responsibilities as Border Patrol agents and rightfully pursued a suspected and fleeing drug smuggler. It is irresponsible to punish them with jail time.
"The security situation on our Southern land border requires a strong law enforcement presence. This conviction demoralizes our nation's Border Patrol and sends a clear message that we are not serious about protecting our borders and enforcing our immigration laws."
Hunter's communications director, Joe Kasper, commented at the time that the facts of this case are "so nebulous" that the case represents a "severe injustice."

"Agents Ramos and Compean felt threatened and acted appropriately to apprehend the individual. At most, an administrative punishment is required but certainly not 11- and 12-year federal prison sentences."

As Ramos and Compean languished in prison, the illegal alien drug dealer...Davila was arrested again for drug smuggling.

The Washington Times quotes T. J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, as being critical with the timing of the indictment against Aldrete Davila.

"Osvaldo Aldrete Davila should have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for these felonies two years ago," said Mr. Bonner, whose group represents more than 12,000 Border Patrol agents. "This deliberate and unconscionable delay directly resulted in the wrongful incarceration of two innocent law-enforcement officers."

According to Drug Enforcement Administration documents obtained by The Times, DEA investigators believed they had sufficient evidence to indict Aldrete Davila in late 2005, but their requests to do so were denied by Mr. Sutton's office.

President Bush has the opportunity to correct the actions by Sutton and to set Ramos and Compean free! Please contact President Bush and urge him to do the right thing. A presidential pardon will allow Ramos and Compean to return to their families. And encourage your friends and associates to send a message, urging President Bush to pardon Ramos and Compean. President Bush has only two months left to take action.

Bobby Eberle, November 11, 2008