The Mexican military has escorted drug smugglers into United States territory for years. On occasion, our Border Patrol agents are confronted, on US soil, by the Mexican army. In fact, there have been more than 200 confirmed incursions by the Mexican military into the United States since 1996. The latest case was on Sunday, August 3, 2008.
A Border Patrol agent, working south of Ajo, Arizona, encountered Mexican military personnel who had crossed over into the United States. The agent was held at gunpoint for a period of time, presumably while the smugglers they were protecting moved through the area. Thankfully, back-up officers arrived and the troops withdrew without a gun battle.
Unfortunately, not all US law enforcement encounters with the Mexican army have been as “peaceful.” For example, in January 2007, the Mexican army, in the United States, fired on Texas deputies with a .50 caliber machine gun.
Or how about the time in 2002 when a Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation police officer reported being chased by men in a Humvee and a Border Patrol agent responding to assist, encountered Mexican soldiers who fired on him with a .50 caliber machine gun.
Scores of incidents like these have been confirmed, but hardly mentioned in the press. The southern border is a war zone, and we are sending law enforcement officers in to do what mechanized infantry should be doing. And then our government tries and convicts two agents for shooting an armed drug smuggler. It makes one wonder what the hell is going on.
Read a well-researched article in the Washington Times here. Read an interesting “take” on the incident in an AP article here. Check out the Border Patrol union local 2544′s post about the most recent incident here.
About Richard
Richard is the publisher of BlueSheepdog.com. In addition to writing here, he publishes GunsHolstersAndGear.com and is a regular contributor to places like Human Events, Police & Security News and The Firearm Blog.
“On the Line” by Erich Krauss is a good book on the obstacles our Border Patrol faces, as well as the history of the Border Patrol and our immigration problems.
Why isn’t the damn feds (or the local state gov.s) sending in National Gaurde troops to stop this from happening, if the president of Mexico denies troop activity at the border than we should just blast the next 50 cal. trigger happy mexican back to thier side of the border till this stopps,, why is this problem being brushed under the rug, whhat is so bad about effectively securing our borders,, hope the public outcry eventually reaches the right place,, thank you, Dustin,
IN
Last time I checked, this actually is an act of war……
So, the next time they pull this crap, have a spotter team laying off that can act as a forward observer for the circling USAF strike aircraft….once the BP guys are clear, you hit the cartel motorcade with a couple of JDAMS…….
Rinse and repeat as necessary, until they get the idea to stay the hell out of our country…..
The govt. can prosecute our Border Agents and send them to prison for doing their jobs.But they refuse to take on an unfriendly Govt. that invades our Borders………..
hey lets just station an armoured division with orders to shoot anyone who crosses that line illegally. and maybe have some midnight training exercises involving A-10s on the border