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Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns,misc.legal,misc.survivalism
Subject: Mark Reed's Treason: A Call to Arms Wanted
From: nobody@huge.cajones.com (Huge Cajones Remailer)
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 1996 08:28:01 -0800

TO THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION
IS TURNING THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST OVER TO MEXICO, READ THIS FROM THE
SAN DIEGOUNION TRIBUNE.
  _________________________________________________________________ 

Mexican consular office set at border 

Angry agents lodge protests with INS, Justice Department 

By Valerie Alvord STAFF WRITER - San Diego Union Tribune

November 10, 1996 
A Mexican consulate office is expected to open at the San Ysidro port
ofentry in what is believed to be the first time a foreign government
hasbeen given permanent access to an American border crossing station.
Althoughthe move is designed to improve binational relations and avert
civil rightsproblems, it has sparked a tempest among immigration
inspectors, who sayit shows Washington isn't serious about its "get
tough" policieson the border. 

The plan for the office, which could open by the end of the month, has
someemployees of the Immigration and Naturalization Service so unhappy
and fearfulthat a "foreign agent" will be looking over their shoulders
thattheir labor union is asking for formal notice of a change in
working conditions.Customs inspectors also have weighed in with
concerns, with one saying theproposal is a "slap in the face" to
American law enforcement onthe border. 

The Mexican consul general and federal authorities in San Diego,
however,say it's an idea whose time has come. "We're confident it will
be abenefit to the public," said Consul General Luis Herrera-Lasso.
INSDistrict Director Mark Reed believes the plan will help his agency
withmany problems, including the thorny issue of what to do with
stranded childrenwhose parents are arrested for crossing the border
illegally. 

But several INS supervisors have written to Rep. Brian Bilbray,
R-ImperialBeach, and one wrote to Attorney General Janet Reno. Bilbray
has asked Renoto investigate the matter. Those who have seen the
office that is beingprepared for the consulate say it is in the area
where interrogations ofsuspected illegal border crossers are carried
out. "How can you doyour work when you have a foreign government
breathing down your neck?"asked one letter-writer who didn't want to
be named. "That office isgoing to be five feet from where we conduct
interrogations." 

A spokeswoman for Reno in Washington said the letters have been
receivedand will be answered by the Justice Department or the INS. She
said theidea to move the consulate into the U.S. border crossing
building grew outof a civil rights working group set up in San Diego.
Federal officials familiarwith the plan say it is unprecedented and
that could be why it's causingsuch an uproar. 

Reed said that besides helping solve day-to-day working problems,
havinga permanent Mexican consul officer close by would create a
perception thatcivil rights complaints are taken seriously. "A lot of
people thinkit's a wonderful idea," he said. "There have been many
meetings(with Mexican officials) in which they've voiced concerns
about human rights,and many (similar) meetings with the public," Reed
added. While hesaid most serious allegations have been unfounded, Reed
is worried aboutpeople feeling they have been mistreated while coming
through the border."I proposed . . . inviting the consul general into
the portto resolve a lot of these issues before they became a
problem," hesaid. 

Nancy LeRoy, public affairs officer for the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana,
anarm of the State Department, also applauded the plan, saying it
would helpfoster a long-standing "cordial relationship" between the
U.S.and Mexican consuls. Others, however, were skeptical. "I'd like
toknow more about it," said Bilbray, whose congressional district
includesthe border crossing. "Inspectors questioning people coming
across theborder are going to be sitting right next to the desk of a
foreign government,"Bilbray said. "What is the point of taking a
foreign agent and puttingthem right in the middle of a federal agency?
Frankly, I think the firstpriority of any federal agency is to serve
the interests of the United States."

Concern among supervisors and rank-and-file inspectors apparently is
widespread.MikeMagee, president of the INS employees union, said many
union members areworried that if Mexican consular officers have free
access to the INS facility,there would be an atmosphere making it
difficult for inspectors to do theirjobs. He said the union has
requested a detailed proposal and that if theconcerns aren't
adequately addressed, the organization will fight the plan.Magee,
however, did concede that it would be helpful to have someone onhand
to look after unaccompanied children. "I can see benefits to it,"Magee
said. "There's very limited juvenile detention space, and theMexican
consul has a whole unit set up just to take care of kids and hookthem
up with family. I would hope the main benefit would be that you
couldleave the kids or pregnant women or sick people there." 

Herrera-Lasso said he understood the concerns of the U.S. border
inspectorsand believed there would be similar concern if such a
proposal were institutedin Tijuana. "It's only natural," he said. "Now
we just haveto implement the plan and show people there's a benefit."
He said anexperienced foreign service officer has already been chosen
and it is hopedhe can move into his new office by the end of the
month. 

The unrest among the employees apparently took district director Reed
bysurprise. Named to the job less than two years ago, Reed came into
an agencywhere morale was at rock bottom, equipment was outdated and
working conditionswere dismal. Morale improved recently when the first
data processing computersarrived, allowing inspectors working on
reports to throw out their old manualtypewriters. Staff increases, new
carpeting and other amenities have alsohelped, many at the building
said recently. 

Reed said his first order of business when he arrived was to set up
linesof communication. But after learning that his supervisors had
complainedto Reno and Bilbray without his knowledge, he conceded in a
recent interview,"I guess I haven't done as good a job on
communication as I thought."He said the plan to bring the Mexican
consul into the building was his ideaand he that he stood by his
reasoning. Many interviewed agreed that themost attractive part of the
plan is that stranded Mexican children wouldbe quickly looked after by
a member of their own government. But othersquestioned why the
children couldn't just be walked a few feet down theroad to where the
Mexicans maintain their own border crossing area. 

Rudy Camacho, head of the Customs Management Center for Southern
California,said protocols and international treaties precluded such a
simple solution.Camacho also seemed surprised to learn some Customs
inspectors were concernedabout the plan. Customs and INS inspectors
work side by side at the border,and one Customs supervisor said
recently that many of his colleagues consideredoffering office space
to Mexico inappropriate. Said the customs inspector,who wished to
remain anonymous: "The feeling among Customs inspectorsthat I've
talked to is that a foreign government is putting a watchdog inthere
with the support of the American government, and we think it's a
slapin the face." 

Copyright 1996 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. #

