Union official: Frustration grows at Temecula Border Patrol station

By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer | Tuesday, July 6, 2004 10:48 PM PDT ∞

TEMECULA ---- Frustration is growing at the Temecula Border Patrol station, following a management decision to cut back on illegal immigrant sweeps, an official with the union representing Border Patrol agents said Tuesday.

"Station management told them to stand down, to stop their operations," said Ron Zermeno, shop steward for the National Border Patrol Council at the Temecula station.

"We don't know which way to turn ---- for once, we were doing our job, what the government pays us to do," he said.

Border Patrol officials Tuesday denied that operations have been stopped or even slowed down, and attributed the difference of opinion to a misunderstanding.

In early June, the Temecula station formed a special Mobile Patrol Group that conducted a series of illegal immigrant sweeps in Norco, Corona, Escondido and other inland communities. The 12-man group made more than 450 arrests in that month.

At the height of the sweeps, both praise and scorn were heaped on the Border Patrol, with supporters saying it was high time the federal government started enforcing illegal immigration laws, and critics charging the Border Patrol with violating Latino civil and human rights.

Late last month, Undersecretary of Homeland Security Asa Hutchinson told members of Congress that the raids were executed without the approval of higher ranking officials. While the sweeps were not illegal, they violated policy and the chain of command, Hutchinson said.

Also last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner issued a directive that future enforcement operations in the outlying areas surrounding checkpoints would have to be approved by Border Patrol headquarters in Washington.

Despite that directive, however, a Washington spokeswoman for the agency said Tuesday nothing has really changed.

It's unfortunate that some agents at the Temecula station feel like they cannot do their job, said Gloria Chavez, spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"People may interpret this in different ways, but the fact remains that the mobile unit is still operational and conducting the activities they have been doing since the beginning of June," Chavez said.

She said she did not have numbers immediately available on how many arrests the group has made since June 30.

The union's San Diego chapter President Joseph N. Dassaro said Tuesday that Border Patrol officials are spinning the truth.

"The bottom line is that the mobile enforcement group is not mobile, and it's not enforcing," Dassaro said. "You have Hutchinson's statement and you have Bonner's statement, and the (reality) is that you have the Border Patrol looking like the Keystone Cops."

Chavez said there is no connection between the statements by Hutchinson and Bonner and a possible drop in arrests in recent days.

"The (group) is intelligence driven," she said, adding that as more intelligence comes in about illegal immigrant activity, the mobile unit can and will be making more arrests.

Team members are not in the street every day arresting people, she said. Some days they are off work, some days they are training and some days they are gathering and analyzing intelligence, she said.

Zermeno said what he contends is a halt in sweeps stems from political pressure created by protestors.

"It's a few activists that are screaming for us to stop doing our job, and they are the ones getting (Asa) Hutchinson's ear ---- it's very frustrating," Zermeno said.

A Riverside-based immigrant rights activist said Tuesday that Latino groups across the state are mobilizing to fight the Border Patrol sweeps.

"There is a growing consciousness by the community of the threat the Border Patrol represents to our security," said Armando Navarro, coordinator of the National Alliance of Human Rights and professor of political science at UC Riverside.

A statewide summit of Latino leaders is slated from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Ontario's Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, 417 E. Park St., to discuss strategies for preventing more Border Patrol sweeps, Navarro said.

He said he believes the overwhelming reaction by Latino groups against the sweeps created a lot of political pressure.

"This is an election year, and for the Bush administration, the Latino vote is pivotal ---- a lot is on the line," Navarro said.

Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (909) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or wbennett@californian.com.

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