U.S. Border Patrol chief David Aguilar (left) is under fire from all directions as scandals surrounding his statements and actions continue to grow. And in a report for the Liberty News Network, national correspondent and border-security expert Andy Ramirez took him to task yet again.
Quoting often from a report by 27-year Border Patrol veteran David Stoddard, Ramirez went through the border chief’s record in detail. The conclusion: It is time for Aguilar to step down.
Adding a touch of humor to the criticism, Stoddard even compared Aguilar to “Baghdad Bob,” a former spokesman for the deposed regime of Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein. The propagandist became an infamous object of ridicule as he would brag during press conferences about how Iraq’s armed forces were crushing the American military even as U.S. troops could be seen overrunning the nation on the split news screen.
“He did his job well. He was a mouthpiece for Saddam regardless of the facts. And, he provided material for late night television for months after he disappeared,” noted Stoddard in his piece lambasting Aguilar. “He just appeared periodically in his spiffy uniform and beret and told bald-faced lies with a straight face. That is an ability the morally challenged have mastered.”
And Aguilar, like Baghdad Bob, has also become quite an expert at spinning the truth, according to critics. Examples abound. Aguilar once told a rancher, for instance, that the thousands of illegal immigrants crossing his property were just “hikers and campers.”
Aguilar’s detractors even suggest his ability to distort reality might have been among the reasons he was selected to lead the Border Patrol. And a bit of history would seem to add credence to the idea.
The current border chief’s rise to power really began with an appointment from ex-Commissioner Doris Meissner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), who was installed by former President Bill Clinton. According to Stoddard, she was appointed not for her abilities, but for being a “superb political hack.”
Meissner went on to appoint Robert Bach as a deputy to oversee INS enforcement operations and border security. Bach, of course, is the man who publicly stated his belief that “America is too white.”
Together, the cabal worked to systematically dismantle proper enforcement of immigration laws, Stoddard noted. And Aguilar, then the Border Patrol chief of the Tucson sector, apparently proved that he was willing to serve the cause.
Consider: On his way to chiefdom, Aguilar attended a conference in Texas hosted by the League of United Latin American Citizens. Critics attacked the move, saying LULAC has become a “Hispanic supremacist” organization that is fiercely opposed to border enforcement and has even encouraged non-citizens to vote illegally. But maybe that was the point.
Then the Bush administration made Aguilar the chief of the entire Border Patrol. And soon thereafter, the new border boss created myriad new positions and surrounded himself with officials whom Stoddard calls “sycophants.”
More recently, Aguilar became the first border boss in history to receive a vote of “no confidence” from rank-and-file agents. “This is indicative of his lack of leadership and original thought,” Stoddard noted. “It is certainly an indication that the men (and women) in the Border Patrol think he is a dork and don’t trust him.”
In a video that was exclusively released by the Liberty News Network last month, viewers got a glimpse of how agents really feel. The footage shows border agents during a 2007 meeting blasting Aguilar for his public statements in support of “comprehensive immigration reform” and other controversial positions. And according to Ramirez, it should be obvious why the agents are upset: Laws are not being enforced.
Of course, it started well before President Obama took over. In fact, according to Ramirez, almost nothing has changed between the Bush and Obama administrations when it comes to border security.
“You had a lot of lip service from the Bush administration, but this administration is not even bothering with lip service — they’re just plain and simply not going to do it,” he noted. And recent developments have only served to confirm the assertion.
“It’s pretty clear what is going on here,” Ramirez commented. “We know that the director of ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] has his moratorium, if you will, on deportations. We know that President Obama has issued his backdoor amnesty by refusing to have anybody deported.”
And Aguilar is making matters worse. “David Aguilar — or Baghdad Bob — has set a precedent by being the first Border Patrol chief in history whose mission no longer includes the apprehension of illegal aliens,” Ramirez charged. “That’s wrong, and exemplifies why he needs to go.”
Watch the Liberty News Network report:
Andy Ramirez is the founder and president of the Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council, the next step in advocacy after his previous organization known as Friends of the Border Patrol. Liberty News Network is an affiliated news group of The John Birch Society.
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