Inhumane Treatment Alleged : Probe by Congress Urged Into Border Patrol, Police

Rights groups called Friday for a congressional investigation into allegations that the U.S. Border Patrol and other police agencies have been guilty of “barbaric and inhumane” treatment of illegal aliens and other Latinos along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“We’re saying that we want an end of aggression against undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants and Latinos,” said Roberto Martinez, who is the San Diego staffer for the U.S.-Mexico program of the American Friends Service Committee, an advocacy group affiliated with the Quaker church.

Martinez is also co-chairman of the Coalition for Law & Justice, a San Diego group that also demanded a congressional inquiry during a press briefing in San Diego. Also calling for an investigation was Jim Cushman, a paralegal with Proyecto Libertad, a rights group based along the border in Harlingen, Texas.

Although the groups cited a handful of specific instances, they maintained that there have been dozens of cases of abuse in the last few years. Such allegations are common along the U.S.-Mexico border, but officials say the charges are greatly exaggerated.

Fear of More Abuse

The critics expressed fears that the planned buildup of Border Patrol forces under the new immigration law would result in greater abuse.

In Washington, a spokeswoman for Rep. Howard Berman (D-Los Angeles), a member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and International Law, confirmed that Berman was aware of the allegations and had requested that the panel staff look into the matter.

In San Diego, Bill Veal, deputy chief of the Border Patrol, called the charges “irresponsible” and said that a congressional investigation would be a “waste of time.” He noted that agencies such as the San Diego Police Department and San Diego County Sheriff’s Department regularly investigate shootings by Border Patrol officers, as does the immigration service’s internal affairs unit.

“I feel that adequate procedures and institutions are in place to investigate any wrongdoing by Border Patrol agents,” said Veal, who could not name any recent cases in which a patrol agent was found to have assaulted an alien.

Allegation Denied

Critics maintain that agents are rarely punished for mistreatment of aliens and other Latinos. Moreover, critics charge that local police agencies also commit such abuse--an allegation denied by police officials--and are hesitant to charge fellow law enforcement officers with wrongdoing.

During Friday’s press conference, Martinez and others presented graphic color photographs and other evidence of shootings, beatings and other allegedly unprovoked attacks against Latinos, mostly illegal aliens from Mexico. Also attending the session were several purported victims of violence and their attorneys.

One alleged victim, Estaquio Zamano Villazana, was run over by a Border Patrol vehicle near the border last April, suffering a fractured vertebrae and other injuries, according to his attorney, Fred Milberg of San Diego. Milberg, who has filed a claim with the government on behalf of his client, said that Zamano may have been run over deliberately.

“I think there’s too much violence and brutality” along the border, said Milberg.

Veal, the Border Patrol official, said he was not aware of Zamano’s case, but he asserted that there was no evidence that any agent had ever purposely run over an alien with a vehicle. Many aliens have been run over accidentally, Veal said.