Officers Acted Properly, Says Border Probe

U.S. Border Patrol officials said Thursday that internal investigators had found no wrongdoing by its agents in two recent cases of alleged abuse--one involving the shooting of a man in Mexican territory and the other concerning an amnesty applicant who charged that officers had destroyed her documents.

Moreover, federal immigration officials appearing at a sometimes-rancorous San Diego news conference declared that agents would not back down from using their weapons if faced with danger from either side of the U.S.-Mexico border.

“If they (agents) have to fire, they will . . . even if it’s across the border,” said Dale W. Cozart, chief patrol agent in San Diego, who added that the “almost imaginary line” of the border would not provide “immunity” for would-be assailants.

In addition, the officials attacked the integrity of the two recent accusers, characterizing the shooting victim--who claims to be an innocent bystander--as a known alien smuggler, and implying strongly that the amnesty applicant was a liar bent on discrediting the Border Patrol.

Harold Ezell, regional commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, parent body of the Border Patrol, said that thorough in-house investigations had found no fault on the part of agents. He called the charges of abuse “wild,” “frivolous” and “very outrageous.” The investigations are continuing, he added.

Detractors have long maintained that some of the 2,900 Border Patrol agents posted from California to Texas have routinely violated the rights of both illegal and legal U.S. residents.

“We stand by our position that the Border Patrol has been acting in a criminal manner,” said Roberto Martinez, a Latino-rights activist in San Diego who works with the American Friends Service Committee, the social action arm of the Quaker church.