Violence on Border to Be Studied : Oxnard: Latino-rights advocates will tour the area south of San Diego in February. Complaints against immigration agents led to the inquiry.

Responding to complaints from immigrants in Ventura County, Latino-rights advocates in Oxnard unveiled plans Thursday to form a delegation to investigate an alleged increase in violence against Latino immigrants along the U.S.-Mexican border.

The group will be formed in December by the Ventura County Immigration Coalition and El Concilio del Condado de Ventura and will join other civil rights representatives statewide to tour the border area south of San Diego during a three-day period, beginning in February.

Formation of the delegation was prompted by an increase in complaints to the coalition about U.S. Border Patrol activity in Ventura County and an increase in violence along the border, said Armando Garcia, chairman of the Immigration Coalition.

Border Patrol agents said they have heard no complaints about their activities in Ventura County, where 26% of the population is Latino. They acknowledged that there has been an increase in the number of violent incidents along the border, but they said agents are not the source of the problem.

“The majority of those incidents are by border bandits against immigrants and our agents,” said Ted Swofford, a supervisor with the Border Patrol in San Diego.

At a news conference in Oxnard, Garcia said immigrants have complained about racial hate groups who congregate at the border to shout insults and intimidate immigrants. Mexican citizens also have complained about an increase in shootings by Border Patrol agents, he said.

Garcia said the delegation, known as California Border Violence Delegation Project, is also significant because immigration legislation signed today by President Bush will increase the Border Patrol’s authority to make arrests.

Among the incidents in Ventura County that have sparked complaints is the raid of a Santa Paula residence last month by Border Patrol agents. Also, Garcia said Border Patrol agents have arrested Mexican citizens outside the Mexican consulate at Oxnard’s main bus terminal.

In a interview, Alan Dwelley, an assistant chief for the Border Patrol in San Francisco, said he has heard of no complaints about the treatment of immigrants in Ventura County.

Dwelley dismissed the accusation about an illegal raid, saying Border Patrol agents can enter residences to allow immigrants who are about to be deported to gather their belongings.

“We’ve had no complaints whatsoever relative to our activities in Ventura County,” said Dwelley, whose office oversees the county.

Along the border in San Diego, however, Swofford said the number of assaults against Border Patrol agents has tripled in the past year. In 1989, there were 60 assaults against Border Patrol agents, ranging from physical attacks, rock-throwing incidents and shootings, he said. In 1990, there were 217 assaults, he said.

Swofford said he could not explain the reason for the increase.

He said there has been an increase in groups at the border protesting the illegal immigration of Mexican citizens into the United States, but he said the groups are usually not violent and do not yell insults at immigrants.

Lee Pliscou, an attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance, said Oxnard is experiencing some of the same problems as other “border towns” because buses at the Oxnard station run directly to Tijuana.

Noelia Chavez, a spokeswoman for El Concilio in Oxnard, said the delegation will document violent incidents by interviewing alleged victims and using the evidence to pressure Congress to address the problem.