Judge’s Ruling on Border Patrol Chases May Come Today

A federal judge in Santa Ana is expected to rule today or Thursday on a request by the city of Temecula that the U.S. Border Patrol immediately halt high-speed chases through the city until its pursuit policy is rewritten to conform with state law.

The request that the Border Patrol be immediately restrained from engaging in high-speed pursuits was filed Monday with U.S. District Judge Alicemarie Stotler. A decision will not come before late this afternoon--and not until after the Immigration and Naturalization Service has had a chance to respond to Temecula’s arguments.

The legal action was sparked by a Border Patrol chase June 2 that left six people--a parent, four students and an illegal immigrant--dead after the chased car crashed into a passenger sedan, struck two pedestrians and overturned in front of Temecula Valley High School.

The application for the temporary restraining order echoes a complaint filed Friday, when the city asked that the Border Patrol be banned from high-speed pursuits through the city because the agency’s chase policy is unreasonable, too vague to protect city residents, and not in conformance with state laws that govern high-speed pursuits.

In Monday’s legal papers, Temecula officials asked that the Border Patrol be immediately banned from speeding through their city until Stotler rules on the larger issue of whether the Border Patrol’s pursuit policy is unreasonable.

In support of the city’s request, Temecula Police Chief Rick Sayre said that the Border Patrol vehicle was still chasing the immigrants even though its lights and siren had failed and that it had passed by an elementary school before the crash in front of Temecula Valley High School.

At no time, Sayre complained, did the Border Patrol seek the assistance of his officers.

The Border Patrol has said it had attempted to curtail the chase by slowing down shortly before the crash.