Border Patrol Told to Reinstate 5 Fired Agents

Five Border Patrol agents fired in March for an alleged rock-throwing incident involving illegal immigrants have been ordered reinstated by a federal arbitrator.

The arbitrator found that the agents’ main accuser, an illegal immigrant with multiple aliases and a lengthy criminal history, lacked credibility. Still, the official imposed 120-day suspensions on four of the agents and a 90-day suspension on the fifth for failing to report the incident.

The decision by arbitrator Sam Vitaro was announced this week after a six-day hearing with 30 witnesses. The federal government has the right to appeal the decision.

Johnny Williams, chief of the Border Patrol’s San Diego sector, said in a prepared statement: “The arbitrator has clearly agreed that the five agents acted improperly and that this type of conduct is unacceptable and must be dealt with sternly.”

But the arbitrator did not agree that the Border Patrol had grounds to fire the five agents: two with 10 years’ experience, one with eight and two of whom were rookies.

From the beginning, the Border Patrol agents’ labor union has insisted that the firing--one of the largest in Border Patrol history--was an attempt by the Border Patrol to satisfy its critics.

“As a society, it’s a very good thing we are sensitive to accusations of abuses by law enforcement,” said lawyer Jane Hahn, who represented the agents during the hearing. “But sometimes supervisors can become so concerned with public pressure that they are scared to stand by their officers for fear of being accused of a cover-up.”

The five were suspended and then fired for an incident that occurred Nov. 18, 1993, in the San Ysidro area. An illegal immigrant accused the agents of throwing rocks at him and other immigrants and striking him in the head.

During the hearing, a paramedic testified that the immigrant’s injuries looked like he had been running and fell onto concrete, as one of the agents had testified.

Court records show that the immigrant who accused the agents of mistreating him and then abandoning him despite his need of medical attention has a history of arrests involving charges such as auto theft, burglary, alien smuggling, assault on an officer and repeated attempts to enter this country illegally.

A sixth agent, a rookie, had told superiors that his colleagues knew that they were leaving an injured immigrant, which would be grounds for dismissal under Border Patrol rules. Testimony at the hearing did not substantiate that accusation.

If the government decides not to appeal, the five agents will receive back pay, minus the length of their suspensions.

As with many things involving the border, the arbitrator’s decision brought sharply different reactions from different groups.

Ben Seeley, a leader of the Border Solutions Task Force, which wants tougher enforcement of immigration laws, hailed the decision as overturning an injustice done to the agents for political purposes.

Roberto Martinez of the American Friends Service Committee said he was shocked and disappointed about the decision and fears that it will send a message to other agents that they can get away with violating the rights of immigrants.