Earlier: The Needs Of America’s Farmers

Watching the news on the border and immigration is a depressing and maddening business. There’s always something to comment on, but it gets old to comment on another record month of illegals coming across the border. It’s also depressing watching a once proud agency like the Border Patrol completely cave in and become nothing more than a welcoming committee for lawbreakers.

I can remember hearing about an Agent who arrested some illegal aliens at a farm in western New York. The farm’s owner was apparently politically connected, and Chuck Schumer’s office was calling the Buffalo Sector Border Patrol and demanding an explanation. BP management pulled that Agent away from making arrests. It sent a message to other Agents not to do their jobs too.

However, there are (or there were) members of management who did stand up to the politics. In Swanton Sector, Chief Pfeiffer stood up to Border Patrol HQ in DC when they started implementing pay reforms. The Chiefs of the various Border Patrol Sectors were told orally to cut down on Administratively Uncontrolled Overtime (AUO). Most of the Sector Chiefs complied, but Pfeiffer told them that if they didn’t put their “order” in writing, he wasn’t going to comply and he didn’t. If his guys needed to work extra hours to make arrests and process the arrests, they did so.

The summer edition of The Border Line, a publication for retired Border Patrol Agents, has a “recuerdo” (Spanish for a memory) about a now deceased Agent named Roger Stout.

The second example furnished by Stout involved his leading of an early morning raid of the National Horse Show during Indio's Date Festival Days. Stout had received information concerning a number of illegals working as grooms, exercise boys, and stable hands and organized a 5am visit by about 7 Agents… I recall that we apprehended 18 wets and by the time we got back to the station for processing, the phone was ringing constantly. We had calls from the Mayor, U.S. Congressmen, the Governor's office (Reagan at the time) and several major media raising questions of bias and discrimination in our enforcement efforts. The Chamber of Commerce said we were trying to ruin their Date Festival. Toward late afternoon, while awaiting transportation from El Centro, Roger came out of his office and announced. ‘Boys, they need another visit at the Horse Show, be in at 5am’. We went back and got 15 more the next morning. I don't remember too many phone calls that day. Roger Stout didn't bend to pressure. [Recuerdo on Integrity (Roger Stout)]

I wish there were some Agents with the nerve to defy Mayorkas and company by refusing to carry out unlawful orders. Sadly, that does not seem to be the case. (I know, I’m a hypocrite. I was able to retire rather than be a forced traitor to my country.)