"Border Patrol checks 'interior'"

The Washington Times reports on the recent arrests of illegal aliens in the interior. (Previous coverage of this here).

It contains this interesting bit:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Robert C. Bonner, who oversees the Border Patrol, in August overturned an order by the agency's sector chief in San Diego directing agents not to arrest illegal aliens on city streets or to question them except along the border.

Mr. Bonner... ordered Chief William T. Veal to recall an Aug. 8 memo ordering his 1,600 agents to make arrests only along the U.S.-Mexico border or at highway checkpoints.

Chief Veal, who has since retired, issued the memo after protests from the Mexican Consulate over the arrests in San Diego of illegal aliens seeking to obtain Mexican identification cards.

Mr. Bonner said the Veal order was "overly broad and restrictive" and should be rescinded. He has since directed the Border Patrol to review its enforcement policies nationwide and, last month, named Tucson sector Chief David Aguilar, considered an aggressive enforcement proponent, to head the Border Patrol...

Chief Veal... said in his memo that the future of Border Patrol operations was dependent on the elimination of the perception that agents were conducting neighborhood sweeps.

The memo prohibited agents from initiating arrests in cities, residential areas, near workplaces and locations where day laborers gathered, and from making arrests while driving to their assignments. It also described the agents' main priority as the "maximum containment" of illegal immigration at the border and preventing terrorists from entering the country...

Immigration2003 · Fri, 06/11/2004 - 11:27 · Importance: 1