In a sharply worded attack, the union for 10,000 U.S. Border Patrol employees accused the federal government of conducting a "witch hunt" in an investigation that implicated dozens of Border Patrol agents in a kickback scheme. The agents, said T. J. Bonner, the president of the National Border Patrol Council, were "victimized by a mindless bureaucracy."
The federal investigation uncovered a widespread kickback scheme involving agents temporarily assigned to the Douglas, Ariz., Border Patrol station several years ago. A Justice Department report disclosed that agents had accepted cash kickbacks from supervisors who rented rooms to them, and cash and other inducements from hotels that sought their business. In some cases, agents filed false expense accounts with the government.
The investigation was prompted by allegations made by agents Larry Davenport and Willie Forester. In a story in its June 6 edition, U.S. News reports that the whistle-blowers' charges led to the disciplining of 23 agents and three low-level supervisors. Border Patrol records show that at least 19 other agents were involved in the scheme but were not disciplined. Two agents, indicted in the case, are awaiting trial in Arizona. Davenport and Forester left the Border Patrol in 2002.
Most of the agents implicated in the scheme were detailed to the Arizona-Mexico border, beginning in 1999, as part of a campaign to crack down on illegal immigration. The whistle-blowers, Davenport and Forester, alleged that David Aguilar, now the head of the Border Patrol in Washington, knew of the scheme but did nothing to stop it. They complained to the Justice Department in February 2001. At the time, Aguilar was the chief patrol agent in Tucson, which includes the Douglas station and covers a 260-mile stretch along the U.S.-Mexico border. Through a spokesman, Aguilar strongly denied the whistle-blowers' allegations. |