Table Of ContentThe shooting war on Mexican
border
© 1997 WorldNetDaily.com
'More firefights than in Bosnia'
At least 10 times in the last 10 weeks, U.S. law
enforcement officers and soldiers have been
fired upon by assailants in Mexico. But that
statistic doesn't even begin to tell the story of
how high tensions are running along the
border. If the situation doesn't cool off, the
Mexican border in 1997 could redefine the way
Americans think of "a long, hot summer."
"There have been more firefights on the border
in recent weeks than there have been in
Bosnia," said an exasperated Rep. Duncan
Hunter, R-El Cajon, before passage of a little-
noticed bill last week authorizing President
Clinton to send up to 10,000 troops to the
Mexican border to help stop illegal
immigration and drug trafficking.
The latest surge of violence began April 18,
when two U.S. Customs inspectors were
wounded in a gun battle at the Calexico border
station. The attacker, a Mexican national, was
killed by the agents. Later that day, a tunnel
linking Calexico with Mexicali was closed by a
bomb threat. Fifty miles to the north, an illegal
alien smuggler allegedly tried to run down a
Border Patrol agent. He and 25 illegal aliens in
the van were arrested after a televised chase
along California freeways that ended in
suburban West Covina.
On May 11, Border Patrol agents and sheriff's
deputies in San Diego were fired upon after a
deputy tried to stop a vehicle for speeding.
On May 17, a Border Patrol agent was
wounded by sniper fire from an AK-47 as he
sat in his Ford Bronco near the San Ysidro
border-crossing station. The shots came,
according to the Border Patrol, from inside
Mexico. The agent was hit in the face, and,
although his injuries are not life-threatening,
he is still recovering.
On May 20, a unit of Marines was fired upon
by a Mexican-American on the U.S. side of the
border in Texas as the soldiers provided
surveillance assistance to the Borer Patrol. The
Marines returned fire, killing the assailant.
On May 23, two Border Patrol agents working
near Border Field State Park came under sniper
fire. The agents fired 50 to 60 rounds back into
Mexico. Another attack was reported the next
day. At least two other gun battles between
Border Patrol agents in Naco, Arizona, and
people on the Mexican side of the border took
place in May.
On June 1, Border Patrol agents were fired at
west of the San Ysidro crossing. None of the
agents were injured. Then, again, bullets were
fired from Mexico at two Border Patrol agents
in separate incidents June 17 and 18 near San
Ysidro. Another border patrolman was killed
June 14 when he fell down a ravine while
pursuing suspects.
"People are getting killed along the border,"
said Rep Brian Bilbray during the troop
deployment debate. Most Americans, though,
haven't noticed.
"These shootings coming from south of the
border aimed north are something that we
haven't experienced until just about a month or
so ago," explains Border Patrol spokesman Jim
Pilkington. Also unprecedented is the type of
weapon being used -- AK-47 rifles equipped
with special telescopes and laser range-finders
normally restricted to the Mexican army.
"There is a war going on for control of our
border with Mexico," says Hunter, matter-of-
factly.
Yes, and in this war, the U.S. Border Patrol is
outgunned and outmanned. Agents are
prohibited from using automatic weapons. But
the attackers have them.
"We have said for years that you won't know
you're being invaded until you try to stop it,"
said Glenn Spencer of Voice of Citizens
Together, a grass-roots organization which has
been fighting illegal immigration for the last
six years. "We are going to see escalating
violence at the border which will only end with
a wide-ranging confrontation which, I suspect,
will spread into the United States."
The troop commitment by Congress, however,
is seen as a largely symbolic move, because
Clinton does not approve of the idea of
deploying soldiers along the border. Before the
troops could be dispatched, Attorney General
Janet Reno would have to request them from
the secretary of defense. But that's not likely, of
course. Unless she finds out that those assault
weapons are being fired by Mexican "cult
members."
