Most Censored: US Border Patrol running drugs

The U.S. Border Patrol with surveillance directed at traditional Tohono O'odham homes, near the home of Raymond Mattia ten years ago, before he was murdered by the U.S. Border Patrol.

While US Border Patrol agents escort cartels into the US, 'securing' the border means cash for corporations and their politicians

Ten Years Later

When I talked with Raymond Mattia in 2013, on the border by his home, Ray described how he videotaped U.S. Border Patrol agents escorting the drug cartels across the border with their loads. When he submitted the evidence to authorities, the video disappeared. Raymond was murdered by Border Patrol agents coming out the front door of his home.

This article is what I wrote at that time, it includes a Congressional hearing on the U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested for drug smuggling. The hearing was so censored, it took a hacker to expose it. There was only one article, in Epoch Times, that is now unavailable even in the web archive.

At that time, more than 130 U.S. Border Patrol agents and ICE agents had been arrested for drug smuggling, spotting for cartels, and related crimes. Also at that time, the Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems was receiving contracts for spy towers, integrated fixed towers. There are now 11 of these towers, including one in the heart of the Tohono O'odham Nation, away from the border, which allows the U.S. Border Patrol to stalk O'odham in their communities in real-time.

The media has been part of the cover-up and is unable to report this because the reporters haven't shown up. The U.S., with its spin, also is engaged in the cover-up of the out-of-control brutality and militarization of U.S. Border Patrol agents and other federal agents on the border. From Texas to California along the border, these agents have been arrested not just for drug running -- but for serial rape, assault, kidnapping, and murder. --- Brenda Norrell, Censored News.

US Border Patrol facing traditional Tohono O'odham home.

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

June 27, 2013


While US Border Patrol agents continue to escort drug cartels into the US, "securing" the border actually means cash for corporations and their politicians.
The media shares the blame for what is happening at the border. The media has ignored the charges and convictions of US Border Patrol agents for assault, rape, drug running and conspiracy (spotting for the cartels and escorting the drug loads into the US.) The media has also ignored the many times that US Border Patrol agents have literally gotten away with murder.

US spy tower on Tohono O'odham land

While refusing to expose the truth, the media cheerleads for more dollars for profiteers like Boeing and the Israeli Apartheid contractors, including Elbit Systems.

Boeing wasted millions on US spy towers, including the spy towers on the sovereign Tohono O'odham Nation which Boeing said did not function.

Meanwhile, the media cheerleads for more money for private prisons and filling those prisons with people of color.

What they are really "securing" is huge amounts of money for corporations and the politicians they pay for.

Congress now wants $3.6 billion more for drones and border surveillance technology.
But of course, to do real journalism, reporters have to show up, spend time here, and get to know the people so they will talk to you. You can't just fly in and swallow the official line.

This is one of the most censored stories. US Border Patrol agents continue to escort the drug cartels across the Arizona border. Many have been charged and convicted, but others are still being spotted escorting the loads across. 

The US knows the agents are doing this. The US satellite images are crystal clear. The US can listen to everyone's calls and read their e-mails. We all know this. It is only a matter of time before the real truth comes out. The ATF has already been exposed running assault weapons south to the cartels. 

During the Congressional hearing on border agent crime last year, the US admitted that since 2004, over 130 agents of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have been arrested, charged, or otherwise prosecuted on corruption charges. The convictions include alien and drug smuggling, money laundering, and conspiracy.  http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/united-states/congressional-hearing-examines-ethics-violations-at-dhs-242766.html

The number of arrests and convictions of Border Patrol agents so far represents only a fraction of the agents involved in drug running and abuse.

When Tohono O'odham report the assaults by US Border Patrol agents to Homeland Security, the most common response is no response at all.

Tohono O'odham human rights activists, and Navajo supporters, opposing the militarization of their traditional homelands, and speaking out for Indigenous Peoples rights have been targeted by US spy operations.

Regardless of the abuse by US Border Patrol agents, and drug running by agents, Congress now wants 18,000 more Border Patrol agents on the border.

Human rights groups in Tucson have issued the following statement on the new immigration bill and what it really means.

New Immigration Bill Is a Step Backward for Border Communities and Many Immigrant Families Arizona Groups Call on National Immigrant Rights Advocates to Oppose More Border Militarization For the past 20 years, border communities have disproportionately suffered from an “enforcement first” approach to immigration policy. The size of the Border Patrol has grown more than fivefold. Residents within 100 miles of the border now live within a “constitution-free zone,” where their civil rights and liberties are consistently ignored. In their zeal for “border security,” the Department of Homeland Security has recklessly implemented the largest waiver of law in American history, disregarding laws that protect the environment, cultural and historic sites, Indigenous sacred sites, and America’s public lands. What is worse, the enforcement build-up is directly responsible for the more than 2,500 men, women and children who have died in the Arizona desert. On June 21 the Senate “Gang of 8” introduced the Corker–Hoeven amendment, a massive overhaul of S. 744, the immigration reform bill that Congress had been debating for months. This replacement bill is being railroaded through the congressional process, with Senate leaders declaring they hope to have a full vote on the legislation by the end of this week (June 28). Among other things, the bill will now include the following provisions: 18,000 new Border Patrol agents, almost doubling the size of the agency (and more than triple the number that would have been added under the widely condemned Cornyn amendment) Hundreds of new miles of single or double-layered border fencing $3.6 billion to expand the use of drones and other surveillance technology along the border Full implementation of an entry-exit visa verification system at all U.S. ports of entry 100% implementation of E-Verify for all U.S. employers and employees Expansion of the waiver of all laws for construction of physical infrastructure, including a series of forward operating bases at the border Postponed implementation of a pathway to citizenship until all of the above are completed Increased fees that immigrants would have to pay to normalize their status Tripling of criminal prosecutions for border crossers (to 210 people daily at the Tucson Federal Courthouse) through “Operation Streamline” mass hearings Expansion of the prison population and private prison profits. Through Operation Streamline and related efforts, 82,250 individuals were criminally prosecuted for immigration violations in 2011 alone, constituting over 50% of all federal prosecutions, costing $1,023,615,633.60 and resulting in Latinos now representing more than half of the federal prison population (while only 16% of the national population). In public statements celebrating the Corker–Hoeven replacement bill, Sen. Lindsey Graham has exuberantly proclaimed: “we have practically militarized the border.” Graham’s boasting indicates the Senator’s lack of concern regarding the already severe impacts of border militarization on the over 6 million U.S. citizens, immigrants, and indigenous peoples who live in the southwest borderlands, and the environment that sustains us. The Senate’s replacement bill exacerbates all of these trends, to unthinkable proportions. If this proposal moves forward, we feel that the damage to our communities will be so great that we will no longer be able to support this bill. National advocates need to be honest about the state of negotiations. Republicans have made the pathway to citizenship so onerous and restricted that millions will never qualify. Prior to the Corker–Hoeven amendment the bill’s enforcement provisions and “triggers” were already unreasonable and burdensome. At what cost will we continue to make concessions? Thousands more border deaths? Our communities turned into a war zone or a police state? Massive destruction of our borderland environment? This price is too high to pay, and we ask our allies and supporters to join us in denouncing this “compromise” and demanding that the Senate begin again on a genuine reform effort, one that doesn’t play politics with our lives. Make no mistake: this bill will lead to more deaths on the border. It is bad public policy, and it is a giant step backward for our communities and for many immigrant families. Our communities and families deserve better, and if this is the best that the Senate can offer we feel that our only option is to withdraw our support and demand that Congress begin again on crafting a genuine reform bill. Coalición de Derecho Humanos Alliance for Global Justice No More Deaths/No Más Muertes Tucson Samaritans The Repeal Coalition Humanitarian Border Solutions Phoenix Allies for Community Health Keep Tucson Together Clinica Legal Comunitaria Corazón de Tucson Southside Workers Center Occupy Tucson Community of Christ of the Desert Arizona Jobs with Justice Salt of the Earth Labor College American Friends Service Committee–Arizona Tucson Solidarity Organizing Network Casa Mariposa Border Action Network Copyright Censored News. May not be used without written permission.