[Guest post by DRJ]

Sheriff Leo Samaniego of El Paso County, Texas, died Friday of a cancer-related illness. I did not know Sheriff Samaniego but I am aware of and value his thoughts on border security, national security and homeland security as presented in his testimony last March 2006 before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims and Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

Here is an article in the El Paso Times about Sheriff Leo Samaniego’s life and career (he was a Democrat who worked in law enforcement for 51 years) and another with reaction to his death.

If you want an insider’s view of border issues, click **MORE** to read Sheriff Samaniego’s Congressional testimony:

“Outgunned and Outmanned: Local Law Enforcement Confronts Violence Along the Southern Border”
by Sheriff Leo Samaniego

Chairman Hostettler and Coble, Ranking Members Jackson-Lee and Scott, and Members of the Subcommittees,

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the violence along the southern border and its impact on Local law enforcement. As I have stated previously in other hearings, my only regret is that the hearing wasn’t held on the border, where the rubber meets the road in border violence, drug and human trafficking, incursions and national security.

I realize that our nation’s homeland security is our number one priority. Establishing that priority does not diminish the continuing problems we have with the recent front page headline grabbing problems border incursions, drug/human trafficking and violence. In many ways, all of these issues go hand in hand. The very routes, methods of concealment, and human resources used by illicit organizations for drug trafficking and alien smuggling are also a threat to our nation’s security. On this border, counter-narcotics and national security efforts tap into the same law enforcement resources.

The problem

My hometown of El Paso, Texas, unfortunately is one of the leading gateway cities for the transshipment of narcotics. I want to emphasize that the drugs flowing across this border, are, by and large, not staying here. Drug trafficking is not a local problem, it is a national problem, and requires the attention of our Federal government. While there is a drug abuse problem in El Paso, the demand does not compare to the high demand for drugs in the rest of the nation. The problem for El Paso is the transshipment of drugs through the region, and the illegal activities associated with it. Drug traffickers do not stop for long once they have entered El Paso. They continue with their shipments on to cities throughout the country. The failure to stop drug smuggling here today could mean 1,000 kilograms of marijuana will end up on the streets of Evansville, Indiana, Greensboro, North Carolina, Houston, Texas, Richmond, Virginia or tomorrow - you name the city, and state.

To illustrate my point as I was preparing to leave Texas for Washington D.C. the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office was completing its field investigation into a traffic stop in the far west end of the county. The traffic stop was for speeding big deal. However, in the vehicle were eleven (11) undocumented immigrants. The traffic stop led to a house in the county with fifteen (15) more undocumented immigrants and then a motel with thirty-nine (39) more undocumented immigrants, and a hotel in Downtown El Paso with 126 more and then a couple of more motels with 38 more undocumented immigrants.

In the middle of this simple traffic stop our agency was informed that many of those brought into the country illegally across the river in an isolated area east of the county, had not eaten for more than three days. One woman made an outcry that she had not seen her 7 year-old child or husband because they became separated in the desert.

This resulted in our agency activating a massive law enforcement effort to locate the missing child and husband. As I testify today we are just finishing all of the paperwork in reference to this simple traffic case which resulted in the discovery of almost 229 undocumented immigrants. The missing child case appears to have a happy ending; however our agency protocol forces us to await some additional paperwork before we officially close this case. This traffic stop has resulted in our agency passing along some information to our Criminal Enterprise unit which is charged with investigating the type of criminal nexus.

Everyone believes violence is associated with the sound of a gun. I’m here to tell you this is not the only sound you’ll hear. Violence along the border also includes the loud gasp of farmers and ranchers who find dead bodies in the desert from the illegal entry, bodies recovered in the river on the U.S. side from individual victims who have been killed by smugglers or river bandits.

The violence also translates into the screeching sound of tires traveling at a high rate of speed as drivers who literally crossed into the United States over a dry river bed attempt to elude law enforcement with a vehicle loaded with narcotics.

One such incident occurred on Wednesday, December 14, 2005. Deputies in Hudspeth County and Border Patrol Agents working in Hudspeth County identified a pick-up truck suspected of engaging in narcotics trafficking. Based on physical evidence; the vehicle crossed a low water point in the Rio Grande in Hudspeth County, Texas. The vehicle illegally crossed into the United States from Mexico.

Border Patrol Agents and Hudspeth County deputies spotted the 1992 Ford (Black and Grey) extended cab 4X4. The driver of the vehicle failed to pull over and eventually crossed into El Paso County. El Paso County Sheriff’s Deputies were notified of the fleeing vehicle.

The driver traveling west on Interstate 10 exited the highway at the Tornillo exit and headed south toward the river. El Paso County Sheriff’s Deputies (Drug Interdiction Unit) spotted the vehicle and attempted to pull the driver over.

The driver traveling south on Feed Penn (Approximately 55 mph in a residential area & School Zone) thought he was crossing the river near the intersection of Chamizo. In reality the driver was crossing the Franklin Canal when his truck got stuck. He was not injured as a result of driving into the canal. The driver exited the vehicle. Deputies caught him in a foot pursuit.

The driver is identified as Ricardo Roman Padilla (26 years old) from Guadalupe, Chihuahua, Mexico. Padilla is charged with possession of marijuana (over 50 pounds under 2,000 pounds). This is a second-degree felony. His bond is $75,000.00.

This is an incursion that demonstrates how porous the Texas/Mexico Border is. Imagine if this chase had occurred about 20 minutes early when school children would have been walking home from school along Feed Penn Rd.

He was caught because Governor Rick Perry provided the Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition grant money that allows us to increase patrols in the hot spots. This grant pays officers overtime to work these danger zones. This is a program we call “Operation Linebacker.”

National Law Enforcement Effort

The enforcement efforts in other major cities are being increased because we are not stopping the drugs here. Efforts to secure our border against narco-terrorism have not curbed the use of the Southwest border as the most significant gateway of drugs being smuggled into the United States. Federal resources have been expanded in cities to our north to combat drug use and distribution, yet most of the drugs have originated from this border.

If illicit organizations can bring in tons of narcotics through this region and work a distribution network that spans the entire country, then they can bring in the resources for terrorism as well. If illegal aliens can be smuggled through here in truck loads (and they are) then terrorist organizations can also covertly smuggle the people to carry out their plans. On the Southwest Border, the same organizations involved in smuggling drugs have also been found to smuggle illegal aliens. Their motive is profit, regardless of the negative impact on our country. Smuggling terrorists, weapons, or weapons components would not be a far reach for these established organizations.

There are two issues that plague this area. First, the Federal government is expecting local agencies to assist with addressing the national drug problem, and now with increased national security efforts, but at the same time has been reducing law enforcement resources, such as federal law enforcement grants and prison reimbursement funds (SCAAP). Secondly, the Federal government is expecting more of its Federal agencies on the Southwest Border without providing adequate resources.

Understanding Border Security from the field.

While the city of El Paso is a safe community, the nation’s third safest; approximately 3,000 automobiles a year are stolen in El Paso and taken to Mexico. Literally a stone’s throw away, the City of Juarez, Mexico has been plagued with over 500 drug related homicides in the last ten years. Many of those were gang-style executions, and in addition there were approximately 200 unsolved murders of young women.

I have been accused of having an agenda in terms of my testimony. My agenda is simple: “Border Security, National Security, and Homeland Security.” If one of these elements is missing the other two don’t exist.

In order for the nation to understand the southern border sometimes you have to take bold steps and identify the truth. The truth is Mexico, our neighbor to the south, continues with some corrupt legal practices very few in that government wish to recognize. In fact, some in our own government have turned a blind eye to this reality.

One such phenomena of corruption is the “Madrina” - a reality I’ve seen through my own eyes as a law enforcement professional along the border for almost 50 years this month. The term “Madrina” is associated with individuals who are not official government employees, but they have been given authority by “Funcionarios” recognized government employees. The “Madrinas” draw no salary and get no benefits, yet they are allowed to act as officials of whatever agency they have been appointed by. In some cases they’ll wear a uniform, sometimes carry an official Identification, and will be authorized to use equipment (weapons & vehicles). The identification in the United States is generally marked “Honorary.” In Mexico that I.D. represents the ability to carry out the full force of whatever agency that has issued the card.

Many of the “Madrinas” are paid through “Mordida” — a bribe, or percentage of the take. Some “Madrinas” give a large percentage of what they collect to those who have afforded them the identification to operate. It is my experience in dealing with them, they admit to no payroll, no benefits, no records kept. If a complication arises they are expendable, because the Mexican government officially doesn’t recognize them, but by turning a blind eye allows this practice to exist. “Madrinas” are unaccountable middle men who can negotiate with the drug cartels on behalf of whoever has appointed them and wants his or her government agency to thrive under this practice.

No records, no photos, no phone calls, no witnesses can ever be found to connect a Madrina with a government official or a high ranking criminal member. When one is found they generally are found dead. I know they exist because of my own experience as a street cop. I have narcotics officers tell me that the practice and traditions of the “Madrinas” is still alive.

Border Sheriff’s.

I would like to close by describing how the Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition has organized to share information. We have developed an operation to help one another deal with the federal government’s policies that doesn’t allow federal law enforcement to control the border. Operation Linebacker is a program designed by locals to solve local problems.

Extra patrols already operate under this plan thanks in large part to Texas Governor Rick Perry who has stated on numerous occasions, “Although border security is a federal responsibility, we have no choice but to take aggressive steps at the state and local level to secure our borders and protect Texans.”

In October 2005 Governor Perry released a comprehensive, six-point border security plan that featured Operation Linebacker. Again this program was designed by the Coalition to increase local law enforcement presence along the Texas-Mexico border, particularly between legal points of entry.

Operation Linebacker is making life more difficult for those trying to smuggle drugs, weapons and people into Texas. It is imperative that we increase security along our southern border, it is a matter of a public safety. Without border security you won’t have national security or homeland security.

Conclusion

I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for this opportunity to testify. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office continues to make every effort possible, working with our fellow law enforcement agencies, Federal, state and local, to address the concerns of the community of El Paso and the American people. I would be happy to answer any questions you might have.