07/31/2012
The incomparable Nicholas Stix of the Nicholas Stix, Uncensored blog, asked a sarcastic question on VDare.com recently — whether Barack Hussein Obama was soon to order the end of pursuits of illegal aliens fleeing the Border Patrol in particular and law enforcement in general.
What Nicholas did not know was that order was issued years ago by Bill Clinton. That order was the culmination of years of lobbying by the illegal alien lobby and their supporters. It, of course, was not repealed by Jorge Bush. And now we have a clear policy that the Border Patrol does not do pursuits.
And it all originated in a spectacular 1992 crash by alien smugglers in Riverside, CA.
LA Times June 3, 1992
TEMECULA, Calif. — A Chevrolet Suburban fleeing Border Patrol agents crashed at high speed into a passing car outside a high school Tuesday, killing four students and a father driving his son to school and injuring the 13 occupants of the camper.
The accident occurred just after 7:30 a.m. as horrified students arrived for classes at Temecula Valley High School. Wreckage and bodies were strewn across a busy intersection in this fast-growing, semirural community in southern Riverside County, renewing controversy over Border Patrol policy on high-speed chases.
The stolen Suburban carrying 13 suspected illegal immigrants ran a red light and smashed into an Acura Legend with such force that it tore the smaller vehicle in half, killing the father, his son and a teen-age friend, authorities said.
Sometime later, soon after the inauguration of Bill Clinton, the previous aggressive pursuit policy was ended unofficially. While pursuit was still an option in INS policy, the unofficial policy, promulgated to the agents and enforced with a heavy hand, was that there was to be no more pursuits.
Similarly, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Border Patrol parent agency, issued its new pursuit policy that makes it abundantly clear that while pursuits still technically exist, the onus is on the Border Patrol Agent and the first line Supervisory Border Patrol Agent to justify a pursuit on certain criteria, which basically are only if you are pursuing Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri, or some other terrorist.
From the CBP directive:
2.2. Factors to be considered in making pursuit determinations include but are not limited to:
2.2.1. Maintaining a probability of arrest.
2.2.2. Nature of the crime or suspected crime committed by suspect(s) being pursued.
2.2.3. Immediate danger to the public of continuing the emergency driving or vehicle pursuit (i.e. proximity of population centers, pedestrians, schools, traffic flow, etc.)
2.2.4 Danger to the public presented by the suspect(s) remaining at large.
2.2.5. Current Intelligence.
2.2.6. Homeland Security Advisory System level.
2.2.7. Availability of other realistic and appropriate enforcement options such as controlled tire deflation devices, surveillance by aircraft or undercover vehicles.
2.2.8. Potential for successful enforcement action at a later time, particularly if identity is known.
To accompany the illusion of immigration enforcement is the illusion of pursuit of illegal aliens. So Nicholas was correct in that the John Doe in the Oval Office did issue instructions to end pursuits, but pursuits were defacto ended by one of his predecessors, Bill Clinton.
This is a content archive of VDARE.com, which Letitia James forced off of the Internet using lawfare.