Immigration Hotline

The Border Line: An Immigration Blog

One year after Senate hearing, border agents still in jail

Thursday marks a year since Sens. John Cornyn and Dianne Feinstein held a hearing to examine the case of two Border Patrol agents serving long sentences for shooting a Mexican drug dealer and trying to cover it up.

After the hearing, Cornyn, a Texas Republican, and Feinstein, a California Democrat, called on President Bush to commute the sentences of the agents.

The two men — Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos — are still in jail, serving 12 and 11 years in prison, respectively.

Their case has become a cause celebre on talk radio shows and among groups that advocate tougher border controls. Supporters say that they were wrongly convicted for protecting the United States against a criminal intruder.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., who has led the charge to free the agents, said Thursday that the agents “have languished in solitary confinement” and that “President Bush has done nothing to reconcile this terrible injustice.”

“Despite the desperate pleas from members of both parties and the righteous outrage of millions of Americans, President Bush refuses to exercise his authority to free these two brave heroes who put their lives on the line to protect our border and our families,” he said.

At the hearing last year, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton of the Western District of Texas staunchly defended his prosecution in the case.

“Some in the media and on the Internet have tried to portray agents Compean and Ramos as heroes, but that narrative is false,” Sutton said. “The actions of Compean and Ramos in shooting an unarmed, fleeing suspect, destroying evidence, and engaging in a cover-up, are serious crimes.”

Ramos is shown in this picture when he surrendered to federal authorities in 2007.

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