Customs agent sues over ‘unfair’ demotion

McALLEN — Rolando Cano admits that June 28, 2003, was not his finest hour as a Customs agent.

During his shift that night at the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge, officers under his command let a stolen car slip through an inspection checkpoint, released a purported terrorism suspect into the United States and helplessly watched as a wanted man escaped from custody and ran back to Mexico.

Cano doesn’t deny that these incidents occurred, but they shouldn’t cost him his job, he argues in a lawsuit filed in federal court.

Now, the former supervisory inspector at the Hidalgo port of entry is suing U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, attempting that he was unfairly demoted based on his age and ethnicity.

In court filings, Cano, 51, maintains that he can only be held responsible for his own actions and not the errors his employees made during the shift.

“I am not a babysitter,” he told a review board, according to oral transcripts.

But U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say the only reason for Cano’s demotion was his “complete lack of supervisory direction and oversight.”

ONE BAD NIGHT

Attorneys for Cano and the federal government refused interview requests for this article, and Cano could not be reached for comment.

But court documents reveal a series of blunders that Cano believes should have brought stiff penalties for the men and women working under him.

Early that shift, four East Indian nationals crossed the international bridge. All were temporarily detained under federal guidelines while officers notified the National Targeting Center, which runs background checks for possible ties to terrorist groups.

Because India is considered a country of interest by the department, all of its citizens receive extra screening when trying to enter the country.

But before the background checks were complete, the four were let go and their travel documents returned, according to a government motion seeking dismissal of Cano’s suit.

“By the time NTC notified the bridge inspectors that one of the East Indian nationals was a potential terrorist-related subject, (they) had already released the individuals and they were in the United States,” the document states.

The court records do not indicate what happened to the men after they left the Hidalgo bridge.

Hours later, a stolen vehicle took off from a secondary inspection point after it had already been flagged as suspicious by primary inspectors. As agents waved the car down, no inspectors were available to search it, the motion states.

While officers scrambled to figure out what had happened, a California fugitive — who was detained while trying cross the pedestrian bridge earlier that evening — broke out of a holding room.

The fugitive, who was unrestrained and unguarded, ran out the door and across the bridge into Mexico, the document states.

Cano later told supervisors that he had already been relieved by the next shift when the escape occurred.

But sworn statements from several of Cano’s fellow officers indicate he was still on duty during the escape.

DEMOTION AND DISCRIMINATION

As reports of the evening climbed up the chain of command, Cano and the officer in charge, Ruben Ramirez, were demoted for “negligent performance.”

Cano appealed the decision in 2005 but lost. He filed his complaint in federal court in December 2006.

A similar suit by Ramirez was thrown out by Federal Magistrate Judge Dorina Ramos last year.

But Cano still maintains that individual officers working under them also bear responsibility for the errors.

If CBP officials demoted him, others on the shift — including some younger agents, women and Anglos — should receive the same punishment, he argues.

Cano is seeking $3.3 million in damages.

A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Sept. 7.

_____

Jeremy Roebuck covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.