Proper Review

Emotions continue to cloud the thinking of many people regarding illegal immigration and the need for officers and agents patrolling the border to maintain proper procedure and ensure everyone’s right to due process.

A Border Patrol agent fatally shot a suspected immigrant smuggler Wednesday night at the El Paso border wall. Last week an agent with the U.S. Department of Customs and Border Patrol fired at a man who sped through a secure part of the Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates. The man apparently was fleeing from Mexican authorities, and neither the driver nor two children who were in the truck with him were struck by the gunfire.

As is both routine and proper, the incidents are being investigated to assure that the agents’ actions were justified.

Both incidents prompted calls to this newspaper and comments on various sites on television and the Internet. Some echoed alarmists’ rhetoric that possible terrorists are streaming unabated across our border; some went as far as to say that U.S. agents should simply open fire on anyone who appears to be encroaching our border, no questions asked.

These kinds of comments often carry a complaint that the investigations only harass the agents who are keeping our country safe, and put them in danger by making them more hesitant to draw their weapons if they ever encounter future danger.

At the same time, countless people, including members of Congress, continue to lobby for the release and exoneration of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who were convicted this year of crimes stemming from the shooting of an alleged immigrant and drug smuggler.

In this latter case, people contend that because of whom they shot the ends justify the means. The court, however, determined that the agents’ actions were improper and criminal. They shot at the alleged smuggler 15 times as he crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico, striking him in the backside. The agents then tried to cover up their actions — something they probably wouldn’t have done if they didn’t know that what they did was wrong.

Law enforcement, to be sure, is dangerous work, and those who choose to do it deserve our support and thanks. Very often they deal with criminals. But mistakes and misidentification is always possible. That is why our legal system demands that everyone be assured of due process of law.

And that is why all law enforcement officers, including border agents, must justify any use of potentially lethal methods. If they acted properly — as they usually do under extreme circumstances — they should have nothing to fear. Investigations can clear them of wrongdoing, yet still determine better, safer ways of doing their jobs.

Giving agents free reign, and not question their actions when they draw their weapons, can open the door for irresponsible actions and can put the public at risk if officers begin shooting too quickly or too often.

We hope that more members of the public come to realize what law enforcers surely already know — investigations of their use of force is necessary to assure that laws are applied correctly. More often than not, those investigations — and not public campaigns — are the best way to justify the actions of those who act appropriately, and correct those who act improperly.

— The Brownsville Herald