Who's Giving the Orders on the Border?

All signs seem to point to Mexico...but are there American quislings involved as well? You be the judge.

The Border Patrol Under Siege
Michelle Malkin

The Department of Homeland Security is working overtime to quell citizen outrage over the Border Patrol/Mexico/Minutemen story. The contradictory spin doctors are not doing a very good job. I'll have more in a moment.

But now is a crucial time to step back and look at this disturbing episode in a larger, informed context-- that is, as part of the longstanding battle between DHS management and rank-and-file employees over strict, tough, and unapologetic immigration enforcement. Supervisors in Washington and in major Border Patrol sectors are cowed by ethnic activists, business lobbyists, and meddling Mexican consulates. Field agents are demoralized by top-down efforts--from the White House on down--to undermine their law enforcement duties.

Most news consumers--and politicians and Washington wags--have extremely short-term memories. But people on the ground fighting this battle every day, and those covering it, don't.

I remind you of the jaw-dropping directive issued in August 2003 by then-San Diego Border Patrol Chief William Veal directing local Border Patrol agents to ignore suspected illegal aliens on city streets and at worksites in San Diego. The order was made in response to--you guessed it--complaints by the Mexican Consulate over Border Patrol arrests of illegal aliens seeking to obtain Mexican identification cards. Deputy Consul General Javier Diaz met with Veal to protest the arrests, while Mexican Consul General Rodulfo Figueroa issued a statement saying he was "astonished by the arrests because of their proximity to his office." The Bush Treasury Department, ignoring the warnings of seasoned immigration enforcement officers and FBI agents concerned about matricula consular card fraud, approved the use of these illegal alien documents for opening bank accounts--at the behest of, you guessed it, Mexican consular officials and business lobbyists.

Read the rest. Take a deep breath: the original includes several interesting hyperlinks.