Washington, May 17 -  

Today, Congressman Scott Garrett sent a letter to Deborah Spero, Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), requesting information regarding notification the CBP may be giving the Mexican government about the position of Minutemen and other U.S. citizen groups working to stem the flood of illegal immigrants over the border. Press and media reports late last week implied that CBP was working to undermine the legal work of these groups. The Congressman was joined by 20 other Members of Congress, including Rep. Tom Tancredo, Chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus, in sending this letter.

In response to the President’s speech on illegal immigration earlier this week, Garrett said, "I think the President’s plan to send the National Guard to beef up border patrol is a good first step. Most of all, I am pleased to see the focus of the debate return to sealing the borders. Until we address border security, all the talk about what to do with the millions of illegal immigrants already in the country is simply premature."

(Text of Congressman Garrett’s letter to Commissioner Spero is reprinted below.)

"Dear Commissioner Spero:

We are writing in response to an article in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and reports on various media outlets that stated that the U.S. Border Patrol has been informing the Mexican government of the locations of Minuteman and other similar U.S. citizen patrols. It is our fervent hope that these reports are inaccurate as it would be extraordinarily disturbing to know that the U.S. government were taking this action to undermine the legal actions of its own citizens. In fact, given the Mexican police’s fabled corruption and lack of interest in basic human and civil rights, this story’s allegations would cause us grave concern if true.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Mario Martinez told the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin of Ontario that the policy is meant to assure the Mexican government that migrants' rights are being observed. Whether the allegations raised in the article are the official policy of CBP, a number of questions must be answered about the CBP policies in relation to the work done by the Minutemen and similar groups. We would appreciate your prompt response to the following questions:

    Does the CBP itself or through any other US agency notify the Mexican government of the location of Minutemen and other similar citizen border patrols?

    Does the CBP itself or any other US agency notify the Mexican government of the detention of any Mexican alien who illegally crosses the border into the US?

    Is it the CBP’s standard practice to notify the Mexican government of the detention of any Mexican alien who requests an interview with his government’s consul or who alleges assault or battery in his detention? If so, does that standard practice apply to an alien and consul of any nationality or is it pursuant to a specific treaty or agreement with the Mexican government?

    Does the Vienna Convention apply under the circumstances detailed in question #3, above?

    Given the increasing prevalence of these citizen border patrols, has the CBP sought to work out any agreement or arrangement with the groups organizing the patrols to ensure that the assistance of the groups is maximized and the rights of the American citizens participating in them are fully protected? If so, what is the outcome of the contact? If not, are there plans to do so?

We appreciate the hard work of the men and women who patrol our borders and believe that allegations such as those reported in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin are harmful to their credibility with the American public. Those brave patrolmen need to be able to work with the citizen patrols – it is a matter of safety for all of the people concerned.

We thank you in advance for your prompt response to this inquiry."

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