Court denies appeal of smuggler whose perjured testimony helped convict Agents Ramos and Compean
Wednesday, 01 July 2009
On June 29, 2009, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila's motion to have his nine-and-a-half year prison term reduced. He received that sentence after pleading guilty to smuggling nearly a ton of marijuana on two separate occasions while paroled
into the United States to testify against Border Patrol Agents Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean.
Facing another near-certain arbitration loss, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) attorney requested a meeting with the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) to discuss settlement for the grievance over the Voluntary Relocation Program (VRP). The parties were scheduled to meet on June 18, 2009 before an arbitrator. Fortunately, Labor and Employee Relations personnel did not play a major role in the settlement discussion, which allowed Border Patrol management and the Union to engage in a meaningful discussion and reach a fair and equitable settlement in a short amount of time. We look forward to conducting business in a similar manner in the future.
On April 26, 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared the recent swine flu outbreak in the United States to be a Public Health Emergency. At that time, there were 20 lab-confirmed swine flu cases in five states: eight in New York, seven in California, two in Texas, two in Kansas, and one in Ohio. These numbers will undoubtedly climb significantly in the near future.
In Mexico,
more than 1,300 people have been hospitalized with swine flu, and the
World Health Organization has attributed at least 20 deaths there to
the disease, but other reliable sources believe that more than 80
people have died in Mexico as a result of the virus.
The Department of Homeland Security has issued guidance to employees
who may encounter infected people while performing their official
duties. The following additional advice for Border Patrol employees is
provided by the National Border Patrol Council:
The following notice is applicable to current handlers, former handlers, rejected applicants, or any other employees who believe that they were harmed in any manner by the revised canine unit policy that was implemented on or about June 30, 2008:
Chief "No Confidence" Aguilar Wastes Millions of Tax Dollars on Northern Border New-Hire Program
Friday, 06 February 2009
Apparently wanting to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that his recent $61,500 bonus was completely unwarranted, Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar devised a scheme to waste millions of tax dollars and drive employee morale to new depths.
