Bush urged to block Mexican military

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By Jerry Seper

The U.S. Border Patrol's largest union local has asked President Bush to put an end to the scores of Mexican military incursions into the United States that have put Border Patrol agents at risk of being injured or killed.

"It is disgraceful that Border Patrol agents are put in harm's way and our government doesn't do everything reasonably within its power to protect us from marauding Mexican soldiers and others," said Edward "Bud" Tuffly II, head of Local 2544 of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) in Tucson.

"Without a forceful response to these illegal incursions, an agent will eventually be seriously wounded or killed. It is only a matter of time," Mr. Tuffly said. "The incursions will not stop until the Mexican military units and their commanders are held accountable for their actions."

In a letter Saturday to Mr. Bush, Mr. Tuffly asked the president to "take a strong stand against" Mexican military incursions.

He said Mexican soldiers have made hundreds of incursions into the United States and that some of them resulted in agents coming under gunfire and being detained at gunpoint.

"It is a documented fact that the Mexican military is corrupt and is involved in protecting drug cartels, smugglers and other criminals," said Mr. Tuffly, a veteran Border Patrol agent.

The NBPC represents all of the agency's 16,000 nonsupervisory agents. Mr. Tuffly's local is the union's largest, with about 3,000 members.

White House officials said Wednesday that they had not received the letter and referred inquiries to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

CBP spokesman Michael Friel acknowledged that the Mexican military has made incursions into the United States and said those incidents have been treated seriously and reported up the chain of command. He said protocols have been developed to ensure that the incidents are resolved as "quickly and safely" as possible.

"There is an international boundary for a reason and they are to be respected by both governments," Mr. Friel said. "We take very seriously our role in working with our international neighbors to address and resolve these situations."