Two Border Patrol agents examining a load of marijuana exchanged gunfire March 20 with unseen assailants from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, near Donna, TX. Border Patrol spokesman Oscar Saldana said the agents were not hurt, and no one was believed injured on the Mexican side. Four loads of marijuana totaling 305 pounds were found on the river bank. Saldana said the agents came under fire as they approached the bank after spotting an inflatable raft near the US side. The raft, with more marijuana on board, was pulled back to the Mexican side during the exchange of fire. It was the second time this year that Border Patrol agents were fired on along the narrow stretch of the river about 13 miles northeast of McAllen. (AP, March 21)

In response to the incident, Judicial Watch displays its xenophobic colors by whining:

That makes the lengthy jail sentences (11 and 12 years) of two Border Patrol agents who intercepted an admitted Mexican drug smuggler even more outrageous. The agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Campean, were convicted for stopping a vehicle loaded with 743 pounds of marijuana near El Paso in 2005 and shooting the smuggler as he tried to flee.

Imagine! We should spare a worthless human life at the price of allowing a greasy bean-eater and his 743 pounds of the evil weed into the clean, wholesome US of A! Oh, the tyranny of political correctitude!*

*Note to the irony-impaired: we are being sarcastic here. You can never be too careful...

See our last posts on Mexico, the immigration crackdown and the struggle for the border.