The resentencing of Border Patrol Agent Ignacio Ramos has been scheduled for November 13 in El Paso, Texas. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the resentencing after tossing out Ramos' conviction for Tampering With an Official Proceeding. We are hoping for a large turnout in support of Nacho. Check back for the time of the resentencing at the Federal District Court for the Western District of Texas.
PORAC LDF Donates $25,000 Toward Ramos-Compean Supreme Court Case
The Peace Officer Research Association of California’s Legal
Defense Fund has donated $25,000 to the Border Patrol Agents Legal Defense and
Relief Fund and toward the legal defense of Border Patrol Agents Ramos and
Compean in their efforts to have their case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
PORAC recognizes the devastating consequences of the Fifth Circuit Court of
Appeals decision regarding the mandatory penalty associated with a Title 18 USC
§ 924(c) conviction and its effects on law enforcement officers nationwide. Many
Thanks to Ed Fishman and the Trustees at the PORAC LDF.
DHS Abandons Failed Human Resources Management System
After more than five years of trying to strip employees of their basic workplace rights and protections, the Department of Homeland Security abruptly scrapped the entire program after Congress eliminated all funding for its implementation Read the notice here
A Union Member Writes Regarding the VRP
Read one one of the many letters we have received from the disenfranchised employees David Aguilar can’t seem to find.Click Here
And Chief Aguilar Wonders Why Employees Have No Confidence In Him?
The Chief of the Border Patrol has once again demonstrated why frontline Border
Patrol Agents lack confidence in his leadership abilities. (As you may recall, a
unanimous "No Confidence Vote" was issued by more than 100 officers of the Union
in the Spring of last year, and was never rescinded.) Instead of honoring the
Agency's written agreement to remedy the harm caused by its illegal
implementation of the Voluntary Reassignment Program in June of 2006, Chief
Aguilar decided to not only breach that agreement, but to compound those
violations by moving forward with the implementation of a revised program
without the Union's consent. To make matters worse, he blatantly misrepresented
the facts concerning that matter in a letter to all employees.
Contrary
to Chief Aguilar's one-sided version of events, the Agency failed to provide the
Union with enough information to reconstruct and review the previous selections,
despite committing to do so and being on clear notice of the Union's interest in
preserving that information. (The Union filed two grievances and was responsible
for several Congressional inquiries into the matter.) The written agreement also
spelled out several additional steps that the Agency was obligated to take
before being able to implement the new Voluntary Relocation Program agreement,
none of which were taken. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Union offered to
allow the Agency to proceed with this round of selections if it merely
reaffirmed, in writing, a commitment to promptly complete those remedial
actions. The Agency refused, asserting that it is no longer obligated to do
so.
If, as Chief Aguilar claims, the Agency was willing to work with the
Union to identify and remedy the harm caused by the illegal implementation of
the previous Voluntary Reassignment Program, why would it refuse to commit to do
so in writing? Such refusal leads one to the inescapable conclusion that the
Agency has no intention of following the law or honoring its commitments, and is
furthermore trying to cover up its previous violations. This reflects poorly
upon the leadership of Chief Aguilar and other high-ranking managers within the
organization. The dedicated men and women of the Border Patrol deserve far
better. When the new President of the United States takes office in January, one
of his first orders of business should be replacing David Aguilar with a real
leader.
AGENCY UNILATERALLY IMPLEMENTS VRP (AGAIN)
Proving
once again that it cannot be trusted under any circumstances, the
Agency violated its written agreement to hold off making selections
under the recently negotiated Voluntary Relocation Program until it
identifies employees who were wrongfully excluded from consideration on
previous reassignment lists and takes measures to correct such
inequities. The Union offered to allow the Agency to proceed with the
latest selections if it reaffirmed (in writing) a commitment to take
the foregoing remedial actions, but it refused. Incredibly, the Agency
is claiming that it is no longer obligated to remedy the harm caused by
its previous actions, which were ruled illegal by an arbitrator. This
raises suspicions that a large number of employees were improperly
passed over, and the Agency is desperately trying to hide that fact.
The Union is now forced to re-litigate this matter. Sadly, the Agency
continually refuses to do the right thing, even after being ordered to
do so by arbitrators and judges and entering into written agreements.
Rank-and-file employees would be fired for engaging in such disgraceful
conduct, but managers are promoted and receive hefty bonuses.
