{"id":6642,"date":"2014-05-13T16:55:08","date_gmt":"2014-05-13T20:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=6642"},"modified":"2018-12-28T15:01:16","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T20:01:16","slug":"honoring-fallen-law-enforcement-in-word-and-deed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2014\/05\/13\/honoring-fallen-law-enforcement-in-word-and-deed\/","title":{"rendered":"Honoring Fallen Law Enforcement in Word and Deed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"icememorial\"Last week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a press release announcing that DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, DHS Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske plan to attend today\u2019s Valor Memorial and Wreath Laying Ceremony<\/a> at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. In addition, Attorney General Eric Holder and Johnson are expected to attend a Candlelight Vigil<\/a> this evening to honor 286 law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty.<\/p>\n

During National Police Week<\/a>, we should recognize the sacrifices of our law enforcement.\u00a0 In particular, CBP agents have been assaulted 6,000<\/a> times since 2007. Over that period, three agents died as a result of the assault. Since 2010, agents have been assaulted with rocks 1,713<\/a> times.\u00a0 In one instance that occurred in January of this year, a rock measuring 6-inches in length<\/a> and thrown from Mexico hit a helmeted U.S. Border Patrol agent at the Tecate Port of Entry and knocked him off an all-terrain vehicle.<\/p>\n

However, in March 2014, the Obama Administration published a directive<\/a> limiting law enforcement officers\u2019 use of force against rock throwers. (For more information on this directive, see FAIR\u2019s legislative update<\/a>.) In response, Shawn P. Moran, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, an AFL-CIO affiliated union that represents over 17,000 Border Patrol agents, said<\/a> that the directive \u201cseems to be a response to political pressure from special interests.\u201d Moran described<\/a> the directive as \u201cshortsighted\u201d and explained the dangerous circumstances that Border Patrol officers are in:<\/p>\n

Border Patrol agents are often on foot and outnumbered when encountering illegal aliens and smugglers, and are trained to close the distance with suspects in order to quickly control and arrest them. This often puts agents in a situation where they are assaulted by rocks. Additional agents may be miles away and less-than-lethal weapons unavailable. An assault that may commence quickly leaves agents at a tactical disadvantage and with little recourse other than to use their firearm to defend themselves.<\/p>\n

Truly standing with law enforcement means going beyond the words of a press release and putting forward policies for Border Patrol agents who put their lives on the line. This means giving them\u2014not taking away\u2014the ability to protect themselves as they protect our borders and our country.<\/p>\n