Judicial Watch Uncovers New Documents Detailing Mexican Government Incursions

U.S. Border Patrol Agents Subjected to 528 Assaults from January – June 2008, Statistics Show U.S. Border Incursions on the Rise in 2008 and 2009

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Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that on March 22, 2010, it received records from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) concerning Mexican Government incursions and encounters along the U.S. border. The documents which are incomplete and do not contain all of the relevant data nonetheless indicate an increase in the number of incursions in 2008 and 2009. Judicial Watch’s analysis of the data shows:

•76 Mexican Government incursions from January 2008 to December 2009 (data missing from February 2009)

•50 Mexican Government incursions in 2008 alone, which is double the number of incursions from the previous year

•528 assaults against CBP agents from January – June 2008

•11 assaults against National Guard agents with CBP from January – June 2008

CBP statistics obtained previously by Judicial Watch confirmed 25 incursions in Fiscal Year 2007. Judicial Watch has documented 226 Mexican Government incursions between 1996 and 2005.

CBP also records the number of tunnels discovered along the border which are allegedly used for smuggling and human trafficking. In 2008 alone, CBP discovered 25 of these tunnels. Overall, between 1990 and March 2009, CBP discovered 103 tunnels along U.S. borders – one along the U.S border with Canada and 102 along the U.S. border with Mexico.

The documents obtained by Judicial Watch from the CBP are missing large amounts of data. Through the Freedom of Information Act Judicial Watch requested incursion and encounter reports from January 2008 to present. However, CBP provided full statistical reports for the first six months of 2008 only. The remaining reports only include the numbers of incursions. Moreover, data for February 2009 is missing entirely. Judicial Watch has filed an appeal with CBP to obtain the missing information.

“President Obama and the federal government continue to be derelict in securing the nation’s southern border. These new government documents depict a chaotic and dangerous situation for our nation’s Border Patrol agents – and for border states such as Arizona,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

Previous Mexican Government incursion documents obtained by Judicial Watch describe incidents involving shots fired on both sides of the border, unmarked helicopters invading U.S. airspace, drug smuggling, and confrontations between U.S. Border Patrol agents and members of the Mexican military.