I am not a fan of telling people not to talk.
Texas Insider Report: Washington D.C. The surge of immigrant children caught crossing the southern border in Texas that has dominated headlines and risks becoming a political crisis for President Barack Obama and Congress now includes
a
new threat facing Border Patrol agents: reporters. An assistant chief patrol agent Eligio
Lee Pena warned more than 3000 Border Patrol agents that journalists looking for information about what Obama has described as a humanitarian crisis are likely to ask for information
and may try to disguise themselves.
The email obtained by The Associated Press said agents should not speak to reporters on or off duty without advanced permission and warned that anyone who does could be charged with a crime or disciplined administratively.
Customs & Border Protection Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske has said he was not aware of Penas email warnings but said generally
I am not a fan of telling people not to talk.
Kerlikowske who has pledged greater transparency since taking over the agency earlier this year did not formally disavow the directive but added that Border Patrol agents should be focused on their jobs while on duty.
Penas email was issued as national news organizations descended on the border to cover the immigration surge especially children crossing the border alone from Central America. The problem has overwhelmed the Border Patrol.
- More than 47000 children traveling alone have been found at the border since the start of the budget year in October.
- Agents in Texas Rio Grande Valley have made more than 173000 arrests so far this budget year.
The children are later handed off to the Health & Human Services Department where officials typically try to reunite them with parents or other relatives already in the United States.
DHS has released an unspecified number of families with notices to appear at Immigration & Customs Enforcement offices near their final destinations within the United States.
The Obama administration has declined to say how many people have been released and how many have reported as ordered. Kerlikowske said he did not know those figures.
Pena did not describe what sorts of disguises could be employed by reporters.
The latest instruction to border agents in South Texas is not the first time the Border Patrol has directed officials not to speak with reporters.
Last year the then-head of the Border Patrols Southwest border media division told public affairs officials that the agency would no longer provide interviews ride-alongs visits etc. about the border the state of the border and what have you.
In his Feb. 1 2013 email Bill Brooks advised that border officials should tell reporters that you will have to see what you can do to get back to them and then notify him.
The most recent information lockdown has made the local representatives of the Border Patrol agents union the agencys de facto spokesmen on conditions inside overcrowded stations and the logistical challenges of processing so many immigrants.
The issue has fueled the political debate in Washington about U.S. immigration policies which some political analysts say contributed to the recent defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va). Cantors opponent had said the Republican leader supported amnesty for immigrants in the U.S. illegally and said the surprise election outcome effectively dooms any prospects for legal changes to American immigration laws.
Obama has disputed this and urged Congress to act this summer.
