According to the Daily Bulletin ( Ontario , CA ), the House Judiciary Committee called for congressional hearings and an investigation into the case of two Border Patrol agents convicted of violating an alleged drug smuggler’s civil rights. The decision for the investigation came after Andy Ramirez, chairman of the Chino-based Friends of the Border Patrol, presented his opening statement along with the agents’ story to the committee members.  

Ignacio Ramos, one of the agents, told the Sun, "I thought it was great when I heard it. It will show that it was a wrongful prosecution. I know it’s lifted our spirits tremendously to know that it will be an independent investigation that people will be looking into this. They’re not looking at one side or the other the investigation will be looking at the facts, and they’ll see that the prosecution was wrong from the beginning."  

U.S. Attorney Deborah Kanof, who successfully prosecuted the agents, argued the man they were chasing didn’t have a gun and that shooting him in the back violate his civil rights. She also argued that the agents didn’t know for a fact that the man was a drug smuggler. According to Kanof, the agents broke Border Patrol rules about discharging their weapons and preserving a crime scene. The two agents, Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, could face up to 20 years in prison. The man they were after, Osbalso Aldrete-Davila, a Mexican national who left behind 800 pounds of marijuana when he ran away from the agents after they tried to pull him over, was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony.  

The public has played an important role in this case. Because of their outcry as well as questions that have surfaced surrounding the case, the committee has an obligation to review it. As of August 17, more than 73,000 petition signatures supporting the agents had been collected by grassfire.org.  

The National Border Patrol Council, the union representing Border Patrol agents, gave $5,000 to each agent to help their families, who have been financially devastated by the costs of the trial and loss of income. Ramirez’s group presented nearly $3,000 in donations to the families at the hearing.  

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The Associated Press reported August 17 that the controversial ad depicting illegal immigrants as terrorists disappeared from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s web site. Democratic and Republican Hispanics had complained about the ad, which questioned GOP homeland security and anti-terrorism policies. The 35-second ad also featured images of Osama Bin Laden and North Korea ’s Kim Jong II and two people scaling a border fence and the words "Feel Safer?"  

The link on the DSCC web site that led to the ad now leads to a different advertisement.  

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H.R.5597 : To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to render deportable all aliens convicted of a criminal offense resulting in a sentence of incarceration, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Green, Mark [WI-8] (introduced 6/13/2006)      
Committees: House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 6/13/2006 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.  

S.2305 : A bill to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to repeal the amendments made by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 requiring documentation evidencing citizenship or nationality as a condition for receipt of medical assistance under the Medicaid program.
Sponsor: Sen Akaka, Daniel K. [HI] (introduced 2/16/2006)      
Committees: Senate Finance
Latest Major Action: 2/16/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.  

S.3590 : A bill to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to delay the effective date of the amendments made by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 requiring documentation evidencing citizenship or nationality as a condition for receipt of medical assistance under the Medicaid program.
Sponsor: Sen Akaka, Daniel K. [HI] (introduced 6/28/2006)      
Latest Major Action: 6/29/2006 Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 510.