Last week, Republican Congressman and GOP presidential hopeful Tom Tancredo called for the removal of the U.S. Border Patrol chief of the vital Laredo, TX-area, citing him "unfit for the job."  The El Paso Times reports that Tancredo’s request for border chief Carlos X. Carrillo’s ouster came after Carrillo made comments at an August 15 Laredo town hall meeting about the role of the Border Patrol.  Carrillo said, "The Border Patrol’s job is not to stop illegal immigrants.  The Border Patrol’s job is not to stop narcotics.  The Border Patrol’s mission is not to stop criminals.  The Border Patrol’s mission is to stop terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering this country."

Tancredo criticized Carrillo’s remarks as minimizing the need to stop general unlawful entry.  "He has established a clear attitude in regard to what the Border Patrol is supposed to be about, and it is diametrically opposed to what the Border Patrol is supposed to do," said Tancredo.  "You have to stop everyone, or at least as many as you can, who is coming into the country illegally.

David Aguilar, the head of the Border Patrol, defended Carrillo’s remarks in a statement, stating that the remarks were taken out of context.  "Our mission is to protect our country’s borders from all threats.  Our highest piority is keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering our country," Aguilar said.  

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US Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama commented on the news last week concerning immigration activist Elvira Arellano’s deportation.  According to The Washington Post, the Senator met last year with Arellano, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who took refuge in a Chicago church for a year to avoid deportation.  "I’ve met with Elvira Arellano and her son, and I understand the challenges that they and millions of other undocumented immigrants face," Obama said in a statement.

Despite his support for Arellano, Sen. Obama did "not condone of Arellano’s defiance of law," but noting that her plight is indicative of the need for "comprehensive immigration reform that creates a system that is fair consistent, compassionate, and emphasizes both maintaining the rule of law and the security of our borders while working to keep families together."