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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Carraro

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/30/2007

HB

SHORT TITLE Pardon Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean SJM 13

ANALYST Schuss

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Joint Memorial 13 requests that the President of the United States pardon border patrol

agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean. The bill also requests that the President order

an investigation into the prosecution of the border patrol agents and the actions of the

Department of Justice and the United States Attorney’s Office for the western district of Texas.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Border patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean were convicted of assault with a

deadly weapon, obstruction of justice and a civil rights violation when they wounded Osbaldo

Aldrete Davila, a Mexican national drug smuggler committed to harming America’s youth by

bringing illegal drugs into the United States, as he attempted to flee across the border from near

Fabens, Texas, into Mexico. The government’s case relied on the testimony of Osbaldo Aldrete

Davila, and the Department of Justice offered Aldrete Davila immunity from his actions in return

for his testimony.

The prosecution and conviction of two border patrol agents for protecting America’s border

against drug smuggling shocks the conscience and harms the mission of the border patrol. There

are dangerous drugs coming into the United States, including methamphetamine, cocaine and

heroin, that are both addictive and dangerous, and most of those drugs are smuggled in through

Senate Joint Memorial 13 – Page

2

Mexico. The Department of Justice has also opposed allowing agents Ramos and Compean to

remain free on bail while the appeals process moves forward. The lives of these two agents and

their families are now ruined by this seemingly unexplainable action by the federal government.

Many Americans are outraged at the prosecution and conviction of these two border patrol

agents and over two hundred twenty-five thousand people and at least fifty members of congress

have reportedly petitioned President Bush to pardon the agents. Agents Ramos and Compean are

now serving their sentences in federal prison.

Through SJM13, the State of New Mexico requests that the President of the United States

immediately and unconditionally pardon agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, it is

also requested that President Bush order the United States Attorney General to immediately

investigate the actions of the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney’s Office for

the western district of Texas as to why they chose to seek out Osbaldo Aldrete Davila in Mexico

to grant him immunity in order for them to prosecute these two border patrol agents for

protecting America’s border. Senate Joint Memorial 13 asks that the United States Attorney

General report the findings of the investigation to the American people; and that copies of this

memorial be transmitted to the President of the United States and to the New Mexico

congressional delegation.

BM/csd