Border crossing to a Mexican jail.

2014-06-23T15:26:16-04:00

I would like to know how the general population of the military feels about the meeting between President Obama and Mexico's President Nieto. In this meeting the two talked about the security of the US-Mexican border; but President Obama seemingly never mentioned Marine Sgt Tahmooressi being held in a mexican jail for allegedly crossing the border with guns. We are all aware of the many documented crossings of Mexican troops into the US with no retaliation or detaining from us.

What is your oppinion on how this should have been metioned or how our leaders should go about dealing with this problem?

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 23 at 2014 3:37 PM

2014-06-23T15:37:45-04:00

I find it impossible to believe the State Dept. isn't already involved, but perhaps we just need to dig up 5 drug lords to trade for him?

Response by COL Randall C. made Jul 13 at 2014 4:34 PM

2014-07-13T16:34:20-04:00

MAJ Carl Ballinger - agree in general with the sentiment of your post, but disagree with the circumstances.

It really comes down to selective prosecution, and if we were doing something to a prominent Mexican that was along the lines of what they are doing to him, then I would absolutely approve of the Mexican president calling out the United States and applying whatever influence he could to get his citizen out of our jails. Mexico does have some of the toughest gun laws of any country (as a side note, I guess that's why they have incredible low rates of gun violence......), but this is nothing more than some political game that we're supposed to stay out of and not influence? BTW - The Sgt. is being held on federal weapon charges.

Consider:
- Sgt. Tahmooressi was returning from a medical visit in San Diego when he missed a turn to get off the interstate and accidentally crossed a border inspection station.
- The Sgt had three weapons in his car. While they were legally registered in this country, they weren't in Mexico. The weapons were an AR-15, 12 gauge shotgun, and .45 cal pistol and he also had accompanying ammo.
- Digging through the reports, I did see some reports that said the way he was transporting the guns would have been in violation of state law (loaded, loose in truck .. some report said he had the shotgun in the front seat)
- He stated his being turned around and declared the weapons to the Mexican border agents and was arrested.

Now contrast this with what occurred in the US recently. Last month, four police officers from Mexico were arrested after border patrol agents found them in this country illegally. They were processed and released after a couple of days and sent back across the border. Even though they were technically guilty of illegal activity, the determination was that they hadn't consciously committed a crime so they would be released.

Another case I remember, but can't find details through Google, happened when I was at Ft. Bliss back in the early 90s. An El Paso police officer was chasing someone that just stole a vehicle and was heading for the border. He realized too late that he couldn't turn around and what happened was typical of this case - arrested for illegal firearm possession and put in jail. I can't remember the exact details, but I think that after a few months they released him on bail and allowed him to cross back to the United States. On the advice of the city attorney, he didn't return to Mexico for the trial (I could be wrong on some of the details, but the gist would still be the same).

When things happen on this side of the border, the United States exercises a good dose of common sense when it occurs here, but when something like this happens on that side of the border, common sense doesn't apply.

Response by Cpl Chris Rice made Sep 18 at 2014 3:18 PM

2014-09-18T15:18:23-04:00

The plain and simple of the matter is that you cannot enter the Mexican Republic with firearms. We can debate about the way that the administration has failed, or not with respect to our own border crossings, but if we apprehended a Citizen of Mexico entering our country as armed as this gentlemen was we would demand their prosecution, and we would get it. It would be inappropriate for the President of Mexico to attempt to intercede, and would most likely fan conspiracy by the attempt making the prisoners lot worse.

These cases all stand alone, you cannot compare this with that of Sgt Bergdahl, as the context is completely different. You have to consider them in their own right. Sgt Tahmooressi broke the law, and when I was stationed at Camp Pendleton I heard more than one long safety brief where it was mentioned that if you get arrested in Mexico....Good Luck, because there is not a thing anybody is going to do for you. I presume the Sgt received the same warnings as well.