Conroy: Law enforcer indicted after exposing abuse of illegal immigrants
July 15, 2005
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A new case concerning a government whistleblower on the U.S.-Mexico border appears in Bill Conroy's notebook this week.
It concerns border patrol agent Ephraim Cruz, who last year complained in several internal memos (later leaked to the
press) about the mistreatment of illegal immigrants by law enforcement. Cruz had reported of detained immigrants, some
of them young children, held for up to 24 hours without food in overcrowded cells.
Now Cruz is facing charges of smuggling an illegal immigrant across the border himself, charges that could land him more
than ten years in prison. But the case comes as several other agents are facing charges for allegedly smuggling women
they were married or in a "spouse-like" relationship with across the border as well. Though Cruz is accused of smuggling
just one woman into the United States, no mention is made in his incitement of his relationship with that woman.
Conroy reports:
"If we put aside the possibility that the government outright framed Cruz - and, he is innocent until proven guilty,
after all - we are left with two primary scenarios. He did, in fact, smuggle the woman across the border illegally for
1.) Love; or 2.) Money.
"In that context, it seems hard to believe that the relationship between Cruz and the alleged illegal immigrant 'is not
relevant to the case.' If they were a married couple, for example, it would make a big difference in the outcome of a
trial.
"If Cruz did assist the woman in illegally entering the country because he was in love with her, then it would be harder
for the U.S. Attorney's Office to paint him as a true villain, both at trial and in the media."
Read the full story, which Conroy continues to update as new facts come in, here, in the Narcosphere:
From somewhere in a country called América,
Dan Feder
Managing Editor
The Narco News Bulletin