Pentagon ends patrol on border
Grand jury to start probe of teen's fatal shooting

By WILLIAM E. CLAYTON JR.
Copyright 1997 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON The Pentagon's antidrug patrolling role on the
U.S.Mexico border has been suspended indefinitely, pending
inquiries prompted by the killing of a Texas teenager, military
officials said Tuesday.

Antidrug patrols in Texas were suspended shortly after the
shooting, and Defense Secretary William Cohen has broadened the
order to cover all antidrug units along the border.

A South Texas grand jury is to begin an investigation today into
the fatal shooting in May of 18yearold Esequiel Hernandez of
Redford, who was killed while tending the family goats. The
Marines have said the leader of a surveillance unit fired on
Hernandez after the young goatherd fired his rifle twice.

The "entire policy" involving military troops helping in anti
drug patrolling and reconnaissance along the border is being
looked into, said Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon.

"That review has several elements to it. One is whether it's
appropriate for troops to be involved in border patrol
activities. Another is, if it is appropriate for them to be
involved . . . what are the proper procedures for them, what's
the proper relationship between them and the Border Patrol and
other law enforcement agencies?"

Although the support personnel in drug operations might total
into the many hundreds, the troops whose role was suspended
indefinitely were "mainly the folks out on the ground," said
Ensign Kevin Stephens of the U.S. Atlantic Command in Norfolk,
Va.

He said the ground personnel would total no more than a few dozen
at any given time, out of a pool of "a couple hundred" who might
fill patrol assignments. The frontline troops would be staffing
patrols, listening posts, ground radar equipment and remote
sensors.

Other military personnel in the antidrug effort are involved in
airborne reconnaissance, communications and recordkeeping, and
are unaffected by Cohen's order, Stephens said.

The suspension applies only to "the people who could get into a
similar situation" as the deadly confrontation in Redford,
Stephens said.

Cohen issued the order suspending the drug patrols on Thursday,
but it was not revealed until Tuesday.

Bacon said one part of the military's inquiry will be the legal
rights of the military personnel taking part in the border
patrols.

"I'm basically talking about their liability to civil or criminal
legal action for performing their jobs under the rules of
engagement and the procedures that have been assigned to them by
the military, and that has to be sorted out," Bacon said.

The issue of liability for the death of a civilian "is in
dispute" in the border matter, Bacon said.

"That is something that domestic law enforcement agencies are
looking at and its something that we want to look at as well," he
said.

Bacon said that although the investigation has no set completion
date, "The military is very committed to providing support to the
war on drugs." He estimated the support at $800 million to $1
billion a year, mainly in reconnaissance, listening and
observations.

"We will continue to play a role of some sort," Bacon said. "The
question is what that role will be."

Rep. Lamar Smith, RSan Antonio, who chairs the House immigration
subcommittee, said Cohen's decision to suspend the patrols
seriously weakens protections against drugs and illegal
immigration.

"The Clinton administration has dragged its feet on adding enough
Border Patrol agents to confront this problem and now they're
depriving understaffed border agencies of their eyes and ears,"
Smith said.

Larry Neal, a spokesman for Sen. Phil Gramm, RTexas, said his
boss has pressed for beefing up the Border Patrol, but that the
Clinton administration has budgeted a much lower force than
Congress has authorized.

Gramm believes that "militarization of the border" is not the
solution to its problems, Neal said.

Bacon pointed out that the military's role on the border is
limited.

The civilian Border Patrol personnel far outnumber the military
personnel assigned to antidrug duties, he said, but if the
military role were ended, "then the Border Patrol would have to
be enhanced in some way to fill that gap."