Shooting victim's sister, group seek to demilitarize border

By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
Associated Press

WASHINGTON Less than two months after an 18yearold
goatherder was fatally shot by a Marine patrolling the U.S.
Mexico border, his sister and others will lobby elected officials
to demilitarize the border.

Belen Hernandez and community leaders from Redford, the West
Texas town where Esequiel Hernandez Jr. lived and died, lined up
three days of appointments with federal officials beginning
today.

The delegation has meetings scheduled with the head of the
nation's immigration agency, drug czar Barry McCaffrey, members
of Congress and aides at the White House and Defense Department.

The group is calling for demilitarization of the border in the
wake of the May 20 shooting death of Hernandez by a Marine who
was on an antidrug patrol in the community of about 100
residents, 180 miles southeast of El Paso.

In their rounds, the Texans will ask federal officials to end all
military operations along the border, hold congressional field
hearings and pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting the
military from policing civilians on U.S. soil.

They also will confront the officials on the lack of consultation
between federal antidrug task forces and the border communities
where they operate, said Maria Jimenez, who heads the American
Friends Service Committee's Law Enforcement Monitoring Project.

Military antidrug patrols have been suspended along parts of the
border while authorities investigate the fatal shooting.

The Marines contend Hernandez fired his .22caliber rifle twice
and was about to fire a third time when Cpl. Clemente Banuelos
opened fire. Hernandez's family says he carried the rifle to
protect his goats and sometimes shot at targets.

The Texas Rangers and the Marine Corps are investigating the
shooting, which raised questions about the deployment of military
personnel on observation missions.

Since 1989, all branches of the military have helped civilian law
enforcement agencies on a variety of antidrug missions along the
border. The operations are coordinated by El Pasobased Joint
Task Force Six after assistance is requested by a local, state or
federal law enforcement agency.

The head of a group that opposes the increased militarization of
U.S. law enforcement contends Hernandez's death is just the
latest example of a new and disturbing trend.

"The local population does not want camouflage bushes with M16s
in their back yards," said Kevin Zeese, president of Common Sense
for Drug Policy, a nonprofit educational group based in Falls
Church, Va.

Texas Gov. George W. Bush on Monday also criticized military
policing along the Rio Grande.

"I don't think that the military ought to be providing direct
intervention on the border," said Bush, in Austin responding to
questions after an unrelated event. "I believe that is the role
of the Border Patrol and Customs and INS agents.

"I've always felt that military equipment in order to provide
sensors and listening devices to help us interdict drugs was
worthwhile. It is not the proper role of the military to act as
policing agents on the border of the United States."

The House last month adopted a measure that would allow up to
10,000 U.S. troops to be stationed along the Southwest border to
help stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

The troops would be barred by law from making arrests and other
civil law enforcement activities, but could help the Border
Patrol and Immigration and Naturalization Service in inspections
and detaining illegal aliens. The Redford delegation is hoping to
meet with the author of that measure, Rep. Jim Traficant, DOhio.

While in town, the Texans also intend to meet with members of the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus and hold a news conference on
Thursday.