August 24, 2006

AP ignores Peter Schey Mexican government links (Border Human Rights Working Group)

An AP story about a recent crash fails to note a key affiliation of one of the groups mentioned. If you've never heard of the CHRCL, you might think they're just an ordinary "human rights" group:

A border rights coalition asked federal officials Wednesday to suspend Border Patrol high-speed chases pending a review of a Yuma-area rollover two weeks ago that resulted in multiple deaths.

The letter from the Los Angeles-based Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law also asked Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and the heads of Customs and Border Protection and the Border Patrol to update Border Patrol hot-pursuit policies.

The letter was sent on behalf of the Border Human Rights Working Group, a coalition of organizations involved in human-rights advocacy in the four states bordering Mexico.

It also sought through a Freedom of Information request copies of all Border Patrol documents concerning the Yuma chase and crash, and policies and training materials concerning high-speed chases...

What the article fails to note is that the CHRCL is headed by Peter Schey, someone who's collaborating with the Mexican government on a website. He's also representing some illegal aliens who were arrested under a new Arizona law, and there is some kind of involvement of the Mexican consul. And, an "opposition research" paper he wrote appears on a Mexican government website.

And, this is at least the second time that the AP has failed to note these connections.

At post time, google shows no results for "Border Human Rights Working Group". (UPDATE: See the info below.)

Please contact the AP at feedback@ap.org and suggest they start telling their readers the whole truth. Also, here are the sources currently featuring this article and their contact information:

KTVK (contact link at bottom of page)

KVOA (contact link on left sidebar)

KOLD (the only contact form I could find is here; also has their phone numbers)

Daily Star (perhaps their News and Research Services Director: eraines *at* azstarnet.com)

AZCentral (try jleach@azcentral.com and llevitt@azcentral.com)

UPDATE: A copy of the letter that "BHRWG" sent is at this link. However, you'll need to right-click, choose "Save as", and add ".pdf" to the end of the file name since it doesn't have an extension.

The letter reveals who's in the BHRWG:

American Civil Liberties Union of Texas
American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico
American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego
American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona
American Friends Service Committee (San Diego, CA)
American Friends Service Committee (Tucson, AZ)
Binacional Migration Institute (Tucson, AZ)
Border Angels / Gente Unida (San Diego, CA)
Border Action Network (Tucson/Nogales/Douglas)
Border Network for Human Rights (El Paso, TX)
Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law
Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services (El Paso, TX)
Coalicion de Derechos Humanos (Tucson, AZ)
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
No More Deaths (Tucson, AZ)
South Texas Civil Rights Project (McAllen, TX)
Southern Poverty Law Center (Montgomery, AL)
Texas RioGrande Legal Aid

Derechos Humanos is working with the Mexican government. So is the CHRCL. So, MALDEF, the ACLU and the SPLC are associated with at least two groups openly working with the Mexican government.

Posted to Immigration at August 24, 2006 11:19 AM

Comments

I thought the BOrder Patrol had a "non pursuit" policy? Isn't that why Campean & Ramos were prosecuted?

Posted by: Smitty at August 24, 2006 12:06 PM

hey boys! "we don't have any laws when mexico city is doing business", if you know what i mean?

and the border patrol policy is to do what its told to do by the drug cartels in mexico city and washington d.c.

Posted by: Fred Dawes at August 24, 2006 06:43 PM