Senator Feinstein Urges Border Patrol Investigation and Reforms in Wake of Police Officer's Fatal Shooting by Deported Criminal Alien
July 25, 2003

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has urged the Department of Homeland Security to investigate its handling of detained criminal aliens in the wake of the fatal shooting of an Oceanside Police officer allegedly by an alien who was mistakenly released.

The following is the text of a letter Senator Feinstein sent to Asa Hutchison, Undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security:

"I am writing to you about a grievous error committed by the U.S. Border Patrol that may have enabled a deported criminal alien to later return illegally to the United States and murder a police officer.

In January 2002, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested Adrian George Camacho, a former lawful permanent resident who was removed from the United States in 1999, after being convicted on drug charges. Camacho's criminal record is extensive and includes multiple drug and weapons convictions. He is a reputed gang member who has spent almost all of his adult life in the United States prisons.

Adrian Camacho made his third illegal attempt to re-enter the United States in January 2002. Instead of transporting him to the San Diego Metropolitan Detention Center for prosecution under 8 U.S.C. §1326, Border Patrol agents released him for his return to Mexico at the Tecate Port of Entry. At some time later, Camacho unlawfully re-entered the United States and eventually returned to Oceanside, California, where his family resides.

The failure of the Border Patrol agents to follow procedures may have, in part, led to the shooting of Tony Zeppetella, a 27-year old police officer in Oceanside, California. On June 13, 2003, after a routine traffic stop, Camacho allegedly shot and killed Officer Zeppetella in cold blood. Police called the shooting an "ambush." They said Camacho shot Zeppetella multiple times and then fled in the officer's patrol car.

The United States Border Patrol's Internal Affairs and the Department of Justice's Inspector General are currently investigating the events surrounding the January 2002 deportation of Adrian Camacho. I ask that you personally undertake a review of this incident to determine why Camacho was not detained for criminal prosecution. Once the investigations are complete, I also ask that you provide information on the following:

• Details as to why appropriate actions were not taken to ensure that a deported criminal alien would not slip through the cracks and be allowed to voluntarily depart, instead of being processed for criminal prosecution under 8 U.S.C. §1326 for unlawful re-entry after being removed from the United States.

• Details as to whether, at the time of their encounter with Camacho, the Border Patrol and Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement had mechanisms in place to identify, track and detain deported criminal aliens who unlawfully return to the United States to ensure that they are not released before criminal prosecution.

• Description of the specific reforms you have implemented or intend to implement since the Camacho incident to ensure that department procedures are clearly understood and effectively carried out by agency personnel and mishaps carrying such tragic consequences will not be repeated.

Finally, I ask that you forward to my office a copy of the written findings of the two investigations being conducted by the Department of Justice Inspector General and the Border Patrol Internal Affairs division accompanied by the agency's response.

Horrific acts like the Oceanside shooting demonstrate the critical need for the federal government to be even more vigilant in securing the U.S. borders and interior. San Diego is one of the key points for criminals to enter into the United States. Last year, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported to Mexico 9,800 criminal aliens from the San Diego and Imperial counties.

Mexican Consul General Rodulfo Figueroa has requested that the United States alert the Mexican government 72-hours before a Mexican national is deported from the United States to allow Mexican authorities sufficient time to check their own law enforcement databases for potential warrants on the deportees. This would not only allow the Mexican government the opportunity to arrest the deportee at the U.S.-Mexican ports of entry, it would enable them to provide better protection for their own citizens as well as U.S. citizens.

I hope that you will work with Mexico on this request and assist them in developing the necessary mechanisms for cross checking criminal data systems before a criminal alien is released at the Mexican border. I would also appreciate a report on the potential costs of additional detention time for Mexican criminal deportees, should such a process formally be implemented between the U.S. and Mexico."

###