Bush in a quandary over border agents' case

March 3, 2007, 10:48PM
Border shooting uproar leaves him no easy option
By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
Photo by RUBEN R. RAMIREZ: EL PASO TIMES

WASHINGTON — For weeks, defenders of the two former Border Patrol agents imprisoned for shooting a Mexican drug trafficker have bombarded the White House with calls, e-mails and petitions.

Their demand is straightforward: A presidential pardon for a pair of Texans they view as heroes persecuted for doing their jobs.

"This is a terrible injustice, and I urge you to use your considerable authority and power to pardon these two agents and right this obvious wrong!" reads a petition from Grassfire.org, a conservative Web site that claims more than 337,000 people have signed the online form.

But the issue is far from simple for President Bush, who is being asked to wade into a highly controversial case where even the most basic facts are in dispute. The quandary for the president: Whether to side with former Border Patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos or with the prosecutors who contend they were rogue officers who wounded a fleeing, unarmed man and then concealed evidence.