BP issues a classic non-denial denial

Michelle Malkin is carrying the latest on the growing controversy regarding the Border Patrol’s informing the Mexican government of the whereabouts of Minuteman patrols:

The Customs and Border Protection agency at DHS has issued a statement, much-ballyhooed by blind Bush supporters, which calls the Inland Valley Bulletin's story on the Border Patrol/Minutemen/Mexican government "inaccurate."

Here is their statement:

Today’s report by the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, “U.S. tipping Mexico to Minuteman patrols,” is inaccurate. Border Patrol does not report activity by civilian, non-law enforcement groups to the Government of Mexico. During a detention of a legal or illegal immigrant that produces an allegation of improper treatment, Border Patrol reports the allegation and allows the appropriate consulate to interview the individual in custody.

This is consistent with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 that provides consular access to foreign nationals being detained by a foreign government. This is the same agreement that protects United States citizens when they travel to foreign countries.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Border Patrol continues to appreciate the efforts of civilians who contact law enforcement authorities regarding suspicious activity.

The bit about the Vienna Convention is supposed to be what makes the Valley Bulletin story “inaccurate”. Nothing in their story was untrue; it just didn’t have that one detail. A detail which is not in any way material to the story.

Here is how it all boils down. When Minutemen call the Border Patrol and tell them that they have spotted an alien criminal infiltrating the nation the BP goes out and arrests the criminal (sometimes). They then take him back to a holding area where they process him. There is an entire legal process which the alien criminal must go through before being sent back to Mexico. At some point in this process the Mexican government has a right under international law to be informed.

After all if an American citizen committed the serious felony under Mexican law of entering Mexico illegally and was apprehended by Mexican police we would want to be informed.

BUT, there is nothing in the Vienna Convention requiring the foreign government to be kept in the loop in real time. If the BP picks up the phone and tells the Mexican consulate about a Minuteman related arrest the moment that the BP agents radio in from the field then the Mexican government has accurate and up to the minute information about the exact location of a Minuteman patrol.

A few minutes later cell phones ring on the Mexican side of the border and the location of illegal border crossings change.

Think of it this way. What if a squad of US paratroopers sent into France on the eve of the Normandy invasion had captured a Nazi officer and were obtaining intelligence from him about German defenses. They radio this back to their HQ. Then RIGHT THAT INSTANT the US government obeys international law and informs the German government that one of their officers has been taken POW by American paratroops and gives the exact location.

Ms. Malkin sums up this way:

This White House has another burgeoning debacle on its hands. And it's not the Daily Bulletin or conservative bloggers' fault. I would highly recommend that blind Bush supporters not attack the reporter as some sort of NYTimes liberal ideologue. Those who have followed their excellent journalism over the years know that the Daily Bulletin and its reporters in the trenches have been at the forefront of border and immigration enforcement reporting.

Message to apologists: Stop blaming the messengers. It's only going to make those poll numbers you worry so much about worse.

Message to the White House: Stop blaming the messengers. Do us all a favor by ending this travesty and apologizing. And please don't fire Mario Martinez for telling the reporter the truth.