The Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Joe Leonard, Jr., not of the Justice Department, but of the Department of Agriculture (USDA), has determined that the USDA is officially against the enforcement of the nation's laws against illegal immigration. Specifically, the USDA will have nothing to do with and opposes various Acts of Congress expressed in Title 8 of the United States Code. And furthermore, USDA law enforcement personnel will be disiplined for cooperating with the United States Border Patrol (USBP) and prohibited from requesting assistance from the USBP when USDA law enforcement officers need assistance, back-up, and Spanish language translation during interviews of persons lawfully detained by USDA law enforcement officers investigating other violations of Federal law.

NYT May 30, 2012 by William Yardley Washington: Ruling Against Border Patrol Backup The practice of Forest Service officers’ requesting language interpretation and security backup from Border Patrol agents during stops of Spanish-speaking people is discriminatory, according to a federal administrative ruling made public this week. The ruling, by Joe Leonard Jr., the assistant secretary for civil rights of the Department of Agriculture, said requesting interpretation assistance was “merely an excuse to target Latino individuals for immigration enforcement.” The ruling came in response to a claim by the companion of a Mexican man who drowned in a river on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington last year after a Border Patrol officer, summoned by a Forest Service officer, chased the man into the woods. The couple had been stopped on national forestland while picking salal, an evergreen shrub used in floral arrangements. The ruling included disciplinary actions against some employees, and it ordered the Forest Service to create new guidelines for dealing with people who speak limited English.

So, now it is a violation of an alien's civil rights for a law enforcement officer from one Federal agency to call for the assistance of the USBP? Apparently USDA law enforcement officers are supposed to ignore certain Federal laws but enforce other Federal laws. Of course the USDA is also involved in ignoring other Federal laws, such as defrauding the government through its support for the false claims submitted in the Pigford cases and their successor false claims.

Give Joe Leonard, Jr. a call:

1400 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20250, Mail Stop 0115

E-mail: ascr@usda.gov

Phone: (202) 720-3808

FAX: (202) 690-1782