Dozens of radio talk-show hosts from across the nation are uniting with an immigration group for a Capitol Hill rally to pressure Congress to defeat an illegal alien amnesty bill, protect the border, and support the Border Patrol, including
imprisoned former agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.
Texas radio talk-show host Edd Hendee, working with colleagues such as Roger Hedgecock and Howie Carr, wants the agents to be freed and the prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, fired.
The "Hold Their Feet to the Fire 2007" rally is planned for April 22-25 by the Federation for American Immigration Reform in Washington, D.C. The rally will include 19 straight hours of talk-show broadcasting by various hosts.
Ramos and Compean are in federal prison serving 11 and 12 year sentences for their actions in the shooting of a drug smuggler, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila-Aldrete, as he fled back to Mexico after driving across the border with a load of 742 pounds of marijuana in February 2005. Sutton gave the smuggler use immunity to serve as the government's star witness and testify against the border agents.
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Hendee's call to remove Sutton comes after news of the arrest of Cipriano Ortiz-Hernandez, the stash house operator involved in a second drug smuggling attempt Aldrete-Davila made, after being given immunity.
"When a U.S. attorney allows a Mexican national like Ortiz-Hernandez to operate a drug stash house without being arrested for almost two years, there's no excuse," Hendee told WND. "It's a clear dereliction of duty on the part of Johnny Sutton."
Hendee pointed out it's now known that millions of dollars worth of marijuana went through Ortiz-Hernandez's home in Clint, Texas, over a two-year period.
"Ortiz-Hernandez should have been indicted and arrested so his whole operation could have been busted up and put out of business, long before Aldrete-Davila showed up to drop off his second 'October load,'" Hendee said.
Hendee hosts a morning show on KSEV in Houston and KVCE http://www.kvceradio.com/ in Dallas–Fort Worth.
The radio host said he's asking listeners to call their representatives and urge the lawmakers "to go on record and call immediately for Sutton's removal."
Hendee said he intends to poll the Texas congressional delegation and interview them on the radio.
The trial transcript in the Ramos-Compean case shows prosecutors successfully sought to have Judge Kathleen Cardone seal all information about Aldrete-Davila's second drug bust from the jury, despite defense arguments that the information about that incident – as documented in Department of Homeland Security and Drug Enforcement Administration investigative reports – went to the heart of the smuggler's credibility.
"This is clearly an issue we intend to bring before the voters," Hendee told WND, "and the voters have a right to know where their elected representatives in Washington stand on the issue of firing Johnny Sutton."
Bob Dane, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, told WND the rally plans to host a 5 a.m.-to-midnight continuous radio row broadcast from the Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington.
"We're planning to hold the largest media immigration event of the year," Wade said. "Most talk show hosts are coming to town to say 'No' to amnesty."
FAIR has created a Border Patrol Family Fund, called "Defend Those Who Defend Us," for Ramos and Compean. The fund will be split between the two families at the rally banquet April 24.
Among the broadcasters scheduled to attend the FAIR rally are:
- Hedgecock, KOGO-AM, San Diego
- Carr, WRKO-AM and syndicated, Boston
- John and Ken, KFI-AM, Los Angeles
- WND columnist Les Kinsolving, WCBM-AM, Baltimore
- Janet Parshall, Salem Radio Network
- Armstrong Williams, WWRL, New York
- Phil Valentine, Westwood One, Nashville
Accuracy in Media notes some of the biggest names in conservative talk radio are missing and urges listeners to contact Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Michael Savage, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck and Michael Reagan to see if they plan to attend or give the event publicity.
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