“The Border Patrol’s job is not to stop illegal immigrants.”

Tom Tancredo, (R-CO) is calling for the job of Border Patrol’s chief in Laredo, Carlos X. Carrillo. Carlos made some statements that would make even Geraldo Rivera say “Wait…what?”

At the meeting, Carrillo said, “The Border Patrol’s job is not to stop illegal immigrants. The Border Patrol’s job is not to stop narcotics … The Border Patrol’s mission is not to stop criminals. The Border Patrol’s mission is to stop terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering this country.”

Tancredo, who has made putting a stop to illegal immigration a cornerstone of his presidential campaign, thought little of the comments:

“He has established a clear attitude in regard to what the Border Patrol is supposed to be about, and it is diametrically opposed to what the Border Patrol is supposed to do,” said Tancredo, who believes the comments reflect an attitude among some that illegal immigrants seeking jobs are harmless.

“You have to stop everyone, or at least as many as you can, who is coming into the country illegally,” he said.

Tom nails it. This guy needs to go. If your attitude is that you don’t need to worry about people, but contraband, then you have the wrong mentality for the job.

UPDATE (Added by Andrew)

This is from the U.S. Border Patrol website…

While the Border Patrol has changed dramatically since its inception over 75 years ago, its primary mission remains unchanged: to detect and prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United States.

Here’s another direct quote from the website…

The primary mission of the Border Patrol is the detection and apprehension of illegal aliens and smugglers of aliens at or near the land border.

Maybe Carlos Carrillo should check out his own website sometime.