Dear Conservative,

Few things are as infuriating as thinking about the Benghazi stand-down order. I just cannot fathom how someone in the administration would tell U.S. forces to stand down when they had the possibility to save American lives. That is ludicrous to me.

Well, the Obama administration has issued another stand down order, this time it is directed at Border Patrol. A memo has come down from the top of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol delivering a new policy on the use of deadly force. According to the memo, border agents are ordered to stand down and not engage illegal aliens who are throwing projectiles at them or in a getaway car. This is in order to “decrease the likelihood of deadly force situations,” according to Chief Michael J. Fisher, the head of the agency and the one who penned the memo.

Are they serious? The Obama administration is now ordering border patrol to stand down when they are assaulted and to refrain from firing upon vehicles trying to illegally enter the country!

Stop the Obama administration from ordering our Border Patrol agents to stand-down!

Since 2007, there have been 6,000 assaults on Federal Border Patrol agents, resulting in numerous injuries and the deaths of three agents. The memo says that since 2010, our Border Patrol agents have been assaulted with rocks 1,713 times, forcing them to respond with deadly force 43 times. Now, that option is off the table. Border Patrol agents have been instructed NOT to defend themselves…

Anyone who throws anything at our Border Patrol agents deserves to be neutralized. Obviously, there is no need to shoot a child who is throwing stones, but anyone who has studied the Palestinian Intifadas knows how quickly throwing rocks can turn into throwing Molotov cocktails…

At first glance, this appears to be a departmental memo limited to just the U.S. Border Patrol agency. However, the evidence suggests that this use of force directive came all the way from an Obama nominee, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson (not a typo).

Secretary Johnson released a press statement in response to the new deadly force requirements released by Border Patrol.

“I commend Chief Fisher on his directive on the use of safe tactics and techniques released today, which provides further guidance to the Border Patrol workforce to lessen the likelihood of deadly force situations as we meet our dual goals of ensuring the safety and security of our dedicated agents as well as the public that they serve. I also support and commend his commitment to continue to assess the need for operational adjustments, dictated by situations in the field.”

I want to focus on this statement. The Secretary of Homeland Security has made it his mission to reevaluate the department’s deadly force protocols in order to meet the “dual goals” of protecting Border Patrol agents and the “public that they serve.”

Who exactly is the “public that they serve?” If the answer is the American people, it would make sense to neutralize these illegal immigrants before the hardened criminals among them would be able to target Americans. But that isn’t what this memo is ordering. The Secretary of Homeland Security is ordering Border Patrol agents to cease firing on illegal aliens for fear that this action might harm the “public that they serve.” Sounds an awful lot like this Obama appointee thinks he serves the illegal aliens who are infiltrating our country, doesn’t it?

So instead of neutralizing hardened criminals who cross our borders, the Border Patrol agency is just going to let them in and leave them free to target American citizens. Fantastic…

Stop the Obama administration from ordering our Border Patrol agents to stand-down!

It actually gets much worse than this. When confronted with hostile illegal aliens, the interdepartmental memo instructs federal agents to “obtain a tactical advantage in these situations [by] seeking cover or distancing themselves from the immediate area of danger.”

This isn’t how you gain a tactical advantage! This is just a fancy way of telling our Border Patrol agents to run away!

I mean, just think about it. We have the most powerful military and the best trained federal agents in the world. However, if someone throws a rock at a Border Patrol agent or hops into a getaway vehicle, our agents are instructed to take cover for their own safety… If the Obama administration is trying to portray weakness, it is doing a very good job at it!

How about instead of tying our border patrol agents’ hands, we allow them to defend themselves from all threats? There has always been this desire by the Left to blame Border Patrol when conflicts escalate and deadly force is used on an illegal immigrant. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed by an illegal alien carrying a rifle that was given to him by the U.S. government itself, and Democrats have still tried to stonewall the investigation into Fast and Furious and Terry’s murder.

How about instead of advertising to the world that our Border Patrol does not have the resolve to use its weapons, let’s release this announcement: If you illegally cross our borders, you will be shot at. If we truly wanted to stop the influx of illegal immigrants, this message would work. But that isn’t Obama’s goal. If we shoot these illegal aliens, they are going to have a hard time making it to the polls on Election Day…

While this is certainly a sad day for American border enforcement agents, Secretary Johnson’s commitment to the de-escalation of conflict at the border begs another important question: Why does the Department of Homeland Security still need 1.6+ Billion rounds of ammunition?

Under the Obama administration, we have seen an unprecedented militarization of our domestic law enforcement agencies. At Homeland Security, we were told that the department needed 1.6 Billion rounds of hollow-point ammunition for “training purposes.” We were told that the bulk buy was necessary to save the taxpayers money. However, anyone with any firearm experience knows that practicing with hollow-point ammunition is the fastest way to hemorrhage money…

Stop the Obama administration from ordering our Border Patrol agents to stand-down!

No, as we have said before, hollow-points are designed to cut through flesh, not paper. So, if Homeland Security will not be engaging illegal aliens crossing the border, who is this ammunition intended for?

As we see these militarized agents targeting law-abiding Americans with SWAT teams and no-knock raids, I can’t help wonder whether the use-of-force instructions are looser for Americans than they are for illegal aliens… But, I digress.

To see the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Agency release memoranda ordering agents to stand down is absolutely depressing. For years, the Obama administration has quietly attempted to undermine our border security. This directive absolutely takes the cake.

What do you think the illegal aliens are going to do now that they know our Border Patrol won’t shoot them? Do you think they will all of a sudden give up trying to infiltrate our country? Of course not!

The Obama administration has put the lives of illegal alien criminals over the safety of our border patrol agents and the American border communities that they protect. The administration tried to quietly change the rules of engagement, hoping that the American people wouldn’t notice.

Well, we have noticed, and we will not allow this President to jeopardize American lives by ordering our Border Patrol agents to stand down! This idiotic policy must be stopped!

Stop the Obama administration from ordering our Border Patrol agents to stand-down!

Sincerely,

Joe Otto

Conservative Daily