(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has filed a new open records lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of State (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Department of Homeland Security, et al., #1:07-cv-00506(RJL).  The lawsuit, filed on March 16, 2007 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, asks the court to compel the government agencies to comply with Judicial Watch’s January 24, 2007 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking records regarding the immunity and medical treatment given to Mexican drug smuggler Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, who was shot and wounded by U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean in a 2005 drug-related incident.

Judicial Watch’s FOIA lawsuit seeks all communications between the three government agencies and the agencies and representatives of the Government of Mexico, as well as records pertaining to the participation of U.S. government personnel in coordinating the return of Aldrete-Davila to the United States for medical treatment, meetings with federal investigators and to testify in court.  U.S. Border Patrol Agents Ignacio “Nacho” Ramos and Joe Alonso Compean were jailed in January 2007 after shooting and wounding Aldrete-Davila, who was allegedly attempting to smuggle 750 pounds of marijuana into the United States.  Following the incident, the U.S. government filed charges against the two agents, while granting full immunity to Aldrete-Davila to testify against them.

“We are interested in learning about any deals brokered between the U.S. and Mexico following the shooting incident in 2005,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  “Given the public and congressional controversy surrounding the case, the more the American people know about what happened, the better.”

In 2006, Judicial Watch uncovered documents that detail the chaotic and dangerous nature of the U.S. border with Mexico.  The records, obtained by the Department of Homeland Security, describe incidents involving shots fired on both sides of the border, unmarked Mexican helicopters invading U.S. airspace, drug smuggling, and confrontations between U.S. Border Patrol agents and armed members of the Mexican military.

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Click here to read JW's lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, et al.