One for the WTF files!

Cobos wants feds to foot bill to treat, protect casualties of Juárez drug war!
what the hell is wrong with Judges? why is it the responsibility of the U.S.
to wipe the ass's of other countries ? these types of judges should be booted to the curb! it is not their responsibility to be political, what an Asshole!

The U.S. government should absorb much of the responsibility for treating victims of cartel violence who cross the border and receive emergency medical services at Thomason Hospital, El Paso County Judge Anthony Cobos said Tuesday.

County officials, Fort Bliss officials, the El Paso County sheriff, Thomason executives and others met in an emergency closed-door meeting Tuesday to develop a strategy to get the federal government to pay for the security expenses or treat the patients at a federally operated hospital

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Cobos said a dangerous situation has emerged in which victims of cartel violence are seeking treatment in El Paso and creating a security problem -- a result of law enforcement officers at border crossings allowing entry to wounded people and the federal government's policy in the war on drugs.

County officials twice this year have implemented lockdowns with a heavy security detail after Mexican law enforcement officers who had been shot in Mexico sought emergency care at Thomason Hospital. Officials fear that gangsters could "infiltrate Thomason Hospital and try to finish the job there," Cobos said.

"I believe that the violence south of the border has shown itself here, at least at Thomason Hospital," Cobos said. "We're taking steps to mitigate some of the potential violent
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situations that could potentially spill over."

Friday, Juan Etiene Castruita, director of the Casas Grandes Department of Public Safety, and Lorenzo de la Torre, assistant director of public safety, were taken by ambulance to Thomason Hospital from the Bridge of the Americas after they were wounded in an ambush.


Mexican officials said last week that de la Torre was gravely wounded and that Etiene Castruita's hand was injured.

In January, Thomason Hospital was placed on lockdown after Cmdr. Fernando Lozano Sandoval, of the Chihuahua State Investigations Agency, was shot several times in the streets of Juárez.

The heavy sheriff's surveillance cost about $47,000, which the county is trying to recoup from the Mexican government, El Paso County Sheriff Jimmy Apodaca said.

County officials are planning a joint meeting with the Thomason Board of Managers sometime next week, then another meeting with legal experts, perhaps the following week, to interpret whether federal money should be used to pay for the treatment.

U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, said Tuesday that he was working with federal officials in the United States and Mexico to ensure that El Paso taxpayers do not bear the brunt of the cost of treating and securing patients from Mexico.

"When a critically wounded individual approaches our port of entry, (Customs and Border Protection) officers have no choice but to admit them; and once that individual is on U.S. soil, Thomason Hospital has no choice but to treat them," Reyes said in a statement. "The county currently receives funding from the U.S. government to help offset the cost of medical care for undocumented immigrants, and the Mexican government was also very cooperative in reimbursing Thomason for the cost of providing treatment to the Mexican officer admitted in January."

Another idea the group is considering is to request that Mexican patients who are potential targets of cartel violence be treated at military hospitals, or at least at hospitals far from the border.

Jim Valenti, president and chief executive officer of Thomason, said finding other hospitals to treat the patients either in El Paso or away from the border city would be welcomed, but impractical. Thomason is the only Level 1 trauma center within 280 miles, and other El Paso hospitals might not be well equipped to provide the same level of emergency service or security.

Valenti added that the hospital was already looking at ways to bolster security. The hospital is planning to create permanent security stations at all three entrances and exits of the hospital to prevent lockdowns, which narrow traffic through one door, Valenti said.

"I think that the day of innocence is gone," he said. "I think what we have to do is change our approach."

Roger Maier, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said that if someone arrives at the bridge with an emergency medical condition, the person will be allowed no matter what into the United States if the person has the proper documentation.

Without it, he said, customs defers to emergency medical services to determine the proper course of emergency treatment.

Customs can grant the patient what is called a "parole," which allows him or her entry into the United States until healthy enough to return.

"We're not medical professionals," Maier said.

County officials estimate that as many as 10 ambulances a day respond to ports of entry in the El Paso area to provide emergency services, though Maier said he suspects that figure is a little high.

I have a great idea "close the border " do not let anyone in under any circumstances!