Former Border Agent Reflects on ICE Slaying

HOUSTON - Six years ago, on this very day, a former border patrol agent named Ignacio Ramos shot and wounded a Mexican drug smuggler on the American side of the border near El Paso.

It was Feb. 17, 2005: Ramos was an American federal agent who shot a criminal.

He said he was protecting fellow agent Jose Compean, but the United States government prosecuted both men.  Federal prosecutors accused them of being overly aggressive and trying to cover their tracks.

Ramos and Compean went to federal prison.

While today is the sixth anniversary of the shooting, it is also the second anniversary of their release from prison.

President Bush commuted their sentences before he left office, but both men, once charged with protecting our borders, are now convicted felons.

Ramos left El Paso shortly after his release and moved his wife and three sons to Katy. The move has been an emotional one. Earlier this year, the Ramos family allowed their eldest son, a high school senior, to return to El Paso in order to graduate with his classmates.

The older boy will graduate this summer and is staying with his maternal grandparents, but it's not the only change challenging the family.

Because President Bush chose to forgive the sentences of Ramos and Compean, rather than pardon them, they're still convicts. Ramos is asking for a new trial.

It's a risk because if it doesn't go his way, he will likely return to jail. Ramos said it's a risk he needs to take.

Once a media darling, Ramos said much of the support he received while in prison is gone. He doesn't give many interviews these days, but on this anniversary and on the heels of the recent assassination of ICE agent Jaime Zapata , he sat down with FOX 26 News to answer a few questions.

FOX 26: President Bush commuted your sentence. Do you think Mexico strong armed the United States to go after you? And do you think the United States will add pressure to Mexico now that one of our own agents has been killed?

Ramos: Yes and no. You see something happen anytime to a Mexican citizen, and there's outrage. There's a point of outrage. (They say) look what's happened to one of our citizens. Do something. But you don't see the same (from our government). You haven't seen the same. You didn't see anything with the two children in Juarez who were murdered. They were gunned down in the street. You haven't seen the same with these two agents.

FOX 26: You've been there. You've been on the front lines. You've been on the river. You've been shot at …

Ramos: Twice.

FOX 26: And the bullets were coming from Mexico …

Ramos: Yes

FOX 26: What is it that we as just regular Americans would be surprised to know about what you guys go through?

Ramos: It happens more than people know about. Those agents out there are frequently in danger.

FOX 26: How has life changed for you?

Ramos: I'm not doing what I love. That's pretty much it. I mean (working for the Border Patrol was) all I ever wanted to do, and now I just get up and go everyday.

FOX 26: Your family?

Ramos: "Same thing. I uprooted them. Brought them to Houston.

FOX 26: Do you believe the government that you fought for the nation you fought for let you down?

Ramos: To an extent. I wouldn't say the government as a whole. There's entities and personnel in that government that are unscrupulous.

FOX 26: How can Mexico have influence on a country like the United States?

Ramos: I've asked myself that many times. I've asked myself how (can so) many people, (so) many other countries can have control over this one? Being the biggest and most powerful country in the world, we always see to play nice to everybody else for the sake of what we might look like. And because of that we are the ones that suffer for it. Whether it be border patrol agents on the line or soldiers on the field ...

FOX 26: Or ICE agents?

Ramos: Or ICE agents.

FOX 26: Do you have anything you'd want to say to the family of agent Jaime Zapata?

Ramos: My heart goes out to them because I'm sure he felt he was doing his part, his job. I didn't like where I wound up. I didn't like the situation, but I wouldn't want what's going to happen to their family. And I'd rather have what happened to me than for anyone to come present a flag to my wife and think they were doing her an honor.

>> Watch the video for Kristine Galvan's television report and interview with Ignacio Ramos (non-mobile)

Read More (non-mobile):
> ICE Agent's Body Transported to Bush Intercontinental | MyFoxHouston.com