Statement from Minutemen Project Founder Jim Gilchrist

January 19, 2009

BREAKING NEWS: President Bush Commutes Sentence of former Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean

It is with great joy that I report to you that because of the visual show of support by petition by millions of supporters of the Minuteman Project and organizations with similar goals, former Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean had their sentences commuted by President Bush today.

It was a tragedy that they were still in prison. But today, after a conversation between the Minuteman Project and the office of US Pardon Attorney Ronald Rodgers, we received the word we had so longed for. I want to thank all of you very much for your support of our goals in this effort, and want to also thank talk radio shows from around the country who allowed me to continue to push for this release on their shows. Special thanks goes to Lou Dobbs, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity, as well as all Members of Congress who also pushed for their release.

This is what the Associated Press reported today:

"WASHINGTON (AP) - President George W. Bush has commuted the prison sentences of two former Border Patrol guards whose convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer ignited debate about illegal immigration. Bush's act of clemency on Monday for Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean was a victory for Democratic and Republican members of Congress and others who pleaded with the president to pardon the men or at least commute their sentences. Ramos and Compean are each serving sentences of more than 10 years for shooting an unarmed illegal immigrant as he was fleeing an abandoned marijuana load in 2005, then trying to cover it up."

We will have more on this later this week, but I wanted to share the good news with you now.

Again, thank you so much for your support of the Minuteman Project and our efforts to get these two fine men released. Today is a great day of victory for American Justice!

Jim Gilchrist is the founder and President of the Minuteman Project, a multi-ethnic grassroots organization dedicated to border security and immigration reform. For more information see www.MinutemanProject.com.