Tag Archives: USCG Tijuana

@StateDept Releases Tijuana Accountability Review Board (ARB) Fact Sheet

July 27, 2021 By in Consulate General, Federal Agencies, Locally Employed Staff, Security, State Department, U.S. Missions, WHA|Western Hemisphere Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

 

On July 26, the State Department released a Tijuana Accountability Review Board Fact Sheet. A notice dated March 9, 2021 posted on regulations.gov announced the convening of ARB-Tijuana (see Convening of an Accountability Review Board to Investigate the Murder of an Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Locally Employed Staff member in Tijuana, Mexico).

Related posts:

As best we could tell, the Tijuana ARB report has not been released publicly.  Below via the State Department Fact Sheet:

On January 4, 2021, former Secretary of State Pompeo convened an independent Accountability Review Board (ARB) to review the facts and circumstance surrounding the murder of Mr. Edgar Flores Santos, a U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA/APHIS) Locally Employed (LE) Staff member in Tijuana, Mexico that occurred on September 30, 2020.  The body was discovered on October 1, 2020. The Tijuana ARB, as well as local and American law enforcement officials, concluded this unfortunate incident was a case of Mr. Flores being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

The ARB’s mandate was to determine the extent to which the incident was security related; whether security systems and procedures were adequate; whether those systems and procedures were properly implemented; the impact of intelligence and information availability; and other factors and circumstances which may be relevant to appropriate security management of U.S. missions abroad.

The ARB first met on February 23, 2021.  Former Ambassador George M. Staples served as Chair of the Board.  Board members included Ambassador Janice Jacobs, former USAID Mission Director Dirk Dijkerman, former Diplomatic Security Service Special Agents John Eustace, and Kimber Davidson.  On April 23, 2021, the Board submitted a report of its findings and recommendations to Secretary of State Blinken.  The Department of State appreciates the judgment and insight contained in the report and is grateful for the service of the Board.  Pursuant to law, the Secretary submitted a report to Congress on July 22, 2020, outlining the ARB’s recommendations and actions taken in response.

The United States Department of State, the USDA APHIS operations, and many other U.S. government agencies have a broad presence and role in Mexico.  The United States is Mexico’s largest agricultural trading partner and the growing agricultural ties between the United States and Mexico have created a vital role for the USDA’s APHIS in ensuring that existing trade between the two economies flows smoothly.  In particular, APHIS provides critical safeguarding of U.S. agriculture, helping to prevent the spread of animal and plant pests and diseases. 

Advancing U.S. foreign policy objectives inherently involves diverse types of risk, and the Department recognizes that taking considered risks is often essential to achieving U.S. government objectives abroad.  Working in dangerous locations such as Mexico’s northern border area is critical to maintaining the safety, security, prosperity, and welfare of Americans.  The work accomplished by Mr. Flores and his USDA APHIS colleagues is vital to the agricultural security of the United States; the Department of State is grateful for their service.   

In the Tijuana operating environment, the Board found that the Department’s security systems and procedures were overall adequate and properly implemented, though the Board identified a few challenges in communication and information sharing that were immediately rectified following this incident.  Moreover, the Board did not find any U.S. government employee engaged in misconduct or perform unsatisfactorily in a way that contributed to this incident. 

The ARB issued 11 recommendations that focus on security systems and procedures and security management.

Security Systems and Procedures:  The ARB found that by all accounts, Mexican law enforcement and U.S. law enforcement agencies at the embassy responded quickly to the incident and shared available information and assisted the Regional Security Officer (RSO) in response to this incident.  However, the Board recommended that APHIS and the RSO take steps to ensure closer monitoring of security-related incidents, information sharing and integration of that intelligence into APHIS’s operational decisions.  The Department of State in coordination with USDA/APHIS will review policies and procedures to strengthen the security of APHIS personnel overseas.  U.S. Embassy Mexico City and all posts with an APHIS presence in their district will engage in robust publicity efforts to raise public awareness about what APHIS does, how it works, and how the work benefits Mexico.

Security Management:  The Board also made several recommendations that USDA and State will take to improve the safety of field inspectors related to their roles and responsibilities; program requirements considering threats and vulnerabilities; and enrolling USDA/APHIS locally employed staff in the Department of State’s worldwide standardized emergency notification system.

 

 

 

 

@StateDept Convenes Accountability Review Board to Investigate the Murder of Local Employee Edgar Flores Santos in Tijuana, Mexico

March 16, 2021 By in Federal Agencies, Investigations, Locally Employed Staff, Realities of the FS, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , ,
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In October last year, we blogged about Edgar Flores Santos, a local employee who worked on animal and plant inspection for the Department of Agriculture’s APHIS office at the US Consulate General in Tijuana. He was reported missing on September 30 and found dead in a field southeast of the city on October 2, 2020 (also see Mexico: US Consulate Tijuana Local Employee Edgar Flores Santos Found Dead in a Field).

On March 9, 2021, the State Department published a notice via regulations.gov on the convening of an Accountability Review Board (ARB) to investigate the murder of Edgar Flores Santos. Former Ambassador and former DGHR George Staples has been appointed as Chair of the Board for ARB-Tijuana:
Convening of an Accountability Review Board To Investigate the Murder of an Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Locally Employed (LE) Staff Member in Tijuana, Mexico Pursuant to Section 301 of the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 1986, as amended (22 U.S.C. 4831), the Department of State convened an Accountability Review Board (ARB) to review the October 2020 murder of an APHIS LE Staff member in Tijuana, Mexico. The ARB will examine the facts and circumstances surrounding the incident and submit its findings to the Secretary of State, together with any recommendations as appropriate. The Department has appointed George Staples, a retired U.S. ambassador, as Chair of the Board. The other Board members are retired U.S. Ambassador Janice Jacobs, Mr. Dirk Dijkerman, Mr. John Eustace, and Mr. Kimber Davidson. They bring to their deliberations distinguished backgrounds in government service.
The Board will submit its findings and recommendations to the Secretary of State. The Department will report to Congress on any recommendations made by the Board and actions taken with respect to those recommendations.
Anyone with information relevant to the Board’s examination of these incidents should contact the Board via email promptly at ARBTijuana2021@ state.gov.
Zachary A. Parker, Director, Office of Directives Management.

 

 

 

 

Mexico: US Consulate Tijuana Local Employee Edgar Flores Santos Found Dead in a Field

October 5, 2020 By in Consulate General, Diplomatic Security, Federal Agencies, Realities of the FS, U.S. Missions, WHA|Western Hemisphere Tags: , , , ,

 

Fox 5 San Diego reported on October 2 that a local  employee of the US Consulate General in Tijuana, Mexico reported missing on September 30 was found dead in a field southeast of the city. The employee identified as Edgar Flores Santos worked on animal and plant inspection for the Department of Agriculture’s APHIS office in Tijuana.
The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Christopher Landau tweeted that US Mission Mexico is mourning the loss of Flores Santos and that the mission is grateful for his service. He also tweeted that post offers its sincere condolences to his loved ones and will work with law enforcement until he and his family receive justice. 
Fox 5 San Diego also published a statement issued by US Consulate Tijuana:
“The community of the U.S. Consulate of the United States in Tijuana deeply laments reports of the death of one of our local employees, a member of the Agricultural Department involved in the sanitary inspections of plants and animals with the office in Tijuana,” read the statement. “We are awaiting official confirmation, and we’ll continue working with local authorities investigating the case, out of respect for the family we will have no further comment.”

 

 

HOGR Hearing: Violence on the Border, Keeping U.S. Personnel Safe

September 9, 2015 By in Americans Abroad, Congress, Consulate General, Diplomatic Security, Federal Agencies, Foreign Service, FSOs, Functional Bureaus, Hearings, Interagency Cooperation, Security, State Department, U.S. Missions, WHA|Western Hemisphere Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted: 2:47 pm EDT
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The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing on September 9, to examine the efforts to ensure the safety of U.S. personnel and assets in northern Mexico and along the U.S.-Mexican border. The Committee notes on its introduction the risks posed to U.S. personnel and the public by the criminal violence in northern Mexico are numerous including:

  • February 2015: the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros reported 227 separate security incidents in the U.S. border region.
  • May 2015: two government buildings in Matamoros were struck by bomb attacks. 
  • June 2015: a gunman on the Mexican side of the border fired multiple shots at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter. 
  • June 2015: a U.S.-contracted vehicle was hijacked by armed criminals which resulted in the theft of over 11,500 Border Crossing Cards.

The video is available here. The witnesses include three officials from the State Department (DS, OBO, WHA), an official from DHS/CBP, and a representative from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).  There is no representative from the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) in this hearing.

Screen Shot 2015-09-09

U.S. Mission Mexico | Border Posts

William H. Moser Deputy Director, Bureau of Overseas Building Operations U.S. Department of State Document
Gregory B. Starr Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Diplomatic Security U.S. Department of State Document
Sue Saarnio Deputy Assistant Secretary, Western Hemisphere Affairs U.S. Department of State Document
Robert L. Harris Director, Joint Task Force – West U.S. Customs and Border Protection Document
Brandon Judd President, National Border Patrol Council American Federation of Government Employees Document

The hearing is also available here via C-SPAN.

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Insider Quote: “If there were more of us willing to speak up about issues that matter …”

September 3, 2015 By in Awards, Consular Work, Consulate General, Courage, Diplomatic Life, Dissent, Foreign Service, FSOs, Org Culture, Quotes, Realities of the FS, State Department Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment

Posted: 12:02 am EDT
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Amelia Shaw joined the Foreign Service (public diplomacy cone) in 2014 after careers in journalism and public health. She is currently doing consular work in Tijuana, her first post. She is the 2015 recipient of the W. Averell Harriman Award for Constructive Dissent. Below is an excerpt from Deconstructing Dissent, FSJ | September 2015:

“I am proud that I found a constructive way to take a stand on an issue that matters to me. But I can’t help wondering what the department would look like if there were more of us willing to speak up about issues that matter, large and small, regardless of whether or not we think we can actually change anything. Or as one senior officer pointed out to me, we dissent every day—but the difference is whom we dissent to and how far we are willing to go with it. At heart, it’s a question of integrity. Sometimes just adding your voice is enough.”

— Amelia Shaw
Foreign Service Officer

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