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Hispanic Agents Maintain Bias Persists in F.B.I.
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By PHILIP SHENON, SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: March 16, 1990
LEAD: More than a year after a Federal court found widespread discrimination in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, tensions are growing among Hispanic agents who were at the center of the landmark lawsuit, and many say they are now the targets of retaliation by the bureau.
More than a year after a Federal court found widespread discrimination in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, tensions are growing among Hispanic agents who were at the center of the landmark lawsuit, and many say they are now the targets of retaliation by the bureau.
''People say we won that lawsuit, but really we lost,'' said Gil Mireles, a decorated agent in San Antonio. Mr. Mireles says his career was derailed after 18 years with the F.B.I. because of his testimony against the bureau at the 1988 trial.
Since then, Mr. Mireles says, he has been kept out of major investigations, has been rejected for promotions and has even lost use of his bureau car. Some Hispanic colleagues in San Antonio complain of similar reprisals. ''For some of us things have gotten worse,'' Mr. Mireles said. F.B.I. Denies Any Retaliation The F.B.I. denies that there has been retaliation against Mr. Mireles or other Hispanic employees as a result of the the agents' successful lawsuit.
But Congressional investigators say that many complaints are valid and that Hispanic agents who were closely involved in the discrimination suit have found their careers stalled.
In interviews with more than 20 current and former Hispanic agents around the country, many said discrimination in the F.B.I. might have actually grown worse.
''My intention is to get out of the bureau,'' said Luis A. Monserrate Jr., an agent in Atlanta who was active in the lawsuit and now complains of being the victim of ''sham'' disciplinary investigations.
Outside Congress, there has been no independent review of the charges of retaliation. But private law-enforcement specialists say the allegations are not a shock. ''The F.B.I. is a big, imperfect institution, and frankly, it would surprise me if there wasn't some retaliation,'' said James J. Fyfe, a professor of justice, law and society at American University who has studied discrimination in the bureau.
Director Is Called Insensitive
The F.B.I. Director, William S. Sessions, a frequent target of criticism from Hispanic agents, is to appear before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights in the next few weeks to address the allegations of reprisals.
''We're very disturbed about what we're hearing,'' said Representative Don Edwards, a California Democrat who serves as head of the panel. ''Sessions isn't being tough enough on this issue.''
Representative Matthew G. Martinez, another California Democrat who has been a critic of the bureau's treatment of Hispanic employees, said an investigation by his staff showed that many of the accusations were true. ''It's tragic that the bureau is supposed to be the nation's defender of civil rights, yet it continues to defy the very reason for its existence,'' Mr. Martinez said.
The lawsuit by 311 agents alleging discrimination led to a decision that was seen as a major embarrassment for the bureau. Judge Lucius D. Bunton of United States District Court in Midland, Tex., ruled in September 1988 that Hispanic agents had been the victims of pervasive discrimination in assignments and promotions in the F.B.I.
The judge ordered the agency to overhaul its promotion policies for Hispanic agents but did not set timetables or quotas for their advancement. He also created a three-member panel to investigate allegations of discrimination and retaliation against those involved in the suit. The panel is only now beginning its review.
More Sanctions Are Sought
Antonio V. Silva, an El Paso lawyer who has represented all the Hispanic agents, said he would return to Federal court in the next few weeks to seek additional sanctions against the bureau. ''Retaliation has been occurring all over the United States and we want it stopped,'' he said.
F.B.I. spokesmen say that since Judge Bunton's ruling, the bureau has aggressively moved to eliminate prejudice in its ranks, and some Hispanic agents applaud the efforts.
''The bureau is definitely taking steps in the right direction,'' said Hector L. Lugo, a Puerto Rican agent who is the bureau's chief recruiter in New York.
In a statement made public last week, Mr. Sessions said, ''The F.B.I. is acutely aware of its obligations to protect the rights of employees,'' and he vowed ''stern disciplinary action'' if any retaliation charges were proved.
Rate of Promotions
Yet Hispanic agents say F.B.I. figures show that despite their court victory, there has not been a sharp increase in the number of promotions for Hispanic agents, especially at senior levels.
The number of Hispanic agents around the country who are supervisors has risen by about a dozen since last year, F.B.I. figures show, but all of that increase took place at the lowest salary levels.
Of the 349 agents at the highest basic salary level, only seven, or 2 percent, are Hispanic, and that number was unchanged from March 1989. None of the bureau's 56 field offices is run by an Hispanic agent. Of the bureau's 9,600 agents, Hispanic agents now make up about 5 percent.
Paul P. Magallanes, a Los Angeles agent who retired last July after 21 years in the bureau, said, ''It's been business as usual in regard to Hispanic agents.''
''People we thought were our friends are no longer our friends,'' he said.
Tension in Sessions's Old Town
The tension appears to be most pronounced in a handful of F.B.I. offices, including the one in San Antonio, where Mr. Sessions was a judge and Federal prosecutor for many years.
''My first 16 years in the bureau, I led a charmed life - I was part of every major investigation,'' Mr. Mireles said. ''The last two years have been sheer hell.''
Mr. Mireles, who is widely acknowledged as one of the bureau's most talented instructors in police tactics, is now assigned to low-profile surveillance duties.
Michael D. Wilson, the agent in charge of the F.B.I. office here, said he did not believe there had been any retaliation against Mr. Mireles or other agents, at least not since he arrived here six months ago. ''Retaliation is not a word in my vocabulary,'' Mr. Wilson said.
Agents elsewhere who were involved in the lawsuit say they have been the targets of internal investigations and disciplinary reviews intended to punish them for minor infractions of bureau rules.
Agents Cite Harassment
In Miami, many colleagues have rallied to the defense of a Cuban-American agent, Fernando E. Mata, who has been suspended during an investigation of allegations that he might have had improper contacts with Cuban intelligence agents or mismanaged counterintelligence duties.
Friends of Mr. Mata say that the investigation is based on old, unreliable information and that Mr. Mata, a counterintelligence specialist, is being punished because of his damaging testimony against the F.B.I. in the trial. The bureau denies the accusations.