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  1. #1
    Senior Member Darlene's Avatar
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    Mexican shot crossing border was known migrant smuggler

    U.S. official: Mexican shot after illegally crossing American border was known migrant smuggler


    By Will Weissert
    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    9:36 a.m. January 4, 2006

    MEXICO CITY – A Mexican teen allegedly shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent had been detained in the United States 11 times for people smuggling, a Border Patrol spokesman said Wednesday.

    The shooting of Guillermo Martinez has intensified an already white-hot international debate about illegal immigration, and prompted Mexico to open a criminal investigation and send a diplomatic note to Washington.

    Opposition lawmakers have accused President Vicente Fox's government of not expressing sufficient outrage, however, and have vowed to consider a nonbinding resolution branding the 18-year-old an innocent victim and demanding that his shooting be punished.

    But Raul Martinez, a spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego who is not related to Guillermo Martinez, said in a telephone interview that the shooting victim was "a known people smuggler who had been detained 11 times prior."

    Martinez said the victim's brother also has faced similar charges.

    Asked if a prior criminal record could undermine Guillermo Martinez's status as an innocent victim, the spokesman replied, "I can't make the exact connection until the entire investigation is complete."

    "I see some of the quotes from the (Mexican) consulate and I think a lot of it is premature because the investigation has yet to be completed," he said.

    Mexico's consul in San Diego, Luis Cabrera, has said his country is consulting lawyers to see "if there is a basis for taking legal action" in the case, an apparent reference to a possible wrongful death lawsuit by the victim's relatives. The Mexican government has helped bring similar suits in the past.

    Guillermo Martinez died Saturday in a Tijuana hospital, a day after Mexican authorities say he was shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on the American side of a wall separating that city from San Diego.

    At least two other Mexicans were with him at the time of his death, one of whom may have been his brother, Mexican investigators say.

    The Border Patrol says an agent fired one round in self-defense, after an unidentified man threw a large rock. Whether the shot hit anything was unclear, however, because the man fled back into Mexico.

    Authorities have refused to release the agent's name, citing an ongoing investigation into the case.

    On Tuesday, Mexico sent a diplomatic note to U.S. authorities demanding an investigation, while the country's Attorney General's Office took the unusual step of opening its own probe.

    Police in San Diego, as well as the U.S. Border Patrol, and the Homeland Security Department are investigating, but do not expect any major results for two weeks, Ruben Aguilar, Fox's chief spokesman, said Wednesday.

    At his briefing with reporters, Aguilar called the shooting, "the very grave and absolutely lamentable phenomenon of the killing of a co-national, which we cannot allow to occur."

    Fox's government has for years vowed to defend what it calls "co-nationals," or Mexicans who head to the United States either legally or otherwise in search of higher-paying jobs.

    When asked about accusations Martinez was a people smuggler who may have helped groups of illegal migrants slip into U.S. territory, Aguilar said Mexican authorities "would have to wait for the results of investigations" before commenting.

    Amid accusations that the diplomatic note did not go far enough to condemn the killing, Aguilar said, "In the diplomatic world it's the strongest complaint that you can make."

    Mexican officials have grown increasingly vocal in their opposition to a U.S. House bill passed Dec. 16 that would tighten border enforcement and extend border walls. Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez branded the measure, which still must be considered by the Senate, as stupid and underhanded.

    The Border Patrol, meanwhile, says attacks on agents at the border have increased significantly over the past year.

    http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexi ... ation.html

  2. #2
    Senior Member LegalUSCitizen's Avatar
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    Quote:
    The Border Patrol, meanwhile, says attacks on agents at the border have increased significantly over the past year.

    What does Vicente have to say about this ? Nothing, of course!! Not a word.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

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