Immigrant alleges Border Patrol brutality

Wednesday, July 08, 2009 at 5:03 p.m.


A Guatemalan immigrant has filed a brutality lawsuit against the Border Patrol after two agents allegedly broke his collarbone during his arrest.

The incident took originally took place in July 2007 but Roger Alvarado-Santay recently filed the lawsuit in Brownsville’s federal court.

The 19-year-old Guatemalan immigrant said in his excessive force lawsuit that he crossed the border near Brownsville on June 30, 2007.

Alvarado-Santay and a friend got separated from a group of immigrants while walking in the South Texas brush.

The two were resting under the shade of a tree when Border Patrol agents arrived.

The lawsuit alleges that the two tried to hide but ended up surrendering peacefully.

One of the Border Patrol agents allegedly had his gun drawn and shouted he would shoot him and bury him on the spot.

The agent allegedly added that, “Bullets are cheap.â€