http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...tshooting.html

Mexican officer shoots local man in raid on Central American migrants

By Mark Stevenson
ASSOCIATED PRESS

6:15 p.m. April 17, 2006

Associated Press
Residents of Tultitlan on the outskirts of Mexico City, Mexico, overturned and smashed immigration service trucks Monday, after a policeman shot and killed a local man, evidently mistaking him for a Central American, during a raid on undocumented migrants.

TULTITLAN, Mexico – A state policeman fatally shot a local man whom he apparently mistook for a Central American immigrant during a raid on undocumented workers Monday, infuriating residents who overturned and smashed two immigration service trucks.
People of this town just north of Mexico City expressed outrage that police would open fire on fleeing migrants and said the victim was a construction worker on a lunch break whose dark skin and work clothes may have made him look like a potential target.

State police commander Jorge Cruz Cid said several officers from the Mexico State police force who were helping federal immigration agents in the raid had been detained for questioning.

Mexico wants migrant rights in U.S., but is harsh to undocumented Central Americans


Tultitlan is frequented by Central Americans who slip across the Guatemala-Mexico border and ride trains north in hopes of reaching the United States. Immigration raids here are frequent – migrants often stop to buy or beg for food – and residents say police often detain townspeople mistakenly.

“They come and grab people just because they are dark-skinned,” said Virginia Sanchez, a Tultitlan housewife.

The dead man was identified as Roberto Lugo, a Tultitlan resident who was around 20 years old. Residents said he was neither running nor trying to confront police when he was shot at point-blank range.

Townspeople and Central American migrants interviewed around the scene of the shooting said Mexican police frequently rob and abuse undocumented migrants before releasing them without charges.

“If you're carrying any money, they take it from you; federal, local police, all of them,” said Carlos Lopez, a 28-year-old undocumented migrant from Guatemala City. Sitting nearby, 18-year-old Jose Ramos, of El Salvador, agreed.

“If you're on a bus, they pull you off and search your pockets and if you have any money, they keep it and say 'Get out of here,'” Ramos said.

In December, the Mexican government's National Human Rights Commission issued a report corroborating reports of abuses against migrants in Mexico, and condemning the use of police to detain undocumented workers.