Protesters Angered by Shooting of Boy Block Border Crossing

Protesters, angered by the recent Border Patrol shooting of a 15-year-old Mexican youth, blockaded a busy border crossing between the United States and Mexico for nine hours Wednesday, halting traffic and preventing many farm laborers from reaching California’s Imperial Valley.

“We want justice and an end to impunity by the Border Patrol,” said Ramon Valenzuela, one of the leaders of the demonstration, which lasted from 1 to 10 a.m.

Demonstrators blocking northbound traffic between the California border town of Calexico and Mexicali at times clashed with farm workers eager to enter U.S. territory, but no serious injuries were reported.

The Mexicali-Calexico point of entry is the second-busiest international crossing along the California-Mexico border after the San Ysidro facility in San Diego. Each month, about 2.6 million people and almost 700,000 vehicles enter the United States through it.

Sparking the demonstration was the Nov. 18 shooting by an unidentified Border Patrol agent of Eduardo Garcia Zamores, a 15-year-old Mexicali youth who Mexican authorities say was shot while he was perched atop the 10-foot-high metal fence delineating the international boundary.

The youth was in stable condition Wednesday at a Mexicali hospital with multiple wounds, authorities said.

It was the latest of a number of Border Patrol shootings that have provoked outrage among immigrant-rights advocates on both sides of the border.

The Border Patrol has yet to explain why the agent resorted to gunfire. Patrol policy requires that agents only fire their weapons to save their own lives or those of other innocent people.