Activists Say Shooting by Border Agent Unjustified

Rights advocates from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border charged Thursday that a U.S. Border Patrol agent’s shooting of a suspected illegal immigrant in August was unjustified.

The immigrant, identified as Ramiro Ramirez, 26, of the Mexican state of Morelos, remained in good condition at UC San Diego Medical Center. He was shot in the abdomen during an Aug. 22 encounter with a pair of Border Patrol agents while crossing the border in a canyon west of San Diego. The Border Patrol said one of the agents opened fire in self-defense when Ramirez and a second immigrant pelted them with rocks.

Ramirez, in a videotaped statement made from his hospital bed, denied throwing rocks. He raised his pajama top to display the wound and described injuries that left him without feeling in his legs.

“This was a totally unjustified shooting,” said Roberto Martinez, who runs a border project of the American Friends Service Committee.

Martinez, a frequent critic of the Border Patrol, said the the agent should have seen Ramirez was unarmed because the incident took place in daylight. In any case, he said, rock-throwing does not justify shooting.

Raul Ramirez, human rights ombudsman for Baja California state, said he will file a complaint with Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission. He said the action would help the matter get more attention from U.S. officials. “It’s a very serious case,” he said.

Border Patrol spokesman Merv Mason said the case is being investigated by U.S. authorities, as are all shooting incidents involving agents. Mason said he did not know the investigation’s status.

The Border Patrol said at the time of the shooting that the agents encountered several migrants in a ravine called Goat Canyon, a few miles west of the San Ysidro port of entry. One of the agents fired after they came under rock attack.

Shootings involving Border Patrol agents are uncommon but invariably controversial. Martinez points blame at undertrained recruits. But agents say they often come under attack while patrolling stretches traversed by harmless immigrants and hardened smugglers alike.

During the 12 months ending in September, San Diego agents reported being pelted with rocks 127 times, opening fire in four of those cases, according to Border Patrol figures. The previous year saw 216 reported rock-throwing incidents, four of which resulted in shootings.

“We think that shows a lot of restraint by agents,” Mason said.