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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | January 2007 
Mexican Gov't Blasts Killing of Migrant
 Lisa J. Adams - Associated Press
| | United States Border Patrol agents make use of all terrain vehicles as they patrol along the U.S. border with Mexico. (Reuters) |
The Mexican government sent a diplomatic note to the United States on Tuesday protesting the fatal shooting of a Mexican immigrant by a U.S. Border Patrol agent.
The note, presented by the Mexican Embassy in Washington, relayed "the Mexican government's firm condemnation" of the shooting and its "serious concern over the recurrence of this type of incident," according to a Foreign Relations Department news release.
The diplomatic note underscored Mexico's demand that the U.S. conduct "an exhaustive investigation" and punish whoever is responsible, the release said.
Francisco Javier Dominguez-Rivera, 22, of Puebla, Mexico, was killed Friday in a confrontation with the unidentified agent north of the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona between Bisbee and Douglas.
A group of seven people were crossing the desert and the agent took six of them into custody without incident, authorities said.
But the agent and Dominguez-Rivera began fighting, authorities said. The agent, who believed his life was in danger, shot and killed the man, the Border Patrol said previously. An autopsy was scheduled Wednesday.
On Sunday, Mexican President Felipe Calderon expressed his "most energetic protest" against the shooting.
The agent is on paid administrative leave while the case is pending. An FBI spokeswoman in Arizona said both county and federal investigations were under way and that there could be a civil rights investigation.
Mexican consular personnel have met with Dominguez Rivera's brothers and the four others who are being held in a detention center in an effort to obtain their version of Friday's events, the Foreign Relations Department said.
Report: Mother of Slain Mexican Immigrant Seeks 'Death Penalty'
Associated Press
The mother of a Mexican immigrant shot to death last week by a U.S. Border Patrol Agent in Arizona asked for justice on Monday and said she would like to see the agent receive the death penalty.
"I want the death penalty for that killer, because my son was just trying to find a better opportunity," an emotional Laura Rivera told the Mexican news agency Notimex. "He was a young worker whom they simply killed in cold blood, so I want justice."
Francisco Javier Dominguez Rivera, 22, a native of the central state of Puebla, was shot and killed during a confrontation with the unidentified agent north of the U.S.-Mexico border between Bisbee and Douglas on Friday after the agent responded to a call about a group of seven people crossing the desert.
The agent took six of the seven people into custody without incident but then started fighting with Dominguez Rivera. The agent, who thought his life was in danger, shot and killed the man, the Border Patrol said previously.
The agent was put on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the case. The FBI said Monday that it was investigating the death, while an autopsy of Dominguez Rivera was scheduled for Wednesday. Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Mexico's Foreign Relations Department condemned the shooting.
Dominguez Rivera's father, Renato Dominguez, said he doubted the Border Patrol's version of events.
"The one certain thing is that people there are racist and this is not the first Mexican they've killed," he said.
Dominguez Rivera left the city of Cuautla in the central state of Morelos, where his family is currently living, for the United States last Wednesday, accompanied by brothers Jorge and Rene Dominguez Rivera, their mother said.
The three brothers, like their father, were bricklayers, and were headed north to find jobs with better pay.
During family Christmas celebrations Francisco Dominguez Rivera told his mother, "'Mom, this Christmas is going to be unforgettable because in the next one we might not be together. But I'm going to help you from the United States. I'm going to send you money to finish your house,'" said Laura Rivera, who held a photo of her son in her hands, according to the Notimex report.
Rivera said officials told her husband that their son's body would arrive in Cuautla by Thursday at the latest.
"I want this all to be over, for them to bring the body and return my other two sons," Rivera said, weeping. |
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