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Calderon Slams Death of Migrant at US Border
 Associated Press
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June 08, 2010
| | Calderon said he wanted to repeat Mexico's "energetic protest of the torture and death of Anastasio Hernandez, a Mexico who died at the hands of North American migration authorities." (AP) | |
Mexico City — President Felipe Calderon said Monday that the death of a Mexican migrant after being shot with a stun gun by a U.S. immigration officer was an unacceptable human rights violation.
Migrant Anastasio Hernandez was shocked by a Customs and Border Protection agent May 31 at the San Ysidro border crossing between Tijuana and San Diego. A U.S. coroner has ruled the death a homicide.
Calderon said he wanted to repeat Mexico's "energetic protest of the torture and death of Anastasio Hernandez, a Mexico who died at the hands of North American migration authorities."
He later added that authorities would have to clarify whether the death involved torture or took place while bringing Hernandez under submission.
"But a death with that degree of violence is a truly unacceptable violation," Calderon said. "We need to raise all our voices, not only for Mexico but for human rights, because the cause of migrants is a cause that affects us all."
Hundreds of people have protested Hernandez's death.
Calderon also repeated Mexico's criticism of the proposed Arizona migration law, saying it "opens a Pandora's Box of the worst abuses in the history of humanity" by promoting racial profiling and potentially leading to an authoritarian society.
The Arizona law requires police to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally, and it makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally. People may be questioned about their status if they've been stopped by police who are in the process of enforcing another law.
Supporters of the bill contend it is a needed response to federal inaction over what they say is a porous border and social problems caused by illegal immigration.
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