On June 7, a 15-year-old Mexican high school student was shot dead by US Border Patrol agents. He and his friends were reported to be throwing rocks at the US agents from the Mexican side of the El Paso-Juárez border crossing. In the aftermath of the incident Mexican forces apparently drew their arms against the American officers.
Unfortunately, this is only the latest example of excessive force used by American law enforcement. In late May a border patrol agent used a stun gun on a Mexican immigrant in California while in the process of deporting him. The immigrant died as a result. The Mexican government has called for an investigation into two deaths.
Both governments were eager to celebrate the round up of 400 individuals in a joint sting operation that has been almost two years in the works. ‘Project Deliverance’ has netted some 2,200 suspects, over $154 million in arms and drugs, and has made significant progress in dismantling the Castro-Rocha drug syndicate.
Still, rock throwing has been on the rise over the past month, according to border patrol officials. This has me wondering: Is this sort of violence in part a response to the Arizona immigration law? Is this part of the law’s long shadow?
