Taser deaths, shootings concern immigrant advocates (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Taser deaths, shootings concern immigrant advocates
By Elizabeth Aguilera
Originally published 2:24 p.m., June 4, 2011, updated 5:53 p.m., June 4, 2011

In the year since an illegal immigrant was Tasered in San Ysidro and later died while in the custody of U.S. authorities, four other shootings and a stun-gun incident involving federal border officers have raised concern among immigrant advocates.

They question whether the force has grown too rapidly and whether it is trained properly.

“The narrative of Washington has become that the border is out of control and an iron fist must be used,” said Christian Ramirez, national coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee. “If it is an immigrant that is being beaten up, people think he got what he deserved.”

Ramirez and other immigrant advocates from here to Texas have met with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials several times since 2009 to air their criticism. They said the gatherings, which take place periodically in D.C., have led to little change.

Customs and Border Protection would not discuss its meetings with the groups, which include the San Diego Immigrant Rights Coalition, or individual cases in dispute. The agency oversees Border Patrol agents and port-of-entry officers.

In a statement, the agency said it is “not aware of any deaths caused by the electrical pulses” of a Taser gun.

The statement continued: “Agents and officers are trained to use only that force which is both reasonable and necessary in any given situation, considering the totality of circumstances and the following factors: the severity of the offense at issue, whether the subject poses an immediate threat to safety of the agent/officer or others, whether the subject is resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.”

On May 28, 2010, Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, 42, was Tasered by border officers at the San Ysidro Port of Entry and later died. He was a construction worker and father of five who had lived for decades in Encanto before being deported as an undocumented resident.

Authorities caught Rojas trying to cross back into the U.S. through the mountains east of San Diego.

About a year after his death, immigrant advocates and civil-rights groups are awaiting the outcome of an investigation into the case. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin, who visited San Diego last month, would not comment amid the investigation.

The initial inquiry, by the San Diego Police Department, was completed last year and submitted to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said Capt. Jim Collins. The case was then sent to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, which could not confirm its status.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of the Rojas family alleges that excessive use of force led to his death. “At one point, there were approximately 20 to 25 agents taking part in beating, kicking or punching” Rojas, according to the suit. The lawsuit also said a federal officer Tasered Rojas “while he lay beaten on the ground.”

At the time, U.S. officials said Rojas struggled with officers before being Tasered.

An autopsy found that he died of a heart attack. Factors listed in that report included a heart condition and methamphetamine in Rojas’ system. The chief medical examiner said the role of the stun gun in his death was unclear.

The four other deaths highlighted by immigrant advocates occurred between last June and March. The advocates said the agency’s quick expansion — from about 30,000 in 2003 to 58,000 last year — may be contributing to such abuse. These cases are the latest in a string of investigations into alleged corruption or other crimes involving border officers.

A Government Accountability Office report in 2007 said the hiring pace, mandated by Congress in a push to toughen border security, could have negative consequences such as the lack of veteran officers to teach new agents how to become “safe, effective and ethical.”

In 2008, the Arizona group No More Deaths found “pervasive physical and verbal abuse” by the Border Patrol, based on its interviews with hundreds of deportees.

“Something is wrong. Either the training is off or something is going on,” said Ramirez of the American Friends Service Committee.

He and fellow activists have asked to see the Border Patrol’s training curriculum. The agency has not provided the information, they said.

Training standards and policies on use of force are unchanged, according to Customs and Border Protection.

Deaths at the border
Four other cases in the past year involving border agents:

• June: A Border Patrol agent shot and killed a 15-year-old boy who had alledgedly thrown rocks near the border in El Paso.
• January: A 17-year-old was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent near Nogales, Ariz., as he climbed the border fence. Authorities said he was throwing rocks.
• March: Border agents near Douglas, Ariz., fatally shot a 19-year-old U.S. citizen who allegedly ran from them.
• Late March: A longtime Los Angeles resident who was trying to illegally re-enter the country after being deported was Tasered by officials at the San Luis port of entry in Arizona. Authorities blamed him for resisting arrest. He remains hospitalized.