Border Patrol Agent Shoots Illegal Mexican Border Crosser

Mexican officials called for an investigation into the death of a man they said was fatally shot while sneaking across the border into California. Raul Martinez, a spokesman for the Border Patrol in San Diego, acknowledged that an agent fired at an immigrant near a metal wall separating San Diego from Tijuana, saying the agent feared for his life after the man threw a large rock at him.Martinez said the man fled back into Mexico after the agent shot, and that U.S. investigators were unsure if the victim had been struck. The death of the man, identified by Mexican authorities as 18-year-old Guillermo Martinez, drew condemnation from Mexico's government. "This occurrence does no more than provide evidence that only a law that guarantees legal entry and is respectful of human rights can resolve the migratory problem both countries face," said Mexican President Vicente Fox's spokesman, Ruben Aguilar, who called for an investigation into the death. Martinez, the Border Patrol spokesman, said San Diego police were investigating and declined to release the name of the agent involved until the case is closed. The 18-year-old, who is not related to the Border Patrol spokesman, died Saturday, according to the Baja California state attorney general's office. He had been living in Tijuana with his older brother, who apparently witnessed the shooting, said Luis Cabrera, Mexico's consul general in San Diego. Cabrera said Mexican officials were collecting reports from him and other witnesses. Mexico's federal Attorney General's Office announced on Monday that it had opened a homicide investigation into Martinez's death. The criminal case did not name a suspect, but rather was opened against "whoever is found to have been responsible." Mexico generally does not try to apply its laws to events that occurred in other nations. The Human Rights Commission, an independent governmental commission, said it "deplored the actions by agents of the U.S. border patrol." Many Mexicans were already angry about a bill passed Dec. 16 by the U.S. House of Representatives that would build more border fences, make illegal entry a felony and enlist military and local police to help stop undocumented migrants. The U.S. Senate is expected to address the matter in February. Mexico has opposed the House bill, which Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez branded as "stupid and underhanded." Fox has called it shameful.