Day 15

It's hard to believe I'm beginning my third week here!

In some ways it has already gone so quickly, yet in other ways it feels as though I've been here forever. It's difficult imagining myself just two weeks ago.


Today I had a shift at Casa Teresa, a building down the street that belongs to A. House where the office is located. I organized the office some and did administrative tasks like answering the phone.

I was really glad to be working at Casa T. today (1) because it's air conditioned but mostly (2) because of the research I was asked to do while there.

Yesterday evening a teenage Mexican boy was shot and killed by a US border patrol agent near the International bridge where I crossed into Juarez on Saturday. Ruben Garcia, the director of Annunciation House, is a pretty well known expert on El Paso/Juarez border issues, and today we were already receiving calls from journalists asking for a statement about the incident.

Ruben asked me to find all the news articles from local(El Paso Times, El Diario de El Paso, El Diario de Juarez, local TV affiliates) and national (Associated Press) media so that he could be as informed about the facts as possible.

I really encourage you all to read about what happened. Based on the articles I have read I am disgusted with the US border patrol and saddened for the family. I hope this isn’t the beginning of a larger pattern of brutality by US Border Patrol.

They weren't trying to cross the border, they were just playing! The children threw rocks, and the border patrol agent responded by raining bullets on them. Talk about an equal measure of force. Border Patrol feels differently, though:

T.J. Bonner, president of the union representing Border Patrol agents, said rock-throwing incidents against Border Patrol agents are common and capable of causing serious injury.

"It is a deadly force encounter, one that justifies the use of deadly force."

Rocks are not equal to bullets.

The incident reminds me of graffiti on the Paso del Norte International Bridge, under which the killing occurred:

When you look to the bottom: "Ningun ser humano es ilegal Border Patrol ASESINOS!"
(No human being is illegal. Border Patrol. Murderers!)