Photo: Scott Eisen / AFP / Getty Images
For: EFE Updated 19 Jan 2022, 04 : 20 pm EST
The Government of Mexico requested an “expedited, impartial and exhaustive” investigation into the death of an undocumented Mexican detainee by the United States Border Patrol near a California port of entry last week.
Joel Reyes Muñoz, of 38 years old, died the afternoon of 12 January shortly after being apprehended by Border Patrol agents who intercepted him
near the border crossing at Otay Mesa, California.
The Mexican Consulate in San Diego today sent a request to the authorities to carry out a “prompt, impartial and exhaustive” investigation into the incident.
Carlos González Gutiérrez, consul general of Mexico in San Diego, said that according to information preliminary Reyes Muñoz was arrested around 2: 13 in the afternoon (local time) after passing the second fence in an industrial area near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, which borders Tijuana (Mexico).
The migrant was immediately taken to the Border Patrol facility to be deported, but around 3: 13 in the afternoon collapsed and died.
“We don’t know what happened in that short period of time while he was detained and died, and we are asking the San Diego police, who are in charge of the investigation, to investigate,” said the diplomat.
The family of Reyes Muñoz said they were not aware of the migrant suffering from any illness or health condition that could cause the sudden death.
The migrant was a worker of the con struction originally from Aguascalientes who had been looking for work in the United States to help his two teenage children.
González Gutiérrez explained that communication has been established with a consulting attorney so that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico determines the measures in the case.
This incident is being investigated by the San Diego Police Department and reviewed by the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Professional Responsibility ) from the United States.
In accordance with established procedures, the incident will be further reviewed by the United States Attorney’s Office.
Deaths of migrants attempting to cross the border in the San Diego, California sector have increased in recent months. San Diego Sector Border Patrol reported 30 deaths in the fiscal year 2021, compared to 13 from the previous fiscal year, an increase of 146 %.
During the fiscal year 2021, at least 248 Mexicans suffered injuries while trying to enter the United States through the border of Tijuana, Baja California-San Diego, California, detailed the diplomatic authorities.
The Consulate General of Mexico in San Diego is offering assistance to the man’s relatives to send the body to Mexico.
“The protection of Mexicans in San Diego is the highest priority of this consular representation and of the Mexican Government,” González Gutiérrez concluded. Gonzalez Gutierrez.
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