Archdiocese deplores killing of teen on US-Mexico border

Mexico City, Mexico, Jun 10, 2010 / 10:44 am

The Archdiocese of Mexico City released a statement this week deploring the killing of Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca by U.S. border patrol agents under the international bridge between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico.
 
In its statement, the archdiocese said, “There is nothing that can justify that an agent opened fire on the victim, who was only 14 years old.  This new act of violence once again confirms that anti-racial policies that violate the human rights of immigrants cannot result in anything good for society and for the world.”
 
“This crime has led to increased tensions between the countries and makes the border situation even worse. The impunity of this killing will encourage similar acts of barbarism to be committed against Mexicans and immigrants,” the statement indicated.
 
The archdiocese said Mexico’s Secretary for Foreign Relations has confirmed an increase in the number of incidents in which Mexicans have been hurt or killed by U.S. border patrol agents. From 2008 until the present, the secretary reported 34 documented cases, with 50 percent of them occurring in 2010.
 
The archdiocese “calls on the faithful to pray for the eternal repose of Sergio Adrian Hernandez and on officials to appropriately punish the person responsible for this cowardly crime.”
 
“Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, the Archbishop of Mexico City, is united with the family and friends of Sergio Adrian Hernandez in their sadness and mourning,” the archdiocese said.