Witnesses who contradicted Border Patrol's claims in deadly shooting may soon be deported
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The statements from the three migrant men who were present when Claudia Patricia Gómez González was shot and killed by a still-unnamed Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent “contradict” the agency’s claim that the 20-year-old migrant woman, suppWitnesses who contradicted Border Patrol's claims in deadly shooting may soon be deported
The statements from the three migrant men who were present when Claudia Patricia Gómez González was shot and killed by a still-unnamed Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent “contradict” the agency’s claim that the 20-year-old migrant woman, supposedly armed with “blunt objects,” attacked the agent last May, Buzzfeed reports. But in a move that could severely complicate justice for Claudia, the government may soon deport the men. “Guatemalan General Consul Tekandi Paniagua said the men, ages 18, 19, and 21, have told US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI that they want to return to Guatemala and are expected to drop their efforts to stay in the United States at an immigration hearing set for Monday,” Buzzfeed continued. Whether this was their own choosing is unclear, because immigration officials have a history of coercing migrants into agreeing to their own deportation. What is known is that Border Patrol lied about Gómez González’s killing. Border Patrol’s initial press release claimed Gómez González ambushed the lone agent with “blunt objects,” but this claim was dropped altogether from a revised press release. Marta Martinez, a resident who live streamed the arrests of men who were with the young woman, disputed Border Patrol’s claims from start, saying that she believed the woman was hiding from Border Patrol, not attacking. Other footage shot by Martinez and turned over to the FBI seems to back up her claims that it was Gómez González who was the victim. Border Patrol has questions to answer, but instead the agency cancelled a planned press conference on her killing and hasn’t so much as released the name of her killer. The case is under investigation by the FBI and Texas Rangers, but months later continues to remain shrouded in secrecy. “Paniagua described the three men as very innocent in nature,” Buzzfeed continued, reporting that “the FBI had told them that there was the chance they could apply for some type of immigration relief but they declined.” From the start, so much about this case hasn’t smelled right, from Border Patrol’s initial claims, to the witnesses who could be crucial to this case agreeing to be deported. Claudia Patricia Gómez González, along with so many others who have lost their lives to immigration agents, deserves justice. “Why did they do this to her?” her mother, Lidia, wailed days after her killing. “They should have just sent her back home. Why did they do this? They killed her. You are with God. I know you are with God.” Read more