We applaud President Barack Obama’s recent promise to send National Guard troops to the Southwest border region and to increase funding for border security. While SB 1070 has sparked a heated debate about “racial profiling,” we find great comfort that Americans of all races can agree on one thing: Protecting the border is a must.
Within the past two months, Arizonans have tasted the bitter tang of violence stirred up by Mexican drug cartels.
On June 6, in an area not far from the Phoenix valley, two men were found dead in the desert, each shot once by an AK-47-type round, according to The Arizona Republic. The men were ambushed by possible drug runners in a place known as a “smuggling corridor.”
Suspected marijuana smugglers in the same location shot Pinal County Sheriff’s Deputy Louie Puroll only five weeks before, the Republic reported.
There’s no doubt the violence triggered by drug gangs is a pressing issue, and our leaders—both state and federal—should be working nonstop to quell the bloodshed.
But with great protection comes great responsibility. And while tracking down drug cartels and other illegal immigrants has its dangers, we also fear that innocent lives will be caught in the crossfire.
Fifteen-year-old Sergio Adrian Hernandez Huereca is an example of an unnecessary casualty. The boy, who is suspected of throwing rocks at a Border Patrol agent, was shot and killed June 7 on the Texas-Mexico line. The Associated Press reported that Huereca and a group of friends stood on the dry riverbed of the Rio Grande near a bridge connecting El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. They were allegedly tossing stones at a Border Patrol agent trying to detain an illegal immigrant.
While there have been some reports that Hernandez was part of a human smuggling operation, according to Fox News, we feel that the death of an unarmed teenager can never be justified.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon issued a statement, saying his government “reiterates its rejection to the disproportionate use of force on the part on U.S. authorities on the border with Mexico.”
Throwing stones can kill a person, but shooting a gun at a stone thrower is in fact “a disproportionate use of force.”
But before we commit libel by accusing a man of murdering an “innocent” teenager (the FBI investigation is still ongoing), we at The State Press urge people affected by Hernandez’s death to take a step back and place themselves in the shoes of all Border Patrol agents. Could the stresses of the job prompt one to fire – even at the innocent?
According to ASU communications associate professor Sarah Tracy, the work of a Border Patrol agent is an emotional rollercoaster.
“Their work requires this delicate dance,” she told The State Press. “They have to be tough, they have to be compassionate, they have to be diligent and steadfast in this job that is really solitary.”
For most agents, solitary is the defining term. Kendra Rivera, an ASU graduate student researching the work of Border Patrol agents said agents feel isolated because they work in deserted regions.
“They can’t call for backup,” she told The State Press, “because sometimes their radios don’t work and there is no one else to call.”
In a cell phone video released of the Hernandez shooting, it shows the agent working without a colleague.
According to a July 2009 article by the San Diego News Network, Border Patrol officials said it is common practice for an agent to work alone because the border region is such a vast territory.
More troops and security is exactly what we need to reduce the escalating violence. Not only will it help keep our agents safe, but it will also help our agents make better split-second decisions by having backup at their sides.
