Men taken into custody fired at group of migrants getting water on the facet of a highway, Texas DPS says
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The Tuesday night time shooting of two migrants in a rural West Texas city is setting off an alarm amongst activists already afraid that frustration with rising immigration charges would result in violence.
The Texas Department of Public Safety is confirming the arrest of two males who shot at a bunch of migrants who stopped on the facet of a highway to get water 4 miles south of Sierra Blanca, Texas. The males had been driving in a truck alongside farm-to-market highway 1111 in Hudspeth County, pulled over and shot on the migrants for causes nonetheless not disclosed by authorities. One male migrant in the group was fatally shot and a feminine migrant was wounded.
Authorities had been capable of help the wounded feminine and transport her to Del Sol Hospital in El Paso, the place she is now recovering.
DPS and a number of other helping federal businesses on Thursday recognized two suspects and took them into custody. The company didn’t disclose the names of the detainees however stated they had been charged with manslaughter. National news experiences recognized the boys as Mark and Mike Sheppard – the latter a warden at an area jail.
Sierra Blanca is thought for an immigration checkpoint the place all autos and individuals heading away from the U.S.-Mexico border are topic to inspection.
“We don’t have many details but what we know if very concerning,” stated Fernando Garcia, govt director of the Border Network for Human Rights. “There is a dangerous combination of factors in Texas that could lead to aggression, violence, shootings and maybe killings against migrants and refugees in Texas.”
Illegal immigration is at historic ranges nationwide, with extra migrants launched into the nation than being expelled. This is irritating to some and has develop into a marketing campaign banner for conservative politicians.
Garcia stated the “anti-immigrant vitriol” is strongest in Texas, a state that permits folks to overtly carry weapons and the place Gov. Greg Abbott is justifying the deployment of tons of of state cops and National Guard members by linking unlawful immigration to crime, he stated.
“We are very concerned this might not be the only incident; this might be the beginning of a potentially dangerous time for migrants on the border,” Garcia stated, including he fears an increase in vigilante exercise in the state.
Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Democratic Party in Texas, went even additional.
“This killing was not vigilante justice. It was murder, and it was a hate crime,” he stated on Thursday. “This killing was the direct result of Texas Republicans’ violent fearmongering of undocumented migrants. When you continuously use language like ‘invasion’ to describe what is going on at our border, the only logical conclusion is that you want migrants and asylum seekers to be treated like invaders.”
Mexican American Legislative Caucus Vice-Chair, state Rep. Mary González, D-El Paso, additionally known as for an finish to hateful rhetoric.
“Racially charged murders happen when we promote language and policies that produce hate. People have died in our state just based on the color of their skin — in El Paso three years ago, and now in our neighboring Hudspeth County,” Gonzalez stated. “This was murder and attempted murder of people trying to get clean water just because of the color of their skin. This traumatizes us all in Texas.”
story by The Texas Tribune Source link