The mother of a 15-year-old Mexican boy who was fatally shot said she felt "powerless" after the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday (February 25) barred a lawsuit against a Border Patrol agent who was responsible for the killing which occurred in 2010 on Mexican soil.
Ryan Brooks reports.
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The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that border patrol agents can't be sued if they shoot foreign nationals.
On Tuesday (February 25) the court voted 5-4 that the parents of a boy killed outside of U.S. territory have no legal standing to sue the agent that shot and killed him.
Ten years ago, agent Jesus Mesa stood on the U.S. side of the border when he shot Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca in the face.
The boy was just over on the Mexican side.
His mother sued in federal court.
(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MOTHER OF 15-YEAR-OLD BOY WHO WAS SHOT BY U.S. BORDER PATROL AGENT, MARIA GUADALUPE GUERECA BETANCOURT, SAYING: "I feel powerless - that my son's case ends like this, because what they did isn't right.
And, I think all these years they were lying, and it was all a trick.
They just mocked my feelings and my pain." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MOTHER OF 15-YEAR-OLD BOY WHO WAS SHOT BY U.S. BORDER PATROL AGENT, MARIA GUADALUPE GUERECA BETANCOURT, SAYING: "They (U.S. agents) are going to feel more able to keep killing innocent people, to keep killing children, because my son was a child.
And, they're going to keep doing it since they don't do anything to them.
What will they do?
Continue killing." The Border Patrol has claimed the boy was pelting U.S. agents with rocks when he was shot and the FBI has accused him of being a migrant smuggler.
The family's lawyers say he and his friends were playing a game running to touch the border.
The agent faced no criminal charges.
Hernandez's family accused agent Mesa of excessive force that violated the boys' constitutional rights.
Tuesday's Supreme Court decision prevents civil rights lawsuits in U.S. federal courts involving such cross-border incidents when the person who is injured or killed is not on American soil.
U.S. border protection had no immediate comment, and Mesa's lawyers could not be reached for comment.
The ruling comes at a time of high tension over the southern border with Trump aiming to construct a wall separating the U.S. and Mexico.
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