He does look like Richard Attenborough in Miracle on 34th Street.
Posted on 10/22/2009 7:05:44 AM PDT by La Lydia
MEXICO CITY -- Gustavo de la Rosa looks over his shoulder, notes suspicious license plates, changes his routine. As one of the most prominent human rights officials in Ciudad Juarez, he would be a fool not to. On Wednesday, his Juarez reached a milestone: more than 2,000 people slain this year. His phone rings with pleas for help -- and with threats. When de la Rosa crossed the international bridge from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso on Oct. 15, as he has done hundreds of times, he did not think it unusual that inspectors with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency asked whether he feared for his life. He said yes. They asked whether he was seeking political asylum. He said no...Then agents detained him, for his own safety.
"They said to me: 'Well, then, we cannot allow you to return. You have not violated any law. But neither can we allow you to be free in El Paso.' I took this as a gesture of hospitality. And then they said, 'We are going to protect you by taking you to a secure place,' " de la Rosa wrote...
De la Rosa was held for almost a week as U.S. officials sorted out his case. His attorney asked: What case?
"This is one of those episodes of 'Twilight Zone' on the border," said Carlos Spector, de la Rosa's attorney and friend. "It's one of those cases where idiots screw up, but it is too embarrassing, and so they don't know what to do. You're just trapped in this bureaucratic maze." Spector said de la Rosa was released late Wednesday.
De la Rosa, 63, is the public face of human rights in Ciudad Juarez, where he serves as a top official on Chihuahua state's human rights commission...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
tough call on this one.
I admire his work and but it would be embarrassing if he were killed inm America or killed shortly after re-entering Mexico.
can’t imagine the cries of injustice and inhumanity of the USA.
while he has not asked for help, I am going to side with our guys on this one.
The guy is walking around with a neon target on his back. He is subjected to countless threats. Narcotraficantes have been known to murder their enemies in El Paso, on American soil. Customs and Border Protection CAN’T WIN. If they take him into asylum custody, they get blamed. If he gets shot down leaving the border crossing point going in EITHER direction, they get blamed. If he gets shot while dining in El Paso, they get blamed. Nothing is Mexico’s fault.
That he crossed the border at night caught my attention. Since he fears for his life, it is highly possible that he spends many nights on the American side.
And it will take about ten minutes for the druggie killers to figure out where he is spending his evenings. The EP Times story still does not explain what documents he was using to cross.
He does look like Richard Attenborough in Miracle on 34th Street.
Like I said, tough call.
And it will take about ten minutes for the druggie killers to figure out where he is spending his evenings.
May be it is not the druggie killers he is most afraid of.
The Mexican army may be guilty of a lot of things, but so far they have not sent sicarios into El Paso to murder anyone.
Which might be why he would be safer sleeping in El Paso.
Juarez now over 2000 ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
Why shouldn’t he cross?
Lots of U.S. citizens cross the border to visit in Mexico, such as tourist destinations or relatives/friends. Nothing in the article indicates he intended on staying on the U.S. side permanently.
You puzzle me.
Visitors from Mexico to the United States who are not US citizens are required to have a visa and a valid Mexican passport, green card or a border crossing card. Many people who live in Juarez have border crossing cards that allow them to enter the U.S. as long as they do not go more than 25 miles into the interior. Visitors to Mexico from the US who remain in border towns can cross the border unimpeded, but if they travel more than 20 kilometers into the interior, they have to go through a Mexican aduana station, present a passport or WHTI-qualifying document, fill out an application and get a permit, which is stamped, and which has to be returned to aduana office when they exit the country. I have no objection to his crossing. I would just like to know what his documentation is.
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