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Federal Court Rules Cross-Border Shooting Case Can Move Forward

Case: Rodriguez v. Swartz
July 9, 2015 3:45 pm
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TUCSON, Ariz. – A federal district court today ruled that a case involving a Mexican youth who was fatally shot through the border fence by a U.S. Border Patrol agent can move forward.

The case, Rodriguez v. Swartz, was brought on behalf of the family of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, the Mexican teenager in Nogales, Sonora, who was killed. The American Civil Liberties Union is among the groups that argued the U.S. Constitution applies in this case. The agent sought to have the case dismissed, but U.S. District Judge Raner Collins in Tucson, Arizona, denied that request.

Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Right Project, said:

“The court squarely held that the Fourth Amendment covers the shooting of Jose Antonio and that the case can proceed. This is an important victory for a family that lost a teenage son and for the rule of law because it means that there is no Constitution-free zone for border patrol agents to kill innocent civilians.”

Counsel in this case are the ACLU, Luis Parra, ACLU of Arizona, ACLU of San Diego, and the firms of Roberto Montiel Law Offices, and Morrison and Foerster LLP.

The ruling is at: https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/rodriguez-v-swartz-motion-dismiss-denied

More information about this case is at: https://www.aclu.org/cases/immigrants-rights/rodriguez-v-swartz

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Rodriguez v. Swartz

On the night of October 10, 2012, after playing basketball with friends in his neighborhood of Nogales, Mexico, 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez was walking home alone when he was shot approximately 10 times through the border fence by a United States Border Patrol agent. Virtually all of the bullets that struck Jose Antonio entered his body from behind. He died on the sidewalk, in a pool of blood, only a few blocks from his home.

Source: American Civil Liberties Union

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