Los Angeles. – Defenders of migrants on Saturday condemned the deportation to Mexico of a survivor of the shooting in El Paso, (Texas), who worked with federal authorities to witness the shooter’s initial actions, which ultimately killed 22 people.
The Diocesan Services for Migrants and Refugees (DMRS) in El Paso denounced that the migrant, identified only as Rosa to protect her identity, was arrested on Wednesday after a traffic stop because a light on her car was not working.
El Paso police arrested her after discovering that the migrant had two open listings for another traffic stop in 2015.
The migrant, of Mexican descent, was taken to the custody of the Immigration and Customs Control Service (ICE), which deported her to Ciudad Juárez on Friday. Mexico.
Also read: “Attacker approached me but killed my cousin,” said the El Paso survivor
Rosa and her sister collaborated with investigators in the August 3, 2019 shooting case because they claimed they were in the Walmart parking lot where the massacre took place, and they witnessed the shooter’s first assault before entering the store. entered. .
Anna Hey, deputy director of DMRS, confirmed to local broadcaster KTSM that “Rosa has survived one of the most horrific events ever in El Paso. She came forward and introduced herself to both the El Paso police and the FBI. officers. an explanation of what he saw on that fateful day. “
“The information she has was sufficient for the prosecutor to issue a statement that she was helpful in the investigation,” he added.
Also read: Biden will create a task force to reunite families separated by Trump
In this sense, Laura Lynch, a National Immigration Law Center (NILC) attorney, criticized the deportation of the Mexican on her Twitter account this Saturday, warning that “ this decision amounts to a new charge against this young woman, who only came forward. to take the case against the shooter in the racist attack“.
Lynch’s message was picked up by Democratic Congressman Verónica Escobar, who represents District 16 in Texas and also includes neighborhoods in El Paso.
“I support the efforts of the El Paso DMRS and will do everything I can to bring Rosa home and fight to protect the victims and witnesses of deportation,” the legislator stressed on her Twitter account.
Also read: The United States plans to vaccinate undocumented immigrants in the campaign against Covid-19
As soon as he got to the White House, the president Joe Biden ordered a 100-day moratorium on deportations.
However, on Tuesday, Judge Drew B. Tipton of the Southern District Court of Texas temporarily blocked the measure in response to a lawsuit led by Texas Attorney General, Republican Ken Paxton, alleging that the president acted arbitrarily by repealing the moratorium. lay.
jabf