By Marlyn Montilla
May 25, 2024, 3:20 PM EDT
A migrant who was found dead last weekend on the banks of the Rio Grande, on the border between Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, died from blows to the head, according to the autopsy carried out by Mexican officials.
Likewise, the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico, indicated through its officers that it completed the legal autopsy and it was determined that the cause of death was head trauma.
“The man, between 30 and 35 years old, remains unidentified and once the legal autopsy was performed, the cause of death was determined due to head trauma,” said the representative of the state security agency, Gabriela Cota.
The man’s body was discovered on the morning of May 17 with traces of blood and a Venezuelan flag on his chest. The migrants interviewed by various media on the day of the discovery announced that he was a migrant and a day before “a large group had crossed and were beaten back by the Texas National Guard.”
The FGE stated that the investigation is still analyzing the origin of the man whose body was found with his face covered in blood in the Rio Grande, between gates 36 and 40 of the Juárez-El Paso border and that the investigations will continue until can clarify the case.
“The fact that she is not identified does not allow us to ensure her nationality, so the protocols are followed to try to individualize her, including fingerprints will be taken to compare them with those that exist in the system,” indicated the prosecutor’s spokesperson.
He added that to begin dealing with the case at the international level, the investigation into whether it is a local person must first be exhausted, and then go up to another level.
“Fingerprints are reviewed in the databases we have in Chihuahua, licenses or any document where it can be compared and ruled out that it is a person from that state,” he added.
In this sense, he expressed that while the investigations are carried out, the body is in the facilities of the Forensic Service of the state of Chihuahua, where its preservation is guaranteed to identify it later in case its relatives are found.
Immigrants stationed on the Rio Grande, near where the body was located, have reported that Texas National Guard agents have increased the level of violence to prevent irregular crossings through unauthorized areas.
According to the testimonies collected, the attacks by the Texas National Guard range from shooting with rubber bullets or pepper spray, tear gas bombs, laser beams aimed at the eyes, and when immigrants manage to cross, they are stripped and beaten before being returned. through the same gaps in the border through which they irregularly entered the United States.
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