 Candlelight vigil for murdered immigrant worker Photo: Karla Gonzalez |
On June 3, community activists and
family members held a candlelight vigil to denounce the killing of Anastacio
Hernández-Rojas. Hernández-Rojas was a Mexican-born immigrant who had
lived in San Diego since he was 14 years-old. According to varying documents,
he was either 32 or 42 years-old at the time of his death. U.S. Customs and
Border Patrol agents brutally beat and tasered the husband, construction worker
and father of five U.S.-born children at the U.S.-Mexico border. He was
returning from Mexico to be with his family.
Hernández-Rojas was detained by
Border Patrol agents along with his brother. He was transported to the San
Ysidro border crossing, south of San Diego. Authorities allege that he began
resisting when his handcuffs were removed. Border Patrol agents then beat him
with batons and then tasered him with a stun gun. Shortly afterward, he stopped
breathing. He was pronounced dead on May 31. The San Diego Medical Examiner’s
office has ruled Hernández-Rojas’s death a homicide.
In a press conference, Veronica, the
victim’s cousin, said: “To all of the Hispanic community, to all of the
community that has suffered so much with this, all of this discrimination … it
is time for us to lift ourselves, it is time for us to say we are here, and
that we come for no other reason than to work, we just want a better life for
our children.” (Immigrantsandiego.org) Sponsors of the press conference
included the American Friends Service Committee and San Diego Immigrant Rights
Consortium.
This killing by U.S. federal agents
occurred as community activists from San Diego were in Arizona denouncing the
racist law SB 1070. These types of laws promote racism, hatred and the
scapegoating of immigrants. As long as states like Arizona legalize racial
profiling and xenophobia, and as long as there is inequality built into this
country’s laws and economic system, brutality will continue to occur.
Any type of abuse and murder of
working-class people must be stopped and resisted. When the ruling class and
its agents use violence to intimidate and impose fear in immigrants and their
families, all U.S. workers should stand in opposition.
Immigrant workers are forced daily
to risk their lives to cross the border due to U.S. policies that seek to
maintain a supply of super-exploited workers to keep wages low and maintain
control over an invisible workforce. But this is not only a policy. Criminal
exploitation of workers, especially the undocumented, is built into capitalism
itself.
The Party for Socialism and
Liberation demands the immediate repeal of all racist, anti-immigrant laws and
stands for the immediate legalization of all immigrant workers. No more racist
murders! Justice for Anastacio Hernández-Rojas!
