On May 23rd, 2018, Claudia Patricia Gómez Gonzáles was shot by a United States Border Patrol agent.
Claudia Patricia was a 20-year old indigenous Guatemalan from the Department of Quetzaltenango. She graduated in 2016 with an accounting degree. Not able to find a job in her field, or in any occupation really, she made the decision to come to the United States. She told her family that she wanted to make money to help them rise out of poverty; the same poverty that so many Guatemalans face. Her mother told Guatevision that Claudia said, “Mamita, we’re going to go on ahead, I’ll make money. There’s no work here.”
Yes, she decided to make the trek across the border illegally with the other men. I in no way condone that. There are clear regulations put in place in order to come to the United States legally, but that can take up to years to complete. However, I do respect her for making that dangerous journey. The journey that ended with a bullet to her head. She traveled so far from home with the hopes that one day she’d have a successful job and be able to send money back to her family.
Now the U.S. Customs and Border Protection have released different accounts of what happened that day. One is that the agent was at the border of Rio Bravo, Texas in search of illegal activity when he was then hit by blunt objects by the immigrants. Another statement says that the agent told the immigrants to “get on the ground” but that the immigrants didn’t listen. Here’s the thing with that. Of course, they wouldn’t listen, they don’t know English. I honestly don’t know what the agent expected. According to that second statement is the reason why the agent shot his weapon. Because they didn’t listen but rather they “rushed him.”
There was also a witness who began videotaping after she heard the bullets. She states that she didn’t hear any yelling by the agent to stop running and get on the ground. She also states that she didn’t see any objects the immigrants could have had to use as weapons. Rather, the immigrants, including Claudia Patricia were hiding. Here you can see the video she took. In the video, she demands to know why the agent mistreated the three immigrants, as he takes the other men into custody. She says “¿Por que tiró a la muchacha? La mataste!” which means, “Why did you shoot the girl? You killed her!”
On May 31st, 2018 Claudia Patricia’s body was returned to Guatemala, so her family could bury her. People of her hometown, San Juan Ostuncalco, Quetzaltenango, gathered together for her wake and funeral. They came together to support Claudia Patricia Gómez González’s family.
The reason she was shot was not that of some “protocol’ or because the agent was “rushed.” It’s because of an administration that promotes racism and ignorance. No, she was not a murderer, or a drug dealer, or any sort of criminal that the current president states all Latinos—sorry, I meant Mexicans—are.
We’re not all Mexicans. Get your shit straight. We’re not all criminals. A lot of us are hard workers and just want to provide our family with a life they deserve.
Claudia Patricia Gómez González is an example of this. A forensic accountant graduate who made a dangerous trip to “the land of the free” only to meet her end. I am so sorry that the country I call home did this to you, your family, and thousands of others. I am honored to have been able to call you mi paisa. May you rest in peace.
