SPLC Statement on Supreme Court’s Decision Blocking Family’s Lawsuit on Behalf of Murdered Son

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) issued the following statement by Melissa Crow, senior supervising attorney with the SPLC’s Immigrant Justice Project, in response to today’s Supreme Court decision affirming the dismissal of a lawsuit by the family of a murdered child seeking damages from the agent who shot him across the U.S border.
 
“This decision will further embolden already lawless Border Patrol agents operating near and along the border. Shutting the courthouse doors and failing to hold these agents accountable for clearly unconstitutional actions – like the murder of an unarmed child – will only encourage further bad acts by those within Customs and Border Protection (CBP), an agency responsible for extensive and well-documented abuses. Under the encouragement of this administration, CBP’s actions and tactics have become increasingly aggressive and cruel, leaving a trail of victims. This is a dark day for justice.”