Migrant dies after being deported again

MEXICO: A Mexican man who had just been deported from the United States fell to his death yesterday from a bridge near the Tijuana-san Diego border crossing.

A Mexican official with knowledge of the case, but who was not authorised to speak to the media, said it was unclear whether the man accidentally fell or intentionally jumped, but Mexican media cited bystanders and a Tijuana prosecutor who said the death appeared to be a suicide.

News of the death, which coincided with this week’s announcement that US authorities are planning a major crackdown on immigrants living in the country illegally, has sparked outrage in Mexico.

Guadalupe Olives Valencia, 44, tried to cross into the US illegally on Tuesday and was deported the next day, the Mexican official said.

Shortly afterwards, Olives’ body was found on the ground near the El Chaparral border crossing. Next to it was a plastic bag, issued by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, that contained some of his possessions. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

At least one Mexican newspaper reported that Olives had screamed about not wanting to return to Mexico before leaping to his death.

Olives had worked illegally as a gardener in California for years to help provide for his three sons back in Mexico after his wife died, according to his niece, Yuriba Valles de Espinoza.

She said Olives had been recently deported, and was intent on crossing back into the US to work.

She said she believed her uncle threw himself off the bridge ‘‘in desperation over the deportation’’ because he had had trouble finding work in Mexico.

After being deported, Olives was debriefed by Mexican immigration agents, who offered him food and transportation to a migrant shelter, but he decided to leave the immigration office on his own, the official said. The agents who spoke with him had said he showed no signs of distress or mental illness.

- LA Times