United States Supreme Court Rules Against 15-Year-Old Mexican National Killed By Border Patrol Agent

The United States Supreme Court held that a fifteen-year-old Mexican national, standing on Mexican soil and shot by a border patrol agent standing in the United States, does not have Fourth Amendment constitutional protections.

Robert C. Hilliard, representing the teenager's family, argued the case before the U.S. Supreme Court on February 21, 2017. "In this case, Justice doesn't travel as far as a bullet does. The old adage that 'The Supreme Court isn't last because they're right, they are right because they are last' rings especially true in Sergio's case," Mr. Hilliard stated. "To be left with no remedy ("nothing" as Justice Ginsberg notes) given such a violent and unprovoked shooting weakens the constitutional foundation of America's house."

"Mexican nationals shot and killed for no reason or bad reason—while standing in Mexico, by the U.S. Border Patrol in the United States have no redress in U.S. courts. Does it promote a Wild West attitude on our border—where accountability depends solely upon internal policy review—and a "shoot fast" mentality? We will have to wait and see, but I'm not hopeful," he continued.

Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca, an unarmed teenager, was playing with his friends in a concrete culvert near the U.S./Mexico border when he was shot and killed on June 7, 2010, by U.S. Border Patrol agent, Jesus Mesa, Jr.