Trial begins for US rancher accused of killing migrant

Migrants on the Mexican side of the border wait to cross into the United States at a point near El Paso, Texas, on March 19, 2024 – Copyright AFP HERIKA MARTINEZ

The trial of a rancher accused of killing a Mexican migrant on his property in Arizona began Friday, as tensions mount in the United States over an inflow of migrants across the southern border.

George Alan Kelly, 75, is charged with second-degree murder for the death of Mexican Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, 48, on his property in the border town of Nogales in January 2023.

During opening arguments Friday in a southern Arizona courtroom, the rancher’s defense attorneys claimed that Kelly was eating lunch that day when he saw a group of men walking on his land with backpacks and rifles. After hearing a gunshot he reached for his AK-47 to fire into the air and scare them.

“He knew that he and his wife were in danger,” said attorney Brenna Larkin.

“He raises his rifle at an angle high up so that he knows he’s not going to hit anybody. And he fires. He fires until the threat is gone,” Larkin said.

But prosecutors said the migrants were unarmed and portrayed the incident as the product of a bias in Kelly’s mind toward migrants commonly held in regions close to the border with Mexico.

“They weren’t approaching him. They weren’t any kind of threat to him. They were going parallel to his residence,” chief deputy county attorney Kim Hunley said.

“I want you to consider Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea as a human being, and not as George Kelly described him, an animal,” added Hunley, referring to a statement by the rancher on the case.

The prosecutor said that throughout the trial, evidence and testimony will show that Kelly “is guilty as charged.”

The trial begins amid growing tension in the United States over the increase of migrant traffic across the border with Mexico.

Authorities recorded 2.4 million encounters with migrants at various points along the 3,145 kilometers (1,954 miles) of its border, a statistical record.

The crisis has spread beyond border states such as Arizona or Texas, with Republican governors sending thousands of migrants to Democratic-led states such as New York or Illinois, where officials say they are overwhelmed and have demanded more help from President Joe Biden.

The issue is likely to play a role in the November presidential election, in which Republican Donald Trump seeks to return to the presidency with promises of massive deportation operations and strict immigration policies.