Congress is considering whether to green-light President Donald Trump’s pick for Customs and Border Protection commissioner.
Rodney Scott is a former Border Patrol agent who served as the agency’s chief during Trump’s first term and briefly, under President Joe Biden.
Lawmakers have questioned Scott about a range of issues, including the 2010 death of Anastasio Hernández-Rojas — an undocumented immigrant who died after being beaten and repeatedly shocked with a Taser by Border Patrol agents during an encounter at San Ysidro border crossing in San Diego. Scott served as the local Border Patrol sector chief at the time.
Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, brought up the case during the Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing last week.
“Rather than following the agency’s own policy and immediately referring the incident to outside investigators, the San Diego CBP office began its own inquiry,” he said.
Wyden said CBP taped over video evidence of the incident and that Scott obtained Hernández-Rojas’ medical records, which the agency then failed to provide to local police investigators. He also pointed to a letter he said he received from a former CBP official familiar with the death who wrote to express concern over Scott’s nomination and handling of the case.
Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho said the case had already been reviewed by seven different investigative and use-of-force policy bodies, who found the agents were not criminally liable. He said U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi had also reviewed and agreed with the findings.
Hernández-Rojas’ widow and children eventually settled with the government for monetary compensation for his death, but the Justice Department declined to press criminal charges on the agents involved.
Last week, as Scott answered questions from lawmakers, the Costa-Rica-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ruled the U.S. government was responsible for the death and called for a new investigation.
“The IACHR found that the use of force in this case was unnecessary and disproportionate, given that Mr. Hernández-Rojas was unarmed, restrained, and posed no threat. It also emphasized that the treatment he received — especially the use of Tasers in stun mode — amounted to acts of torture,” the report’s release reads. “The IACHR also observed that Mr. Hernández-Rojas was denied appropriate medical care. It argued that the state has an obligation to ensure the right to health for individuals being deprived of their freedom and concluded that his death was a direct result of violence perpetrated by state agents.”
