Biden signed the Law for the Protection of Federal Officials and Employees Jaime Zapata and Víctor Ávila.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, signed a law on Thursday that allows those who attempt against their officials abroad to be tried on US soil, promoted in honor of an immigration agent murdered in Mexico in 2011 and his injured partner.
In a ceremony at the White House, Biden signed the Law for the Protection of Federal Officials and Employees Jaime Zapata and Víctor Ávila, baptized with the names of the two agents of the Immigration and Customs Service (ICE, in English) who were victims of a ambushed while on a mission in Mexico.
Zapata and Ávila were attacked by drug cartels in San Luis Potosí, on February 15, 2011. Zapata died from injuries sustained during the attack.
According to the office of Senator Chuck Grassley, one of the law’s promoters, the attackers were arrested and tried in the US, but last year an appeals court rejected the convictions on the grounds that the US court that had tried them had no jurisdiction over crimes committed against security forces abroad.
Specifically, the life sentences of two of those sentenced for that attack were overturned by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in January 2020.
With the new rule, title 18 of the United States Code is modified to include “extraterritorial jurisdiction”.
“This bill is going to protect agents serving overseas and send a message to drug cartels, terrorists and criminals wherever they operate: if they attack our agents, they will not escape our justice,” Biden said.
The US president also signed another law that guarantees access to benefits to members of the rescue services who have been injured or disabled during acts of service, and another rule to provide assistance and protect the privacy of law enforcement officers who seek help for your mental health.
On the other hand, Biden defended during the ceremony at the White House his government’s decision to allocate greater resources against the security forces, despite calls from activists and social organizations further to the left that funds be withdrawn from the police , due to cases of police brutality against African Americans.
“When you look at what our communities need, what our law enforcement agencies are being asked to do, it will take more resources, not fewer resources,” said the Democratic leader.
In that sense, Biden stressed that the Department of Justice announced this Thursday that it will allocate some 140 million dollars in resources for local law enforcement agencies, which will allow the hiring of more than 1,000 new officers. (I)
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