A Mexican man has died by suicide after slitting his throat when he was denied entry to the United States, said Mexican authorities.
Meters away from the international dividing line, it occurred on Wednesday at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge across the Rio Grande, as Jesús García Serna, 36, tried to enter the U.S. from the Mexican border city of Reynosa.
According to two security officials, who were unauthorized to speak publicly, around 5 PM local time, the asylum-seeker drew a knife and slit his throat upon being denied access to the U.S.
One of the officials said García Serna killed himself on the Mexican side of the bridge.
The incident transpired two days after the U.S. declared it would start sending a number of Mexican asylum-seekers to Guatemala, the latest move by President Donald Trump's administration to decrease the number of undocumented migrants entering the nation.
The policy has been criticized by rights groups, who press that Mexicans fleeing a series of brutally violent crimes in the country could encounter similar dangers in neighboring Guatemala.
The U.S. acted aggressively over the past year to lessen asylum seekers arriving at its southwest border in the form of a series of measures to make it a less attractive option.
In the past few days, guidance was reportedly sent to U.S. asylum officials that indicated Mexican citizens would now be included in the "Remain in Mexico" program that sent back non-Mexican asylum to Mexico to await their asylum cases.
Only vehicles were allowed to pass through the border entry point.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers told García Serna that he was not permitted to present his asylum petition at the border post.
In a grainy video a security official showed, a man dressed in a blue shirt was seen to have approached U.S. officials and raised a hand to his neck.
Photos were taken of the Mexican man's body, lying in a pool of blood with a sliced throat.
According to Reuters, it could not confirm the authenticity of the footage or photographs and that it remained unclear why the man committed suicide.
An investigation into the García Serna's death has been launched by the attorney general's office for the state of Tamaulipas, where Reynosa is located.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately give a comment in response to Reuters.
According to several Mexicans who seek peace in the U.S., their lives are at risk in Mexico from violent criminal gangs, which have made parts of the nation increasingly unsafe.
Trump has been pressing Mexico to stem the billowing asylum-seekers crossing the border to flee from poverty and violence in Central America.
With the threat of U.S. sanctions, Mexico has designated 27,000 National Guardsmen to its northern and southern borders to eradicate them.
