Mother speaks about Cuban man shot dead by police in a park in the USA.

Magalys Arriba Fuentes, the mother of Feglys Campos, the young Cuban who was shot and killed by police in a park in Denison, Iowa, on August 16, shared with the newspaper EL PAÍS from Spain about her son's life and the pain of his loss.

The 58-year-old woman, who works as a cleaner in Madrid, recounted that her son was a hardworking young man who wanted to improve the lives of his family.

"Feglys always wanted to go somewhere. He promised me that one day he would take me with him to the United States. He wanted to live well and give us a good life," Magalys tells the journalist Carla Colomé from the aforementioned media outlet, who conducted a thorough investigation into the death of the Cuban at the place where the events occurred.

Feglys emigrated to the United States on July 22, 2023, through the CBP One application, after a long journey that took him through Russia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Serbia, as well as some time in Spain, the report explains.

He adds that in Denison, he found work at Smithfield, a company dedicated to pig slaughtering, where his neighbors and colleagues remember him as a “decent” and “helpless” young man.

However, he was fired from the factory after the Trump Administration canceled work permits for immigrants benefiting from CBP One, and he became homeless, the publication notes.

The mother asserts that he was never diagnosed with any mental illness, although some peers claim that "he had gone crazy" due to the challenges he faced as an immigrant and that at the time of the incident, he was going through a personal and mental health crisis.

"I don't know what could have happened to my son. No one would want to lose a child like that; the police are here to protect us, not to kill us," the woman said through tears.

On the morning of August 16, the town woke up to the rumor that someone had been killed in the park where the Cuban was sleeping.

In the area, the neighbors have set up an altar with flowers, candles, teddy bears, beers, and a sign demanding "Justice for Feglys."

Dozens of residents marched to the police station demanding the release of the body cameras of the involved officers.

Brenda Hernández, a friend of the victim, indicates that on the night of the shooting, the agents requested recordings from the neighbors' security cameras, while the General Counsel of the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Catherine M. Lucas, reported that the prosecutor has a deadline of 180 days to issue a report on the shooting.

A week after Feglys' death, neighbors, friends, and former colleagues gathered in Washington Park, feeling a collective sense of guilt and a sense of obligation to the young Cuban

"What we did for him was little. I feel guilty," they confessed to Colomé.

Her mother, for her part, can only ask, "Why did they do this to my baby? He didn't deserve it."

The report emphasizes that "the cancellation of work permits for beneficiaries of programs such as humanitarian parole and CBP One has brought chaos to the labor market, particularly in the agricultural sector. That is how Feglys ended up on the street one day."

The residents of the Iowa town where the crime occurred fear it may be a matter of xenophobia and racism.

Frequently asked questions about the case of Feglys Campos and the situation of Cuban immigrants in the U.S.