Email from Dallas Attorney John Wheat Gibson
The T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor houses about 400 immigrants who entered the country illegally.
–Juan Castillo, Austin American-Statesman
Dear Mr. Castillo:
Whoever told you the people imprisoned in Taylor , Texas entered the country illegally lied to you. I have seven clients now imprisoned since November 3 at the T. Don Hutto prison, and every one of them entered the U.S. legally with a visa issued by the United States government.
Furthermore, there is no reason for the imprisonment of these children except as victims of a Michael Chertoff publicity stunt. In midnight raids on November 3 the Department of Homeland Stupidity took these children, who were enrolled in school, from their homes, with their parents and imprisoned them.
The sole purpose of the raids, political propaganda, was apparent from a DHS press release which characterized the victims as “fugitives” and “criminals.” In fact, none of the families I know of were either fugitives or criminals. The two families I represent had conscientiously kept the DHS informed of their current residential addresses.
The purpose of the publicity stunt was to make the ignorant Fox-News brainwashed masses believe that 1) the Muslims among us are our enemies but 2) the DHS is protecting us, and therefore 3) we should not mind shredding the Constitution.
In fact, there was no legitimate reason for the raids at all. The two families I represent had been ordered deported, but had never received the customary notice to report for deportation. If they had, they would have worked out through their attorneys arrangements with the government for the children to finish the school year and then to depart at their own expense.
Compare the treatment of the Colombian wife of Georgia State Senator Curt B. Thompson last week. She also was under a final order of deportation, but the DHS did not detain her, even though, unlike my clients, she had been hiding from them since November 28, according to the Brenda Goodman, writing in the New York Times, December 6.
One of the families I am representing has four children and their mother in the prison, while the 2-year-old daughter is in foster care because she was born in the U.S. Two months is a long time for a 2-year-old baby to be torn away from her mother–especially for no reason other than a cynical political publicity stunt.
The other family has a 17-year-old son who is a senior at James Bowie High School in Arlington , Texas and his mother imprisoned in Taylor . As part of its scheme to whip up xenophobic hysteria and fear in the U.S. , the DHS has now ruined his high school graduation.
Is this the United States ? Do we allow our government to rip children from their homes and schools and imprison them indefinitely for no legitimate reason whatsoever? Please encourage somebody at the Austin American Statesman to look into this horror.
Respectfully submitted,
John Wheat Gibson, P.C.
Dallas
Texas Civil Rights Review 