Author: mopress

By Nick Braune

For well over a year, the South Texas Civil Rights Project (STCRP) has been urging the Border Patrol to recognize that its job should include an elemental human concern: the safety of the population during hurricanes or other disasters. There is a simple problem. The Border Patrol, in its eagerness to enforce immigration rules, apparently wants it known that it will be checking IDs to see who is and who is not a citizen, etc., even during emergency evacuations. But if the word is out that the Border Patrol will be checking IDs, many undocumented people and others may simply risk their lives by not evacuating.

The STCRP held another press conference in the Rio Grande Valley this month: On August 7th, an article in the McAllen daily newspaper, The Monitor, covered the story:

“The U.S. Border Patrol has stated it will continue operating its checkpoints in the event of a storm, including the Sarita and Falfurrias checkpoints located on U.S. 77 and U.S. 281, respectively. (U.S. 281 is a designated hurricane evacuation route.) ‘An evacuation doesn’t preclude us from doing our job,’ said John Lopez, local spokesman for the agency. But activists fear such inspections would encourage the Rio Grande Valley’s estimated 150,000 illegal immigrants to ride out a hurricane in their homes to avoid deportation. Many live in unincorporated colonias — areas that are particularly vulnerable to heavy storms due to the lack of adequate infrastructure.”

It was only last summer when terrible damage in Galveston occurred from a hurricane, one which those of us in the Rio Grande Valley thought for a day or so was going to hit here. But if last summer’s big hurricane had hit here instead of a few hundred miles north of us, numbers of undocumented immigrants would not have evacuated. They would have stayed home, afraid of the hassle with the Patrol.

Corinna Spencer-Scheurich, an attorney with STCRP, says it is important for the Border Patrol to keep some distance from exits and shelters during an emergency. “This is about human life, not law enforcement,” she says.

The situation has become even more complicated this year since a new law goes into effect in September making it a crime not to evacuate when a general order has gone out. Spencer-Scheurich is quoted in The Monitor as saying that this is going to make an even tougher situation for the undocumented. “If they evacuate, they could be deported. And if they stay, they could be arrested and then deported.”

Spencer-Scheurich explained in a phone call with this reporter that as far as this issue is concerned there has been no major difference between the Obama administration and the Bush administration. “We got about the same form letter from the Border Patrol this year as we did during the Bush administration. Although we are working case by case, we need a national level policy and we can’t leave important decisions to be made at the last minute.” Spencer-Scheurich emphasized that in an emergency, when people are scrambling to get their bottled water and their batteries and other supplies ready, they can’t wait too long for the Border Patrol to make a decision to be humane. Not only hurricanes present this problem: there have been cases in California of immigrants driving toward dangerous wildfires instead of away from them because the Border Patrol has failed to make the proper public announcement about their enforcement stance during evacuations.

Evacuation emergencies are not the right time to force lines of people to stop and have their IDs checked. Spencer-Scheurich emphasized that everyone has to know ahead of time that an evacuation can be smooth for everyone, hassle free and fast.

By Nick Braune

July 8, Brownsville Herald: “A federal grand jury has returned a two-part indictment against Rama Carty Tuesday, charging him with assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating or interfering with Lt. Eric Saldivar and detention officer Hector Buentello, Jr. in the performance of their official duties, the court record shows.” The article says Carty may face 16 years in prison and a $500,000 fine for his alleged violence last month at the Port Isabel Detention Center in southern Texas.

The next day, in response to the Herald article, I proudly joined a quickly-called morning picket line in McAllen outside the Federal Building, where Homeland Security has its offices; on the sidewalk about 14 of us chanted for justice and demanded that Carty be freed and that the frame-up charges be dropped.

The background is fairly simple. Rama Carty, 39, had been held in the Port Isabel Detention Center for about a year. After reading coverage of an Amnesty International report in the spring about the lack of due process in immigration detention centers, the poor conditions, and the disorganization of the system, Carty was invigorated and tried to get Amnesty to visit and take testimony at PIDC. He soon became somewhat of a spokesperson among the detainees and a key figure in a hunger strike trying to draw attention to the problems involved.

Not shy, he was soon in touch with some Rio Grande Valley activists around the Southwest Workers Unicn (SWU) who helped publicize problems at PIDC, and he was interviewed on Democracy Now and by Texas Monthly.

Amnesty International leader Sarnata Reynolds announced that she was going to personally visit Texas to speak to detainees at PIDC, making it clear that she believed a hunger strike had taken place – PDIC kept denying that it happened. Then on June 3, Amnesty visited, and Reynolds sent out a letter to supporters that very evening that she had met inmates, including Carty, and that she believes there are significant problems at PDIC, referencing Amnesty’s spring report.

(Amnesty reports are carefully prepared, taking the time to provide documentation, and they have considerable public weight because they are prepared well. Although over the years I have often wished Amnesty would take up different issues than it does, I do realize how limited their resources and personnel are and the large numbers of people internationally vying for Amnesty’s immediate attention on particular issues. Incidentally, I have been particularly pleased this decade with their 2005 report criticizing the egregious U.S. policy of imprisoning people for “life with no parole” for crimes they committed as children and was very pleased over this last month with their report strongly criticizing Israel’s brutal attack on Gaza last winter.)

The very day after Carty was interviewed, awfully early in the morning, Carty was roused from his sleep to be transferred to a Louisiana center, and from there to be shipped back to Haiti. It is obvious that the PDIC wanted to get rid of this nuisance who had been making waves for several months.

Apparently, according to one report I heard about, two of the guards who were assigned to process him became angry when he “went limp” in standard civil disobedience style, and they proceeded to rough Carty up as they moved him out. There was a report by inmates that there was blood on the floor. The SWU local members heard of the event from detainees who called them, and they began rousing their members and friends to make phone calls protesting this.

Amnesty, which was scheduled to speak to more inmates that day — it was a two-day visit – protested to the PDIC officials and demanded to talk to the guards who took Carty away that morning. The PDIC authorities were not cooperative and insisted that nothing was amiss, that the transfer of Carty had been planned for over a week and was not in response to their visit.

After the Brownsville Herald this week said that Carty was being charged with assault, resisting, etc., the Port Isabel prisoners and Rama’s supporters outside were of course shocked and angry. One prisoner communicated to the network outside. His comments: “I spent most of my days with Rama Carty in the library; not once had he ever gotten into a physical or verbal fight with anyone; his demeanor [was] refreshing. I can clearly say that the charges are trumped up.” There were also prisoners who witnessed the officers taking him out, and they verify Carty’s version of the story, although they were not allowed to get their version into the grand jury room.

One thing that may be behind the assault charges is that DHS had hoped to ship the hot potato Carty off to Haiti after they got him to Louisiana. But Haiti officials said they did not want him; he knows no one there and he is actually not from Haiti. True, his parents are Haitian, but he was born in the Congo and lived in Africa only his first year, moving to spend the rest of his life in the States.

Because Carty had been held in detention all these recent months supposedly to process him out of the country, when DHS found out he could not be deported to Haiti, they should have released him. Not having papers is a civil not a criminal offence, after all. Unable to send him to Haiti, however, DHS is apparently now arranging to send Carty to prison.

The international press is carrying the story of the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr., but they usually fail to give his full title: Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University.

According to the AFP report: “Gates was seen by a passing woman to be attempting entry to the front door of his house — which was damaged — along with another black man, according to the police report from July 16.”

When police questioned Gates at his own home, he reportedly told them “this is what happens to black men in America.” He was arrested at his own home for allegedly being “loud and tumultuous” in his denunciations.

Has a person no right to protest?

The story of Gates’ arrest follows news about one imprisoned immigrant in South Texas who was indicted after being roughed up by authorities (see Nick Braune’s story below.)

We draw a comparison between what was done to Gates and Rama Carty. In both cases free expression was countered by official misuse of power. These two cases become the latest symptoms of a systemic disease.

As we watch for developments in both cases we also keep our watchwords close at hand. Today we take our watchwords from “Living Morally: A Psychology of Moral Character,” by Laurence Thomas.

“the desire not to be wronged by others is the most minimal attitude of positive regard that a self-respecting individual can have toward herself or himself.”

These two cases of official retaliation against Gates and Carty are obstructions to the right to be a self-respecting individual in America today. –gm

Here is an excerpt from Gates’ attorney as posted at The Root:

When Professor Gates opened the door, the officer immediately asked him to step outside. Professor Gates remained inside his home and asked the officer why he was there. The officer indicated that he was responding to a 911 call about a breaking and entering in progress at this address. Professor Gates informed the officer that he lived there and was a faculty member at Harvard University. The officer then asked Professor Gates whether he could prove that he lived there and taught at Harvard. Professor Gates said that he could, and turned to walk into his kitchen, where he had left his wallet. The officer followed him. Professor Gates handed both his Harvard University identification and his valid Massachusetts driver’s license to the officer. Both include Professor Gates’ photograph, and the license includes his address.

Professor Gates then asked the police officer if he would give him his name and his badge number. He made this request several times. The officer did not produce any identification nor did he respond to Professor Gates’ request for this information. After an additional request by Professor Gates for the officer’s name and badge number, the officer then turned and left the kitchen of Professor Gates’ home without ever acknowledging who he was or if there were charges against Professor Gates. As Professor Gates followed the officer to his own front door, he was astonished to see several police officers gathered on his front porch. Professor Gates asked the officer’s colleagues for his name and badge number. As Professor Gates stepped onto his front porch, the officer who had been inside and who had examined his identification, said to him, “Thank you for accommodating my earlier request,” and then placed Professor Gates under arrest. He was handcuffed on his own front porch.

See Also: Statement from Gates’ Attorney and link to police report at The Root.

Statement issued by the office of U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX).

“We are aware that Rrustem Neza was recently and suddenly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is holding him for deportation on a date it will not disclose, though it informed us it will be sometime in August.

“After first indicating that no action would be taken until December, ICE has done nothing here to help its credibility. ICE has now also severely limited its communication on this issue. Though ICE seems determined to move quickly ahead with delivering this man’s life into imminent danger, I am continuing to fight against this wrongful deportation or at least find a better solution that won’t put his life in peril.

“I have and will continue to stay in contact with officials at the Department of Homeland Security to see what can be done to postpone or halt Rrustem’s deportation. I’m sure East Texans will also help me provide all the support we can for the Neza family during this very difficult time.”