Category: Detention

“We hope to have a delegation of volunteers to visit Hutto in the very near future,” says Megan H. Mack, Associate Director of the American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Immigration (see flyer pasted below).

Mack expressed the hope in a Jan. 17 email forwarded by Jay J. Johnson-Castro.

Although the results of the ABA visit to the T. Don Hutto prison camp for immigrants will be confidentially reported to Immigration and Customs Enfocement (ICE), Johnson-Castro said it will serve notice “that Chertoff & the ICE Company will not forever conduct such immoral and criminal acts in secret.”

In other immigration activism news, Farmers Branch– the Texas city that has passed ordinances naming English the official language and tightening citizenship restrictions on housing–will be getting attention from activists soon. In an updated schedule for a border caravan planned for early February, Johnson-Castro and fellow organizers added a Valentine’s Day stop in Farmers Branch.

Also the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is one group calling for a major march at Farmers Branch on April Fools Day.

Voters in Farmers Branch will be asked to vote on the citizenship-for-housing ordinance on May 12. The law was to go into effect Jan. 12, but has been restrained by court order. The English language resolution was passed during Nov. 2006. *****
flyer from ABA

THE DETENTION STANDARDS IMPLEMENTATION INITIATIVE

WE NEED YOU TO HELP MAKE THIS INITIATIVE A SUCCESS!

The American Bar Association’s (ABA) Commission on Immigration has undertaken the Detention
Standards Implementation Initiative (Initiative). The Initiative is an innovative national effort by the
organized bar to contribute to the consistent implementation of the Standards which govern legal access issues at all Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE – formerly the Immigration and
Naturalization Service or INS) detention facilities and other facilities detaining immigrants and asylum
seekers. Under the auspices of the Commission on Immigration, Initiative participants will visit and
tour facilities and produce an official report for the ABA to share with ICE, specifically looking at the
implementation of the four legal access standards.

As a result of 1996 immigration law amendments that mandated the detention of certain immigrants
and asylum seekers, ICE now detains more than 200,000 people annually at over 300 sites, the majority of which are county and local jails. Immigration detainees are the fastest growing group of people incarcerated in the United States. In 2006 ICE will receive $3.7 billion for immigration law
enforcement, including detention and removal. The Detention Standards are the result of negotiations
between the ABA, the Department of Justice, the former INS, and other organizations involved in pro
bono representation and advocacy for immigration detainees. The Standards, which took effect in
January 2001, are comprehensive and encompass a range of issues including access to legal services and
materials. The four legal access standards concern visitation, access to legal materials, telephone access,
and group presentations on legal rights.

As a key stakeholder in developing the Standards, the ABA is committed to their full and effective
implementation. In a spirit of cooperation and collaboration with ICE, the ABA’s Commission on
Immigration has launched this special Initiative to visit, tour, and report on observations of the facilities
across the country with a special focus on the four legal access standards. The organized bar is in a
unique position to contribute to ICE’s implementation of the Standards at facilities nationwide.

The ABA’s Commission on Immigration is recruiting lawyers, law firms, and bar associations to
participate on a pro bono basis in special delegations to tour and report on various detention facilities’
implementation of the Standards, with an emphasis on the four legal access standards. Delegation
leaders will be responsible for organizing a team of up to six volunteers for a facility visit and tour;
researching the local detention situation; visiting the detention center; and producing a report on the
delegation’s observations for the ABA for advocacy purposes. The ABA will report back to the
delegation on ICE’s response for appropriate follow-up.

Through participation in the Detention Standards Implementation Initiative, the organized bar and
attorneys can help facilitate access to counsel and fair treatment for detained immigrants and asylum
seekers.

If you, your firm, or your bar association is interested in participating in this Initiative

Please contact Megan Mack at
202-662-1006 or mackm@staff.abanet.org
American Bar Association
Commission on Immigration
740 15th Street NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20005

A photo of the Ibrahim girls during happy days at home in Richardson, Texas. (From left) Zahra, Rodina, Faten, and Maryam. In early November, the girls were abducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Zahra (an American citizen) was placed into the care of her uncle Ahmad, while Rodina, Faten, and Maryam were jailed with their pregnant mother and older brother. They remain in jail at the T. Don Hutto Prison Camp in Taylor, Texas where they are clothed in orange prison uniforms. Their father is jailed in Haskell, Texas. Despite the family’s pending appeal for asylum, US authorities are seeking deportation. You will find materials about the intolerable Ibrahim ordeal archived here.

EXCERPT from Salaheddin Ibrahim’s petition for asylum.

During summer 2000 the Israelis attacked Al Fandaqumiyah with tanks, airplanes and gunfire. I was away from the house when the attack started, and ran home. I went up on the roof. The Israelis fired gas bombs and one of them broke the window of my kitchen and fell inside the house. I came down from the roof and threw the bomb back outside. It was hot, but not too hot to scoop up and quickly throw out. The children were sick and Hanan and I ran with them out of the house. Maryam, who was two years old, was overcome by the gas and unconscious.

I ran with the children and my wife with shooting all around us, and the children were crying and my wife was crying. We stayed outside in the olive grove until the Israeli troops left the village. Then we went back in the house. Maryam had awakened but she was very sick. She had great difficulty breathing. I called my neighbor and asked him to come with me to the pharmacy to buy medicine for Maryam. I was afraid and wanted the neighbor Abdel Ba Set Raba to come just so I would feel safer. I intended to explain the problem to the pharmacist so that he could provide what Maryam needed.

I drove to the pharmacy. There were two others from my village in the pharmacy, but while we were in the pharmacy the Israeli soldiers came in and ordered us out. When we went out they confiscated our identity cards. The soldiers told me to go remove an object in the street, but I told them I had to take medicine to my daughter. They thought the object might be a mine or a booby trap. They cursed me and told me to do what they ordered me to do.

I refused and they shot near my head and demanded that I go. I went and recovered the object that was in the street. It was just a bag. Then they forced us to sweep the street clean. After about 45 minutes the soldiers left. I went into the pharmacy and got some pills that were supposed to enable Maryam to breathe. I gave her the medicine and she recovered….

Maryam is 4 years old. She is afraid of policemen in uniform, but the older children understand that they are safe in the United States. In Palestine, when the older children heard shooting or saw helicopters or Israeli soldiers, they would cry and run into the house and pull the bed clothes over their heads. They often were afraid to go to school, and, if they were too terrified to go, we would let them stay at home.

Read the full petition forwarded by attorney John Wheat Gibson.

email from Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Jan. 20, 2007

Hola y’all…

You’re receiving this because you know about the immoral and illegal incarceration of children from 6 months old and on up…from some 20 different countries…at the Hutto prison camp in Taylor , TX .

We have all recently learned that the Williamson County lease agreement with Correctional Corporation of America (CCA) expires in 11 days…on Jan. 31.

We want to encourage the Williamson County Commissioners to champion the freedom of the children. They can be their heroes…on the local, statewide, national and even international levels. All they have to do is show the courage to say NO to the practice of holding children in the Hutto prison camp.
Or…they can be viewed as accomplices of this demented practice of imprisoning children on American soil…right here in Texas …right in their own county…for profit. They have the legal authority to make a difference. We trust that they will?

So…one month after the Christmas Eve Vigil…we will be holding a new vigil. A “Don’t renew the lease to imprison children for profit!!!”. “Chertoff and the ICE Company…or the children”. “Not one more day of imprisoning children”. ”ICE and CCA violating International Children’s Rights”. Or…whatever else you feel best describes your reason for participating in this vigil.

After considering two dates…almost all prefer an early evening vigil on January 25. Some have already made arrangements to be there. The vigil will officially be held between 5:30 and 6:30pm. That way working folks who would like to can attend.

One of those who will be attending is reporter Sarah Bush. Sarah will be interviewing those in attendance at the 25th vigil…for the program “Latino USA” that will air nationally on NPR.

For those of Williamson County who oppose the incarceration of children in the Hutto prison camp, here’s a suggestion. What if you draft and deliver a letter to the Commissioners Court this coming Tuesday, asking/requesting/petitioning/demanding them to give 120 days notice to ICE…and NOT renew the lease with CCA?

Come join us. Bring a banner. Bring a poster. Sun sets about 6pm.

Please feel free to share…and extend this invitation.

Let our presence be seen and let our voices be heard. The international community is watching to see how grassroots America responds to this immoral and criminal conduct that has being committed by the Federal-Corporate Complex and their money laundering schemes. They have been observing that “We the people of the United States of America ” really do care about freedom and justice…and that we do not believe in imprisoning children…let alone for profit!!!

Now the international community will observe how we employ democratic principles, exercise our freedoms and our rights…with the weapons of reasoning, truth and information sharing. Along with a deep conviction of the heart…we will bring a halt to this and other similar demented practices.

Jay

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Border Ambassador

Connecting.the.dots…making.a.difference…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr.

Del Rio, Texas, USA
Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila , Mexico

Editorial

When six foreign ministers of the Persian Gulf met last week with their colleagues from Jordan, Egypt, and the USA they spoke also about a need to bring peace to Palestine.

A joint statement from the so-called six-plus-two ministers and the USA Secretary of State serves as a documentary reminder that there is no peace in Palestine and that the refusal of USA authorities to grant amnesty to Palestinian families in Texas is cruel and unusual punishment that criminalizes children born into Palestinian heritage.

The USA bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is therefore contributing to the scope and cruelty of the Palestinian conflict by inflicting imprisonment upon Texas children.

In this regard, we think especially about 8-year-old Maryam Ibrahim who nearly died from chemical warfare when she was a toddler in Palestine, who has since lived in fear of uniforms, and who is now being subjected to mental torture every evening at 10pm when she is taken by uniformed officials to a cell that she cannot share with her pregnant mother.

Nothing about this situation at the T. Don Hutto prison camp is tolerable. In light of the recent pleas jointly spoken with Persian Gulf diplomats, the USA Secretary of State should intervene directly in behalf of Maryam Ibrahim and signal the intentions of the USA to make peace for Palestinian children wherever they live. Notes

Excerpt from the Gulf Cooperation Council-Plus-Two Ministerial Joint Statement, Jan. 16, 2007, copied from USA State Dept. web site.

The participants agreed that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict remains a central and core problem and that without resolving this conflict the region will not enjoy sustained peace and stability. The participants affirmed their commitment to achieving peace in the Middle East through a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and noted that the foundation for such an outcome includes the Arab Peace Initiative, UN Security Council resolutions 242, 338, 1397 and 1515, and the Road Map. The participants called on the parties to abide by and implement previous agreements and obligations, including the Agreement on Movement and Access and to seek to fulfill their obligations under the Sharm el-Sheikh Understandings of 2005. The participants expressed their hope that the December 2006 meeting between the Palestinian President and the Israeli Prime Minister will be followed by concrete steps in this direction. The participants welcomed the resumption of the Palestinian-Israeli dialogue, and hope that it would lead to a full resumption of negotiations aiming at reaching a comprehensive peace agreement between them as a step towards achieving comprehensive peace in the Middle East. The participants affirmed their commitment to support development of the Palestinian economy, building and strengthening the institutions of the Palestinian state.

Excerpt from Salaheddin Ibrahim’s plea for asylum, archived at the Texas Civil Rights Review.

During summer 2000 the Israelis attacked Al Fandaqumiyah with tanks, airplanes and gunfire. I was away from the house when the attack started, and ran home. I went up on the roof. The Israelis fired gas bombs and one of them broke the window of my kitchen and fell inside the house. I came down from the roof and threw the bomb back outside. It was hot, but not too hot to scoop up and quickly throw out. The children were sick and Hanan and I ran with them out of the house. Maryam, who was two years old, was overcome by the gas and unconscious.

I ran with the children and my wife with shooting all around us, and the children were crying and my wife was crying. We stayed outside in the olive grove until the Israeli troops left the village. Then we went back in the house. Maryam had awakened but she was very sick. She had great difficulty breathing. I called my neighbor and asked him to come with me to the pharmacy to buy medicine for Maryam. I was afraid and wanted the neighbor Abdel Ba Set Raba to come just so I would feel safer. I intended to explain the problem to the pharmacist so that he could provide what Maryam needed.

I drove to the pharmacy. There were two others from my village in the pharmacy, but while we were in the pharmacy the Israeli soldiers came in and ordered us out. When we went out they confiscated our identity cards. The soldiers told me to go remove an object in the street, but I told them I had to take medicine to my daughter. They thought the object might be a mine or a booby trap. They cursed me and told me to do what they ordered me to do.

I refused and they shot near my head and demanded that I go. I went and recovered the object that was in the street. It was just a bag. Then they forced us to sweep the street clean. After about 45 minutes the soldiers left. I went into the pharmacy and got some pills that were supposed to enable Maryam to breathe. I gave her the medicine and she recovered. . . .

Maryam is 4 years old [in the year of the statement, 2002]. She is afraid of policemen in uniform, but the older children understand that they are safe in the United States. In Palestine, when the older children heard shooting or saw helicopters or Israeli soldiers, they would cry and run into the house and pull the bed clothes over their heads. They often were afraid to go to school, and, if they were too terrified to go, we would let them stay at home.

In November 2000 the Israelis attacked our village, while Hanan and the children were in our olive grove harvesting the olives. The children began to cry. Our neighbor had a small boy, Muraweih, 12 or 13 years old, and the Israelis caught him in the street. He was just about one meter tall. He did not run because he was afraid the Israelis would kill him. When Hamzeh heard that they had caught Muraweih, he was terrified, because he thought they would capture him, too.

Al Fandaqumiyah has a main street that runs the length of the town from the entrance. Our house was behind the entrance. The school was at the other end. Some of the Israelis remained at the entrance, and others stormed down the street. The Israelis took Muraweih toward the entrance to the town. The child was crying pitifully. His father Yousef, a man with white hair, tried to wrest his son from the soldier who was holding his arm. An Israeli officer saw what a little boy he was and ordered the soldier to let him go.

On another occasion, the Israelis came down the mountain behind the town, near the school. When they started shooting, all the children ran from the school. The young ones, including Hamzeh and Rodaina, ran crying toward home. I went toward the school and met them in the middle of town. They clung to me and would not let go, and begged me not to leave them, and I took them home. When they reached home, they said they never wanted to go to school again.

I was hoping the situation would improve. It did not improve, however, and the Israeli occupying forces continue to kill and dispossess the Palestinian people just for being Palestinian. My son Hamzeh, who now is 11, has nightmares and wakes up in terror in the night. Rodaina, who is 9, also wakes up in the night. They are fascinated by the news on television, and know the Israelis have killed many children. Hamzeh is terrified at the possibility of having to return home.

Sometimes the children cry while watching the television news. When I was told I could apply for asylum I decided to try to keep my family in the United States.

Does the CCA Lease Expire Jan. 31?

Take a look for yourself, at agreements between Williamson County, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the Imprisonment of Women and Children (forwarded by Jay J. Johnson-Castro in PDF format [400 kb]).

Bottom Line: ICE pays $2.8 million per month for up to 512 prisoners (plus $19.23 per hour for off-site guard services, $125,000 per month for medical care, with contraceptives, immunizations and off-site medical care billed at additional cost). After that, $79 per day extra per head, plus $8 for medical care. For its trouble, the county collects $1 per day per child or adult imprisoned from CCA, the company that books the amounts from ICE stated above.

In January 2006, Williamson County Commissioners approved a one-year agreement with CCA. In April 2006 they approved the prison contract with ICE “indefinitely unless terminated in writing” with 120 days notice.

Public minutes of the April 18, 2006 Commisioners Court [Agenda Item 25] announce a change in “per diem and detainees” for ICE but do not indicate that the contract length with CCA is also being changed to “indefinitely.”

For these reasons, Jay Johnson-Castro says the County’s agreement with CCA expires at the end of this month, Jan. 31, 2007.

“What I am asking is…Will the Williamson County Commission choose Chertoff and CCA over the children?” says Johnson-Castro. “Will they become local, state, national and
international heroes and choose the children over Chertoff and CCA?”
Note: “Rick” mentioned on page one is, according to a reliable source, Rick Zinsmeyer, Director of Community Supervisions and Corrections for Williamson County.