Category: Detention

Clipped from the White House Press Briefing of Feb. 13, 2007

Q I wanted to ask you, there have been some stories lately about an ICE detention facility outside of Austin, Texas, where asylum-seekers have been kept in prison-like conditions — it is a converted prison, although the bars are not kept closed, as it would be in prison. Women and children are kept in garb that is likened to prison outfits. Is the President comfortable with the idea that asylum-seekers, particularly children, are kept in conditions —
MR. SNOW: Well, as you probably know, in the past, children had been separated from their families. What we’re actually trying to do is to keep them together. We also have been concerned about making sure that they’re kept in humane and sanitary conditions and they’re clothed and fed. And all that is as you would expect. But one of the things we’re trying to do is to keep families together. When you have a large number of people in a facility like that, it does create challenges, and we’re trying to do our best with it.

Q Wouldn’t it be better to find another type of facility?

MR. SNOW: Such as?

Q Dormitory —

MR. SNOW: Sports stadium?

Q — I don’t know.

MR. SNOW: The point is, it’s difficult to find facilities, and you have to do the best with what you’ve got.

Q Thank you, Tony.

END 12:32 P.M. EST

Videos by Matthew Gossage of the First Vigil to Shut Down Hutto have been posted recently at YouTube, please see links on right sidebar of our home page.

2007 marks the tenth anniversary of the Texas Civil Rights Review. Throughout
the years, our motivation has remained the same. We want to make sure that some
issues and arguments not communicated by the corporate media get represention
on the internet. Along the way we have provided a few stories and perspectives
that make distinctive contributions to the civil rights struggle in Texas. And
a healthier Texas makes for a healthier world. In January we are looking at record-breaking page views (for us, they are record
breaking) making this our busiest month yet. Jay Johnson-Castro has brought an
audience with him, and we can see the difference it makes.

Although the corporate media is nearly unanimously evading affiliation with Palestinian
families imprisoned in Texas, the story of the Ibrahims, Suleimans, and Hazahzas
is nevertheless traveling the globe at the speed of light. How is the word spreading?

To begin with, Austin-area activists called a
Dec. 16 vigil ouside the T. Don
Hutto prison camp for immigrant families. Then Del Rio entrepreneur Jay Johnson-Castro
heard about it and volunteered to walk from the Capitol to the vigil, which he
did, mostly alone.

Then Juan Castillo of the Austin-American Statesman wrote a story reporting that
the Hutto jail was populated with people who had entered the USA illegally.

Castillo’s report prompted Dallas attorney John
Wheat Gibson to fire off an email pointing out to the reporter that some
families in the jail had in fact entered the USA legally. Johnson-Castro distributed
that email, we posted it right away, and we have been collecting materials about
the Palestinian families since then. (Even though, I don’t think the Statesman
has mentioned the Palestinian families yet.)

IndyMedia has been a very important space for distributing news about this story.
And editors at CounterPunch, Dissident
Voice, Electronic
Intifada, and Uruknet have been very supportive with their re-postings of our work.

Then came Marisa Treviño’s Dec. 19 overview
at Lista Latina. From there
the story has spread to important websites such as Infowars, XicanoPwr, Aztlan
Electronic News, and blogs such as Texas
Kaos and PhoenixWoman.

Jesse Salmeron’s
video of the Christmas Eve vigil has been warmly linked around
the blogosphere. When the woman from Dallas introduces the child she has
brought with her to the vigil, she reaches right into your heart. And everything
changes.

Last but never least is Flashpoints host
Dennis Bernstein who moderates a wonderful program for KPFA and Pacifica
affiliates. Audio
links to his progam help complete the package
of materials available for people finding this news for the first time.

Of course, the trouble with thanking people in a crowded room is that you are
sure to have failed to mention all who deserved it. So please take the names
as indicators of a spirit that is not at all limited to the entities named above.–gm

In today’s emails of resistance, John Wheat Gibson clips an article from Guantanamo prisoner Jumah Al Dossari, adding a reminder that “the bureaucrats described below are the same people who are keeping small children and pregnant women, who have never even been accused of a crime, in the privatized for-profit prison in Taylor, Texas.”

Juma’s appeal from Guantanamo calls out to “fair minded Americans,” because, like so many others who are being abused by our runaway machines of state, he still believes that America is a nation of people.

Jay J. Johnson-Castro replies that the T. Don Hutto prison camp is the place where the Homeland Security agenda reveals itself as “a crime against Brown” that must be resisted through solidarity between Latin Americans and Arab Americans.

Here at the Texas Civil Rights Review, on this day after the 78th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. we say that Juma, John, and Jay are bound to be right. How long? Not long? Because this gulag bureaucracy, that feeds upon the power of fear, must fall.–gm ************

email from Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Jan. 16, 2007

Justice is coming amigos…

We the people are slow to raise our voices in solidarity. But once we do…those who view themselves as our rulers will rediscover what the opening words of our Constitution … “We the people” …. actually means. It is we…the disenfranchised people that make up the ruling class! Those in office are merely employees … and many of their actions do not meet with our approval. They can therefore be replaced by those who share and will represent our values of freedom, democracy and justice. Such rulers can no longer commit crimes against humanity with impunity. Hutto will be shut down. But we will not stop there.

The demented acts such as Guantanamo and Hutto have roots somewhere in our country and within the prevailing government. Those roots must be weeded out and replaced with true representatives of liberty, human dignity and of moral fiber. We need genuine representatives of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

To accomplish this…we will communicate with our friends, neighbors, the media and our elected officials. We will accomplish this with our minds and our hearts. This is an intellectual and moral warfare. We cannot fight terror by being terrorists. No border walls. No prison camps. No more torture and violations of the most basic of human rights. No more racial profiling. Refugees are not “illegals”. They are not criminals. Refugees are refugees.

This is turning out to be a crime against Brown. I appeal to the Latin Americans and the Arab Americans to entertain showing public solidarity here. Hutto is the perfect starting place.

The Border Wall was proposed to be built against…not just Mexico …but all of Latin America ’s poor. To accomplish that…it was also bannered by the racist supremacists as the “Arab-Muslim terrorist pipeline”. Essentially, the Border Wall was an assault against both the Latin and Arab worlds. There are literally millions of Americans…of all ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, religious faiths, and political persuasions that are vehemently opposed to things like this being committed in the name of freedom, liberty, democracy and “ America ”. That’s like a Christian committing rape of a child in the name of God…without consequences. Doesn’t work that way folks…and we have to remind our fellow Americans and those who are elected to preserve our country’s values…that we will no longer tolerate such flagrant abuses and crimes against humanity.

We demand that it such malignant manifestations of anti-democracy cease.

Jay

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

The Border Ambassador

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

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

Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr.

Del Rio, Texas , USA
Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila , Mexico
jay@villadelrio.com
http://www.villadelrio.com

*****

From: John Wheat Gibson
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
FW: [Nlginteract] The Brunei Times – A cry from Guantanamo

Note that the bureaucrats described below are the same people who are keeping small children and pregnant women, who have never even been accused of a crime, in the privatized for-profit prison in Taylor , Texas .

The Brunei Times

OPINION

A cry from Guantanamo

Jumah Al Dossari

15-Jan-07

I AM writing from the darkness of the US detention camp at Guantanamo in the hope that I can make our voices heard by the world. My hand quivers as I
hold the pen.

In January 2002, I was picked up in Pakistan , blindfolded, shackled, drugged and loaded onto a plane flown to Cuba . When we got off the plane in
Guantanamo , we did not know where we were.

They took us to Camp X-Ray and locked us in cages with two buckets — one empty and one filled with water. We were to urinate in one and wash in the
other.

At Guantanamo , soldiers have assaulted me, placed me in solitary confinement, threatened to kill me, threatened to kill my daughter and told me I will stay in Cuba for the rest of my life.

They have deprived me of sleep, forced me to listen to extremely loud music and shined intense lights in my face. They have placed me in cold rooms for hours without food, drink or the ability to go to the bathroom or wash for prayers.

They have wrapped me in the Israeli flag and told me there is a holy war between the Cross and the Star of David on one hand and the Crescent on the other. They have beaten me unconscious.

What I write here is not what my imagination fancies or my insanity dictates. These are verifiable facts witnessed by other detainees, representatives of the Red Cross, interrogators and translators.

During the first few years at Guantanamo , I was interrogated many times. My interrogators told me that they wanted me to admit that I am from al-Qaida and that I was involved in the terrorist attacks on the United States.

I told them that I have no connection to what they described. I am not a member of al-Qaida. I did not encourage anyone to go fight for al-Qaida.

Al-Qaida and Osama Bin Laden have done nothing but kill and denigrate a religion. I never fought, and I never carried a weapon. I like the US and I am not an enemy. I have lived in the US , and I wanted to become a citizen.

I know that the soldiers who did bad things to me represent themselves, not the US . And I have to say that not all American soldiers stationed in Cuba
tortured us or mistreated us.

There were soldiers who treated us very humanely. Some even cried when they witnessed our dire conditions. Once, in Camp Delta , a soldier apologised to me and offered me hot chocolate and cookies.

When I thanked him, he said, “I do not need you to thank me.” I include this because I do not want readers to think that I fault all Americans.

But, why, after five years, is there no conclusion to the situation at Guantanamo ? For how long will fathers, mothers, wives, siblings and children cry for their imprisoned loved ones?

For how long will my daughter have to ask about my return? The answers can only be found with the fair-minded people of America .

I would rather die than stay here forever, and I have tried to commit suicide many times. The purpose of Guantanamo is to destroy people, and I have been destroyed. I am hopeless because our voices are not heard from the depths of the detention centre.

If I die, please remember that there was a human being named Jumah at Guantanamo whose beliefs, dignity and humanity were abused.

Please remember that there are hundreds of deta

inees at Guantanamo suffering the same misfortune. They have not been charged with any crimes. They have not been accused of taking any action against the US .

Show the world the letters I gave you. Let the world read them. Let the world know the agony of the detainees in Cuba .

Jumah Al Dossari is a 33-year-old citizen of Bahrain . This article was excerpted from letters he wrote to his attorneys. Its contents have been deemed unclassified by the Department of Defence.

The Gulf Times

http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn/details.php?shape_ID=17159

Letter Charges Immigration Authorities with Unlawful Detention; Reveals Feb. 8 Deadline for Report to Senate Committee about Hutto Family Prison

By Greg Moses

“We will be filing a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Western District of Texas for Hanan, Hamzeh, Rodaina, Maryam, and Faten and a separate petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Northern District for Salaheddin,” says New York immigration attorney Joshua E. Bardavid today in reference to the Ibrahim family of Richardson, Texas who were abducted and jailed by USA immigration authorities in early November.

On January 24, 2007, Bardavid and his mentor Theodore N. Cox sent to the Department of Homeland Security a request for release of the Ibrahim family. Bardavid has supplied us with a pdf of the request; however, since the electronic file contains exhibits of family travel documents, Bardavid asks that it not be posted out of respect for the privacy of the Ibrahim family. Here is a summary:
In the request for release, Bardavid and Cox argue that the lawful period for detaining and deporting immigrants is within a six-month period following a final order of removal. Since that order of removal was officially filed on August 24, 2004, attorneys argue that the lawful period for detention and deportation has long expired.

Furthermore, say Bardavid and Cox, there is no likelihood that the Ibrahims can be sent back to Palestine. According to the Oslo II accords, Palestinian families may only return if they meet specific conditions (“individuals who left with valid travel documents that were pre-approved by he Palestinian authority, in possession of current. validly issued Palestinian identity documents”) that the Ibrahims do not fulfill.

Neither do the Ibrahims pose any risks to the USA or to their neighbors, says the attorneys. So there are no special circumstances to warrant the family’s detention:

“Their time in the Palestinian Territories and time in the United States demonstrate that they are nothing short of upstanding, productive, well-respected members of any community in which they live. Their continued detention is unlawful in that the purpose of the detention – civil (to effectuate removal) – no longer exists.”

In fact, argue Bardavid and Cox, the special circumstances that do exist in the Ibrahim case are ones that support the immediate release of the family:

“Hanan Alhai Ibrahim is currently pregnant. The stressful and unhealthy conditions in prison endanger the health and wellbeing of both Mrs. Ibrahim and her unborn child.”

Quoting remarks made by President George W. Bush when he signed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004, attorneys argue that not only is the detention of Mrs. Ibrahim unlawful, but that the detention of her unborn son “is a direct violation of the spirit of the law.”

“In signing this bill into law, President Bush explained that it ‘reinforced the circle of compassion’ and reaffirmed our Government’s and society’s commitment to a ‘a culture of life.’ ”

As for the children already born into the Ibrahim family, attorneys argue that their ages are a special circumstance that counts in favor of release:

“Aged five to fifteen, the emotional impact and devastating long-term psychological harm caused by prolonged detention cannot be underestimated. The same holds true to Mr. and Mrs. Ibrahim’s youngest child, age two, who has been separated from the family and placed into foster care as a direct result of this unlawful detention.”

Even if the Ibrahims were being detained within the allowable six month period, attorneys Bardavid and Cox argue that immigration authorities have not yet provided evidence that they conducted a proper custody review.

“Here, to the best of counsel’s knowledge, ICE has not conducted a single review of Respondents’ current detention. Because ICE has failed to do so, they are in violation of the laws and regulations governing detention, and continued detention is invalid.”

Additionally, argue Bardavid and Cox, the detention of the Ibrahims is a violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the USA Constitution, including a right to family unity.

“Distilled. the case law establishes that a fundamental right exists for parents and children lo maintain their bonds and ongoing relationship as a family unit free from government action that destroys that family unit.”

In fact, Congressional concern about the treatment of families has resulted in a demand by the Senate Appropriations Committee that ICE “submit a report by February 8, 2007, assessing the impact of the Hutto Family Center in Williamson, Texas, on the number of families required to be separated, and providing updated forecasts of family detention space needs for the next 2 years.”

Bardavid and Cox also reference a consent decree in the case of Flores v. Ashcroft under which the federal government adopted a policy in 2001 to “usually house . . . persons under the age of 18 in an open setting such as a foster or group home, and not in detention facilities.”

Because ICE has not taken any steps to prove why the Ibrahim children must be detained in prison, the agency is required to release them immediately, argue Bardavid and Cox in their letter to the Department of Homeland Security, dated Jan. 24, 2007.