Category: Detention

The following emails document the activities of Riad Hamad during the 2006-2007 holiday season. The first clip from the Palestine Solidarity Committee of the University of Texas at Austin describes Mr. Hamad’s activities. In the next email, Mr. Hamad steps back from being lead organizer, in deference to the entrance of the Arab American Community Coalition of Washington. But it is clear from the email of Jan. 6, 2007 that Mr. Hamad continues to play the role of passionate Good Samaritan to the incarcerated families at the Hutto prison.–gm

Email from PSC, 12/27/06, 5:25 pm

. . . Riad makes frequent visits to the families at the Hutto “Residential Facility” to provide them with phone cards to communicate with family, provide them with snacks (since they cannot eat the pork they are being fed), and moral support. If you would like to join him in visiting the families, please do not hesitate to contact him.

Email from Riad Hamad, 1/2/07, 3:53 pm

[following involvement of Arab American Community Coalition]

Dear friends,

This is to advise you that my part in this case was to attempt and recruit individuals and groups to raise money for these families and help them to get out of the Hutto Gulag. With the latest developments and events, I find myself unable to continue the work and will focus my efforts on the PCWF projects and to raise money for the families in Hutto to cover their basic humanitarian needs. I wish you luck in your endeavour and success in getting the innocent children from this horrendous, illegal and criminal circumstances.
Thanks for your work and support for the children in Palestine

Salamat
Riad Hamad

Email from Riad Hamad 01/06/07 9:32 p.m.

Subject: URGENT Update on the Palestinian families and children in the Hutto detention facility

Dear Friends,

As mentioned in several of my previous emails, there are three Palestinian families in the T. Hutto detention center near Austin, Texas with children as young as four years old. The story came out after I received a message from our friend . . . seeking some more information about them.

I went to visit the families three weeks ago and was allowed to see only one of them as the rules of the facility state that each family can get only ONE visitor per day for one hour and only on weekends. The families can receive guests on Saturdays and Sundays for ONE hour ONLY and two hours if the visitor is from a town that is more 300 miles away. I went to visit the families last weekend and with a friend and we were allowed to see two families, . . . and got to know them better.

. . . the husband of one of the women in the detention center was moved from Haskell, Texas to a county jail in Oklahoma where the conditions are much worst because he complained to his attorney that the officials at the jail did not give him his diabetes medicine. [He] was admitted to intensive care this past week due to the deterioration of his medical condition according to his sister in law who lives in Dallas. Three attorneys went to visit the families this week in the detention facility and met with them for several hours to seek more information about them and about the living conditions there.

I was supposed to go to the detention facility today with a local attorney in her personal capacity and another friend from the local mosque but both could not show up for personal reasons. Finally, I managed to convince a friend to come along with me to see the families and to meet the children who are absolutely adorable..

As soon as I walked in the facility, the attendant at the door recognized me and while I was signing the guest book she told me that the she read what I had written about the facility and the conditions inside the facility. I replied to her that I was only interested in the condition of the there families and that I do not really care about the facility.

The attendant called up her supervisor who was very brutal in her approach towards me, and the friend that came along with me to see the children. She informed me that the officials at the facility suspect that I am coming to the facility to write about the facility and they might have to “ban” me from entering the facility. I did not respond and kept my cool and informed that the families are friends now and that I am only interested in helping them and ensuring that that they get money and food to survive their stay.

My friend was not allowed in since she is “not a relative” according to the “captain” who reprimanded me although I am not a family member either. Also, I was allowed to see one family ONLY and for 20 minutes only although the rules state clearly that I can see them for 1 hour. The rules posted outside clearly state that visitors can be
“3 – Family, friends and associates.”

The families had put my name on the visitors list and asked to allow me to visit them and the Ibrahim family, the only family I was allowed to see today was VERY appreciative of our work and efforts. I even managed to get smiles from the children, the four years old girl and the 14 years old girl inside when I waved at them and smiled at them from behind the glass windows.

My friend Tammie waited outside and right before the facility, she asked the guard at the gate about the rules for visiting the facility and the guard asked her to wait for the captain who is going to come and answer her questions. I told my friend that I will wait for her in the car since I was not interested in finding out the rules and had decided that I will not go back to the facility without an attorney.

The captain followed me outside with an extra large body guard and a female immigration officer who was at the facility when I was there. She warned me that they are suspicious of me and that the officials at the detention facility are suspicious of us and that the are going to run a background check about my friend . . . to see if were really friends of the families and to determine whether they will even allow us back in the facility.

The IMPORTANT thing about the visit is that the woman . . . told me that the families were denied phone cards this week as I left money in their account last week and they were promised phone cards by no later than Tuesday of this week due to the Christmas holidays. Also, she told me that the guards were yelling and screaming at them and at the children specifically this week and that the children are disturbed by the yelling and the screaming as they are not doing anything to deserve the yelling.

The children were near here and one of them was eating crackers as it is the only thing that they can eat there from the menu offered by the detention facility.

I am in the process of calling and emailing some friends to come with me tomorrow as I suspect that the officials at the facility are going to fabrication something against me to ban from entering the facility. The captain told me on the way out that I will not be allowed to talk to the 14 year old boy alone, although I did not ask to speak with him alone and Tammie could testify to these facts. My concern is that they are trying to fabricate events to ban me and others from visiting the families and to isolate them in order to deprive them of their rights and endanger their lives and safety.

One more thing, the Arab and Muslim community in Austin, one more time proved to me that they are a bunch of pathetic bunch that I am ashamed of knowing since ONLY two people so far had the urge to come out and visit these families and ONLY two donated less than 100 dollars to help these families in their plight and raise money for their legal defense. This is despite the fact that hundreds of them are well to do but would rather spend their money on belly dancing events that will not save their behinds if we Arabs do not stand up to this aggression on our civil and human rights.

THANK YOU for you patience, work and suppo

rt for the children in Palestine

Salamat

The following email was circulated by Riad Hamad on Christmas Day, 2006. Originally posted as article #715 at the Texas Civil Rights Review.–gm

Dear Friends,

Further to my emails yesterday regarding the Palestinian children and their families in the Hutto detention center please find below some more details and action required to help these innocent people.

I went to the detention center yesterday and talked to one of the women and provided her with cash for phone calls and snacks for the children since the jail officials are providing them with mainly pork and ham that they do not eat.

Today, another one of the members of the family called me from the detention center and informed me that that all three families in the detention center were in the United States legally and ALWAYS filed their immigration related forms and paid the required fees and taxes. The woman also indicated that two of her children are United States citizens and are now with their aunt in Dallas but with not much financial support.

Apparently, after 2001 some of the procedures were changed but they were not informed of these changes and their attorney failed to file the appeal on their behalf and that is how their status changed. All three families had male breadwinners who were working legally with work permits and earned money to stay off welfare or any other related social services.

According to one of the women, her husband suffers from a severe case of diabetes and was deprived of his medication for several days and when he contacted his attorney to inquire about his medication, he was beaten along with the three other male Arab detainees and no one has been able to know his whereabouts or his medical condition. The family of the man contacted the detention facilities in Haskell, Texas and Oklahoma where he was jailed but both facilities deny that he is there now.

Next steps: I will be retaining local immigration lawyer tomorrow morning to attempt and get a release of the women and the children and to determine the location of the men. Also, we will be providing the women and children with more money to help them cover the cost of food purchased from the commissary of the detention center due to the absence of Islamic Halal food.

We need your help by forwarding this email to your friends and colleagues and asking them to donate for the legal costs of releasing these families as it has already reached more than 5000 dollars and could easily reach 50 000 dollars sine the members of the families in jail are more than 6 adults and 14 children.

I will be providing you with the contact information for the federal authorities in charge of the detention centers in Haskell and Oklahoma to determine the location of . . . , the missing man with a sever case of diabetes.

If any one is interested in helping these families please email me and will provide you with my phone number to assign you tasks and pursue financial and material support for these families.

All donations will, be listed on our website to ensure transparency and that the families and the children receive the full amount of the donations collected for them and for their legal defense. The expenses will also be listed as they become available and you will be notified of any changes.
Looking forward to hearing from you and THANKS for your generosity, work and support for the children in Palestine.

Riad Elsolh Hamad
Austin, Texas

In the email below, Riad Hamad describes his ongoing support for the Palestinian families at Hutto prison. The email was received at 9:16 p.m., Jan. 23, 2007.–gm

Dear friends,

As you know Palestine Children’s Welfare Fund has been assisting the Palestinian families in the Hutto detention center through the payment of some of their legal fees, meals in the center and phone cards. We just received a phone call from one of the families advising us that the immigration authorities just informed them that they will be deported to Jordan on Monday.

The family . . . will leave the United States on Monday via Dallas and their young twin girls ages 4 will accompany them. Both girls are United States citizens and were staying with their aunt in Irving pending the end of this nightmare that started November 3rd, 2006. PCWF contributed to the legal fees incurred by their competent and compassionate lawyer, Mr. John Wheat Gibson and will be paying for the airline tickets of the two children who will have to leave with their parents next week.

PCWF would like to encourage you to contribute to the purchase of the airlines tickets of these two children to avoid separating them from their famiy. You can send your contribution to the address listed on the bottom of this email or you can donate online and specify that you want the money to go towards the Palestinian families in Hutto.

Additionally, PCWF will continue to provide support for the remaining two families till their legal cases are resolved. We are aware that the Ibrahim family can not leave the United States yet since the Isreali and the Jordanian governments refused to accept them or allow them to go back. You will receive more information as it becomes available and will try to update you about their status promptly.

We will also be glad to provide you with the contact information for the families if you wish to help them directly if you have any doubts regarding the destination of your donation

Looking forward to hearing from you and THANKS again for your generosity, work and support for the children in Palestine.

Salamat
Riad Hamad

To help call attention to Rrustem Neza’s first full year of imprisonment at the Rolling Plains Prison at Haskell, the Texas Civil Rights Review asked attorney John Wheat Gibson to clarify some details of the original arrest:

Texas Civil Rights Review: John, what was the exact date of Rrustem’s arrest?

John Wheat Gibson: Arrested 18 January 2007 by Sheriff; transferred to BICE (US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement) custody 13 February 2007, no charges filed.

TCRR: What was the method of arrest?

Gibson: Handcuffed at TACB (Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission) office, I think.

TCRR: What was the date of his transfer to Haskell?

Gibson: 13 February, 2007.

TCRR: Could you clarify the legal pretext for the arrest?

Gibson: TABC accused Rrustem and Xhemal, who own a restaurant in Nacogdoches, of making a false claim to US citizenship, because they both signed an application for liquor license that a Jessica Ismaili prepared for them. Her affidavit is attached [PDF format: 338kb].

The District Attorney declined to prosecute after learning that they signed without knowing the contents. Rrustem speaks little and reads no English. The US Attorney says Rrustem was not charged, because he was transferred to BICE for deportation; but Xhemal was not charged, either. US Attorneys in this case seem willing to say anything.

TCRR: How does a beverage application get effectively translated into prison time?

Gibson: A false statement on the application can be prosecuted as a felony. A conviction could result in prison time. In the case of the Neza brothers, there was no prosecution and therefore no conviction or prison time. The DA realized they did not knowingly make any false statement. Rrustem is not in jail because of any criminal charges. He is like the kids at T. Don Hutto in Taylor, in jail purely for the purpose of deportation, totally unrelated to any fault or improper behavior.

Note: In the affidavit, Jessica Ismali of Lufkin, Texas describes how she prepared the beverage license for Xhemal and Rrustem Neza. She was the one who checked the citizanship box. “I never asked Xhemal or Rrustem about citizenship. I just assumed. . . . Neither Xhemal nor Rrustem even knew there was a question on the form about citizenship, much less that I had checked the box indicating that they were citizens” [Ismaili Affidavit, PDF format: 338kb]