The Guantanamization of Immigrant Detention « Of América

Imran Ahmad (a pseudonym), a 29 year-old Pakistani computer scientist who can see the Statue of Liberty from his studio apartment in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood, says he no longer believes in the symbol of freedom cast in copper. “Freedom is relative. It depends on things like where you’re from and what you look like” says Ahmad. He reached this conclusion, he says, because of what happened to him as a orange-uniformed detainee held for more than 3 years in numerous federal detention facilities: the denial of habeas corpus (his constitutional right to plead his case before a judge), facing growling dogs, watching friends languish and die while in custody, the “subtle torture” of living for months in a tiny, windowless white room while a nearby TV set blared American Idol or “24.”

After a fellow detainee died under mysterious circumstances, which were covered up by detention facility authorities, Ahmad says he was threatened with lines like “We don’t want you to tell or speak to anyone about this” and “We have cameras and people [detainees] who are watching you, monitoring you.” Though Ahmad was released, he is still in deportation proceedings.”*

• A federal judge dismissed dozens of immigration charges Thursday against the former manager of a kosher slaughterhouse, at the request of prosecutors who had already won a conviction on multiple counts of financial fraud. – Postville news
• After accidental deportation, critics say immigration officials making mistakes – After a Salvadoran man was mistakenly deported, immigration rights activists have complained about toughened enforcement by authorities.
• Hundreds of defendants awaiting trial for violent crimes in Dallas County have been deported by federal immigration officials and then set free in their home countries. – The practice goes back to at least 1991 and includes the release of murder, kidnapping and child rape suspects.
• A Chicago City Council committee wants federal officials to halt deportation proceedings against immigrant students. – The Human Relations Committed on Friday approved a resolution urging the Department of Homeland Security to allow immigrant students to stay in the U.S. – Rigo Padilla
• Keila Cosme, a native of Puerto Rico – The first Hispanic named to an Ohio appellate court
• Stop the deportation of Rigo Padilla
• Reporting for the Big Bend Sentinel, Sterry Butcher reported on the US Department of Homeland Security’s new mass deportation program taking place in Presidio, Texas.
• Many illegal immigrants deported in ‘a cloud of uncertainty’
• Iraq war veteran’s wife spared deportation – Frances Barrios, who was brought to the U.S. illegally as a child, receives humanitarian parole and can stay in Los Angeles and apply for a green card. Her husband suffers from post-traumatic stress.
• Would Mass Deportation Mean More Jobs for U.S. Workers?
• Dominican-born judge wins bench in N.Y. State Supreme Court – Diccia Pineda-Kirwan
• President Obama Nominates Judge Albert Diaz and Judge James Wynn to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Native Americans Profit from Abusive Immigrant Detention and Billions of Dollars in National Security Contracts
• Stop the Deportation of the Mejia-Perez Family; Parents of a Dreamer
• Board of Immigration Appeals Rules Not to Reopen Old Deportation Cases
• Judge Who Ordered Texas to Educate Undocumented Students Dies – U.S. Senior District Judge William Wayne Justice
• Immigrant Gulag Larger Than Homeland Security’s Detention Centers – The Obama administration is trying to wiggle its way out of the immigration crisis created by the Bush administration without taking any decisive steps to distance itself from its predecessor’s immigration policies and enforcement practices.
• Mexican Illegal Immigrant (Mario Vera) Badly Beaten In Brooklyn – Devastated Wife Asks For Witnesses To Come Forward; Woodhull Hospital Under Fire Over Initial Treatment – (yet another apparent hate crime called “bias attack” – $12k reward for info) + video
• Over 3000 undocumented military veterans battling deportation orders
• Julio Maldonado : Hate Crime Survivor Scheduled for Deportation