Continúan Atropellos De Agentes De Inmigración A Familias De Inmigrantes
En Texas, guardias armados se llevaron por la fuerza a 16 padres del centro de detención de Kames County, donde estaban detenidos con sus hijos luego de que sus familias fueran separadas en la frontera y se volvieran a reunir.
Las autoridades habrían tomado la medida de volver a separar a estos padres e hijos como represalia por haber organizado una protesta no violenta en el centro de detención.
Muchos de los padres encarcelados denunciaron haber sido engañados por el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) que les hizo firmar acuerdos de deportación en inglés diciendo que eran los papeles para la reunificación familiar. Las familias ya han sido nuevamente reunificadas y algunas han sido liberadas.
A continuación la entrevista con CASEY MILLER y MANOJ GOVINDAIAH del colectivo de asistencia jurídica para inmigrantes RAICES, con sede en Texas.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m AMY GOODMAN, as we turn now to Texas, where armed guards forcibly removed 16 fathers from an immigrant jail where they were held with their sons after being separated at the border and then reunited. A boy held at the Karnes County detention center, who’s under the age of 10, spoke to reporters Friday and described what happened through an interpreter.
INTERPRETER: [translating IMMIGRANT CHILD] He recalls that he was in the school playground playing with his friends and that he was called. He was asked to go into an office, and that’s where he was hold that his dad would meet him soon, but didn’t know when. The child said that he asked for his dad and that he was crying, but nobody told him anything. He kept begging. He kept asking for some result, for some responses, and nothing was told to him. He mentions that he was taken into another room with other kids. And like I mentioned before, nothing was responded to them. He says, “I was crying. I cried the whole day. And I knew that my dad was crying. I saw the other kids crying, and the kids knew that their dads would be crying, as well.”
AMY GOODMAN: The child was speaking to reporters on the phone through an interpreter from the detention center. The reseparation of more than a dozen fathers and sons came in apparent retaliation for their plans to organize a nonviolent protest calling for all of them to be released. This is one of the fathers speaking to reporters by phone from detention Friday.
IMMIGRANT FATHER: [translated] I was talking to other detainees, and there is a plan. We will not be eating, and everyone has agreed. We are doing so because we do not know what will happen to us, and we need to know if we will be deported or given an opportunity to stay here. We are asking the government to free us. We want to be freed. We are not criminals. We want to be freed, because, as a human being, we deserve to be.
AMY GOODMAN: Many of the imprisoned fathers said they had been tricked into signing deportation agreements in English that ICE told them were reunification papers. Hillary Clinton tweeted about their reseparation, writing, quote, “This is a heart-wrenching disgrace.” Late on Friday, the fathers were reunited with their sons, and on Saturday some were released.
For more, we go to San Antonio, about an hour north of the Karnes County detention center, where we’re joined by MANOJ GOVINDAIAH, director of family detention services for RAICES, a Texas-based legal aid group for IMMIGRANT CHILDren, families and refugees, and by CASEY MILLER, legal assistant for RAICES, who was denied access to their child clients after the fathers were taken away.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Casey, let’s begin with you. Describe exactly what has taken place here in this last week.
CASEY MILLER: Oh, it’s just been terror, honestly. So, from reports from the father, we have heard that 60 to a hundred ICE agents, who were armed, stormed the building with riot gear, and these men were forcibly taken from their rooms and not told where they were going. And then they were taken to another detention center, which was—told to me by a few men, was the worst of any of the detention centers they’ve been to, in Pearsall, Texas, not told the whereabouts of their sons, and their sons were actually not told the whereabouts of their fathers. So, ICE is just keeping them in the dark and continually torturing them psychologically.
AMY GOODMAN: How old are the children?
CASEY MILLER: Oh, you know, they are so resilient, so they are hanging in there. I think they’re relieved to be reunited with their fathers. And they’re, you know, getting through these multiple traumas the best that they can. You know, a lot of them feel to be a little numb. There’s a lot of sadness still and, I think, a lot of fear that this might happen again. So, they’re just trying to get through each day, really.
AMY GOODMAN: So, explain what went down on Wednesday. Talk about the ICEraid on Karnes.
CASEY MILLER: So, we don’t have—I was not actually there on Wednesday. All I have are stories from the fathers. So, what it sounds like is the men were gathered. There was a group of men gathered outside of the lunchroom, and they were talking about coming to see us at RAICES, their legal services, to find out the status of like their cases. And a guard for the private prison company GEO came up to them and asked them what they were talking about, and they told him. And after that, he walked off.
And a few hours later, some of them were in their rooms, got a knock on the door. Again, men with shields, helmets, some of them armed, forcibly pulled them out of their room and told them nothing, just took them to a room where they sat for six hours. Many of them asked for water. They weren’t even given water. And they weren’t told anything of where they were going. And then they got on a bus. And I read a report from one of the men that there was another little microvan behind them, and they were hoping and praying that their children were in that van, which to no avail.
And they were taken to the other detention center and put into isolation, into, what I said before, some of the worst conditions that these men had been in so far, were not able to leave the room. Heard two reports of one man vomiting blood, another man trying to hang himself with a bed sheet while he was there. They couldn’t speak between cells. And all of their food was brought to the cell and put through a slot. And they were eventually—
AMY GOODMAN: And then?
CASEY MILLER: The next day, they were eventually taken to—back to Karnes, where they were eventually reunited with their sons.
AMY GOODMAN: ICE spokesperson Nina Pruneda said about 40 men were involved in what she called a “disturbance” at Karnes, and said, quote, ”ICE San Antonio deployed additional law enforcement resources to control the situation, and a precautionary measure, instructed all visitors to leave the facility.” MANOJ GOVINDAIAH, can you respond to that statement, that description of what took place from ICE?
MANOJ GOVINDAIAH: Well, from our understanding in talking to our staff and our volunteers who were present on Wednesday and who were escorted out of the building around 12:30 in a haste manner, and then from talking to the fathers and the children, it appears the dads were not involved in any particular kind of disturbance. As Casey mentioned, many of the fathers were in their rooms when ICEagents came to their rooms, knocked on the door, verified their identity, and then immediately took them into a separate room away from their kids.
It’s also our understanding that the children were in school at the time, so the kids, many of—many of the kids did not even see any of this happening, and that the children were denied access to RAICES. We tried to see them multiple times on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. They were denied access to come and see us. It’s our understanding that the kids also tried to come see us.
Our staff went to Pearsall on Thursday, where the 16 men were being held. They were denied access there, as well. Our staff were denied access to the men at Pearsall. And even after they were reunited at Karnes Thursday evening, during legal visitation hours, we were unable to see them there.
An ICE agent confirmed to our—one of our attorneys that the disruptive behavior was that the men were refusing to “go with the flow” and that they were—some of them were not sending their kids to school. Some of them were not participating in activities at the detention center. And that was exactly the type of protest that the men were hoping to do, which was to choose not to avail themselves of services at the detention center, to choose not to have their children go to school. Some were choosing not to eat. And so, it clearly sounds like this is retaliation against nonviolent, lawful protest. And whatever ICE is saying to justify this seems completely, completely untrue.
AMY GOODMAN: Is it illegal for the authorities not to allow you to speak to the children or the parents? We’re talking about—you’re their legal representative.
MANOJ GOVINDAIAH: Yes, we are their lawyers. And, yes, it is, actually. ICE has brought discretion over, you know, visitation hours, and if somebody is in a particular type of housing, then when they can actually see their lawyers. But, you know, especially in terms of the children, ICE flat-out told us, you know, “Oh, it’s Thursday afternoon. The kids are eating pizza and watching a movie. Do you really want to talk to them?” After we pushed and pushed, ICE agreed to go and ask the children, “Do you want to see the lawyers at RAICES?” And they went and asked the kids, and came back and told us, apparently, that the children wanted to wait until their fathers were returned, and that dad and son together would come and see us.
Additionally, there is an outtake processing and an intake processing, both of which take a couple of hours. And even though our clients are physically in the building, if they’re going through outtake, which is what the dads were going through when they were transferred to Pearsall, or if they’re going through intake, which is what the dads were going through when they were returned to Karnes, we are also unable to see our clients during that time.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn back to the jailed boy at Karnes County detention center who was separated from his dad, not once, but twice, and has been detained for months since they first came to the U.S. border. The boy had this message for President Trump.
IMMIGRANT CHILD: [translated] I want to tell the president to, please, please let us out. Please release us. Give us the opportunity to stay here to have a better future. … Don’t deport us, please. Please don’t deport us from here, because I want to go forward with my dad and not take a step backwards.
AMY GOODMAN: MANOJ GOVINDAIAH, we didn’t identify him because he’s not identifying himself. Do you know who he is and if he’s still in or has been released?
MANOJ GOVINDAIAH: Yes, we do know who he is. He is one of our clients, as is his father. I believe, as of Friday last week, they, he and his father, were still detained at the Karnes detention center. We will be checking this morning to see if they have been released over the weekend.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you both for—
CASEY MILLER: And I—
AMY GOODMAN: Oh, Casey, last words?
CASEY MILLER: I was just going to say, and I met with both him and his father after the interview, and they both seemed in better spirits and hopeful about their release.
AMY GOODMAN: Some of the fathers in your meeting broke down crying?
CASEY MILLER: Yes, yes, all of them did. They’ve just been tortured psychologically by ICE time and time again, and they’re just fearful that anything like this could happen again at any time. And they’ve just had everything, you know, pushed upon them and are at the breaking point. So, yes, every man I met with at some point did break down in tears.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you both for being with us. We’ll continue to be on this story. CASEY MILLER and MANOJ GOVINDAIAH, with RAICES, the Texas-based legal aid group for immigrants.
De otra parte en San Bernardino, California, agentes del Servicio estadounidense de Inmigración y control de Aduanas (ICE por su sigla en inglés), arrestaron el miércoles a un hombre que conducía a su esposa embarazada al hospital para dar a luz.
La escena generó gran indignación social. Los agentes del ICE detuvieron a Joel Arrona-Lara cuando paró el auto en una estación de gasolina y obligaron a su esposa parturientta, María del Carmen Venegas, a manejar ella misma hasta el hospital donde tenía programada su cesárea.
La pareja vive en Estados Unidos hace más de 10 años y tienen cinco hijos e hijas, contando el que acaba de nacer.
Para ampliar esa información, vea (en inglés) nuestra conversación con el abogado de Joel Arrona-Lara, RUSSELL JAUREGUI, integrante del equipo jurídico del Centro de Servicio Comunitario de San Bernardino.
AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in California, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained and arrested a man who was taking his pregnant wife to the hospital to give birth. Joel Arrona-Lara was driving his wife MARIA DEL CARMEN VENEGAS to a San Bernardino hospital Wednesday morning for a scheduled C-section when ICE agents detained him at a gas station. Surveillance video shows two ICE vehicles surrounding the couple’s car immediately after they pulled into the station to get gas. MARIA DEL CARMEN VENEGAS said agents asked the couple for identification, but that her husband had left his documents at home in the rush to get to the hospital. ICE agents then handcuffed him and took him into custody, leaving the 9-month-pregnant Venegas at the gas station sobbing in distress. She then drove herself to the hospital and gave birth alone several hours later.
ICE said, in a statement, Joel Arrona-Lara was detained because he’s wanted in Mexico on homicide charges. But Arrona-Lara’s lawyer says the charges are unconfirmed and that he has no criminal record. Videos of the incident circulated online over the weekend, sparking national outrage. But ICE issued a statement saying, quote, ”ICE will no longer exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States.”
Here’s MARIA DEL CARMEN VENEGAS speaking about her husband’s detention from the hospital.
MARIA DEL CARMEN VENEGAS: [translated] It’s very difficult, because he’s always been there. And he told me that everything was going to be OK, that I shouldn’t worry, that we were going to meet the baby, things like that. So, to be alone yesterday as I was, I felt terrible.
AMY GOODMAN: Arrona-Lara and his wife have been living in the United states for 12 years. They have five children, three of whom are U.S. citizens. Arrona-Lara is the sole breadwinner for his family. His wife Maria is asking for his immediate release.
For more, we go to RUSSELL JAUREGUI, staff attorney at the San Bernardino Community Service Center, lawyer for Joel Arrona-Lara, Maria’s husband.
Welcome to Democracy Now! Russell, can you start off by explaining exactly what took place last week?
RUSSELL JAUREGUI: Well, what happened on August 15th, Wednesday morning, about 10:00, was Mr. Lara was taking his wife to the hospital because she was going to give birth to a baby via C-section. They stopped at a gas station in San Bernardino on the corner of Mountain View and Highland. It was an ARCO station. He got out to get gas, and immediately he was—they were surrounded by two SUVs. ICE agents then approached his wife, asked for her ID, which she produced. And then the ICE agents approached him and asked for his ID, which he did not have, because in the haste of leaving his home to get his wife to the hospital, he just forgot it. And so his wife pleaded with the officers to allow him to go home and to get his ID, because, in fact, they live just right down the corner from the glass—excuse me, from gas station. He was not allowed to do so. He was immediately arrested. And as you said, she basically panicked and had to drive herself to the hospital. And that’s basically what happened on that day.
AMY GOODMAN: So, both she and he had ID, had a form of documents?
RUSSELL JAUREGUI: Correct. He had some kind of form. It probably was a—we don’t know exactly what kind of ID that he had. I’m guessing it was probably a driver’s license here in California, because here in California all people, including undocumented, have the right to have—apply for and obtain a California driver’s license. So, he may have had a California driver’s license. He may have a Mexican ID. So he did have a form of ID, but they did not allow him to go and get it. And he just lived down the block from the gas station.
AMY GOODMAN: So, Maria went to—drove herself to the hospital, and she gave birth—
RUSSELL JAUREGUI: Correct.
AMY GOODMAN: —a few hours later?
RUSSELL JAUREGUI: She gave birth, and, yeah, a few hours—I don’t know exactly when, but she did give birth to the baby, and the baby was born, you know, thank God, safely. And she was released from the hospital just this last Saturday.
AMY GOODMAN: So she was alone when she gave birth?
RUSSELL JAUREGUI: Yes. Well, yeah, she was without her husband, correct, and the baby’s father.
AMY GOODMAN: We see her inside the gas station, it seems hysterical, speaking on the phone, just through the closed-circuit video.
RUSSELL JAUREGUI: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: So, can you explain why ICE has said they picked him up?
RUSSELL JAUREGUI: Well, at first, he was just arrested for not having an ID. And it wasn’t until Thursday—almost three days later, where they made a statement about him—them detaining him because of him having an arrest warrant in Mexico for a homicide. Well, number one, he’s been here 12 years, and this has never been an issue with him before. Number two, he completely denies that, saying that “I’ve never had any kind of arrest warrant in Mexico.” And number three, we have reviewed the charging documents from him, from the immigration—from the ICEagents, and the—just basically, the charging documents allege that he came without status, that he is from Mexico, and therefore he is removable from the United States. Does not mention anything about any kind of homicide arrest in Mexico. And since he’s been detained, what he tells me is no one’s ever brought this to his attention.
AMY GOODMAN: So, what rights does he have right now? Where is he being held?
RUSSELL JAUREGUI: He’s being held at the Theo Lacy detention center. He does have a right to a bond hearing before an immigration judge in immigration court. He does have the right to counsel. We’re going to represent him pro bono. He does have the right to pursue a bond hearing to see, determine if he can be released. We’re hoping that he can, given his length of time here in the United States and the fact that he does have three U.S. citizen children. And then, if he is, hopefully, released on bond, then his case will continue with the immigration courts, where he’ll be pursuing his, hopefully, relief during a removal hearing before an immigration judge, where he’ll have to prove that, you know, his U.S. citizen kids will suffer exceptional and extreme and unusual hardships without him if he’s removed.
AMY GOODMAN: Has he—
RUSSELL JAUREGUI: And this process could take one or two years.
AMY GOODMAN: Has he gotten to see his infant son and his wife?
RUSSELL JAUREGUI: No, he has not. I know he’s been in touch with his wife, but he has not been able to see his son. So, that’s—
AMY GOODMAN: Could he—
RUSSELL JAUREGUI: Our main goal is to get him released, so he can be with his family and see his son. That’s our main goal right now.
AMY GOODMAN: Is it possible he would be deported before seeing his son?
RUSSELL JAUREGUI: I don’t think that’s going to—I don’t believe that’s going to happen. You know, his wife, she’s a family member, so she does have visitation rights to see him. But right now, given her condition, because the baby was just born, I don’t think she’s in a condition to go see him right now.
AMY GOODMAN: Was this issue of a homicide charge brought up after the outcry grew over that day and the next day, when people saw the video?
RUSSELL JAUREGUI: That’s a very good question. I think, yeah, it was. It was. And so, the timing of this is kind of odd, because this happened, I believe, after the video went viral, after the public outcry. And so, that’s when this announcement was made, on Saturday, which is almost what? Three days after he was arrested.
AMY GOODMAN: “Zero tolerance.” Is this under the “zero tolerance” policy? And can you see this policy changing?
RUSSELL JAUREGUI: I think this is more—”zero tolerance” is what’s happening with the—on the border with the unaccompanied minors. This is more, I think, of the Trump administration’s policy of basically everyone now being at risk of being—anybody here without status as being at risk of being detained and arrested. But as you can see, this has human consequences. It affects, you know, U.S. citizen kids. There’s nothing in—I don’t think ICE has any protocol for dealing with people who are transporting their spouses, you know, who are about to give birth. And so, you know, as we can see with other situations, this reminds me of the case where the—I think it was a young girl who was passing through a border checkpoint in Texas, who had serious disabilities, and ICE followed her all the way to the hospital. And this is like the children at the border who have been detained, separated from their parents, with no plan for reunification. This is just—this is egregious acts, and they’re cruel. And so, there needs to be some kind of change in policy, and, if not, some kind of change in—some change in administration.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you so much for being with us, RUSSELL JAUREGUI, staff attorney at the San Bernardino Community [Service] Center. He is the lawyer for Joel Arrona-Lara, who was picked up by ICE agents as he was driving his wife to the hospital to give birth.
