By Jack Fairweather
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are: Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” United States Declaration of Independence, 1776
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in the spirit of brotherhood.” Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you.” Jesus Sermon on the Mount,
Matthew 7:12 Holy Bible Revised Standard Version
The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant workers and their Families was ratified and adopted by the United Nations in 1990. It has been in force since 2003. It sets forth certain basic human rights of migrants and their families, including the right to life, the right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treat or punishment, and the right of privacy and property among others, irrespective of the migrant’s legal status.
The United States and Britain refused to sign this convention. The two countries are, however, signatories to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
On any given day, there are more than 30,000 immigrants in detention in the US. Amnesty International’s latest report on immigration detention includes the following findings, all of them researched and found to be factual. The United States detains asylum seekers and other migrants it deems “illegal” who are survivors of torture and human trafficking. It also detains lawful permanent residents and the parents of U,S, citizen children. Immigrants can be detained for months and even years without any form of meaningful individualized review of whether their detention is necessary. The U.S. contracts with 350 state and county criminal jails to house approximately 67% of all immigrants in detention; non-compliance with Immigration and Customs Enforcement standards concerning health, sanitation, and safety is rife, 74 people have died while in detention in recent years; oversight and accountability for abuse or neglect of persons in detention is practically non-existent.
Along the US/Mexican border in Arizona volunteers with migrant support organizations collect accounts every day and night of the treatment, good and bad, of migrants taken into custody by the U.S. Border Patrol and detained by the ICE in centers in Nogales and Douglas, Arizona. They usually hear these stories while providing medical treatment and food and water. They treat wounds, broken bones, sprained ankles, injuries suffered in accidents or assaults, and dehydration. Border Patrol and ICE officers usually ignore these things.
On April 24 a young man from Oaxaca, Mexico was picked up in the desert. This was his first attempt to enter the U.S. He had nothing, there was no work for him in home village, he needed to work. A guard asked him how many people were with him. When he replied, It is just us”, the guard struck him in the face with a flashlight, knocking him to the ground. He was held for two days at small site in the desert. He was never told where he was being taken or to where he would be deported. He received no treatment for the wounds to his face or his blistered feet until volunteers provided it when he arrived at the detention center.
In April a man was picked up in the desert and was told if he signed a voluntary deportation order he would be released in two days. He was taken to Tucson and held for 15 days. When he askedwhy he was told he would be held for 8 more days. He was. Finally he was taken to Nogales where he told his story.
When another man tried to intervene when guards were teasing detained people by throwing food at them he was handcuffed, placed in a small dark cell where the temperature was held at freezing and left there, handcuffed and barefoot, for ten hours.
People leave Mexico, Guatemala and other points south because they have lost everything, if they ever had anything, there is no work, their small farms are foreclosed, and they are starving. They walk for days on end, are sometimes robbed by bandits, especially in our border country. They are not always mistreated when apprehended, but often enough that authorities admit there are problems from the time the migrants are captured to the period they are in detention. Families are split up, children deported in one direction, parents in another, young girls and women are targets for inappropriate attention from officers and guards, medical needs are ignored, people are packed into holding cells without regard to sanitation, the need for water or sleeping space.
Life, Liberty, Pursuit of happiness? Don’t complain. As many detainees in our border have been told, “Callarse la boca!” (Shut your mouth!”) “You have no rights! You’re illegal!”
Jack Fairweather’s views are not necessarily those of the Mountain Mail.
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