Tag Archive for 'immigration'


12
Aug
2008

The USCIS going for the easy kill

Published in Uncategorized. 1 Comment Tags: , , .
original article

Not just content on detaining foreign nationals indefinitely while their legal status is getting cleared up, the USCIS is getting increasingly criticized for causing the deaths of several foreign nationals in their custody due to denying chronically ill detainees medical treatment.

The New York Times tells a story of Hiu Liu Ng, who died earlier this month due to an untreated cancer. The officials in charge of his care were claiming he was faking his symptoms for months and did not take him to see a doctor despite many pleas by Mr. Ng. When he died, he had a fractured spine, could not walk or eat and the cancer had spread to his liver, bones and lungs. ICE (the “police” force of USCIS) officials meanwhile deemed him fit to be driven several hours from Rhode Island to Connecticut in shackles. He died a week later. I can’t even begin to think how painful the drive must have been for Mr. Ng.

It shouldn’t really come as a surprise to anyone. After all illegal immigrants, or people suspected of being illegals, are considered to be worse than common criminals and without any real human rights. This is exactly how they get treated by USCIS and ICE, and a large portion of Americans think that’s just fine and dandy.

I know it’s far too much to hope USCIS and ICE to treat their detainees as human beings, but maybe there’s some hope for change if attitude towards suspected illegal immigrants changes from guilty until proven innocent to innocent until proven guilty. I’m not holding my breath.

-TPP


13
May
2008

Torture on US soil, pt II

Published in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , .
original article

I wrote last year about two lawsuits filed against the US Government by two immigrants deported from the country. The deportees claimed the US immigration officials escorting them out of the country drugged them with powerful antipsychotic drugs against their will and with no medical reason to pacify them while they were in custody and en route back to their home countries. Both those cases have since been settled out of court in favor of the deportees.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) changed its rules regarding Involuntary chemical restraint of detainees (i.e. torture) after the lawsuits so that any such actions requires a court order, but a Washington Post article investigating the issue says ICE has continued to ignore its rules.

Haldol, one of the drugs routinely administered to deportees, has been in used in Soviet Union, where it was often given to political dissidents imprisoned in psychiatric hospitals. It is good to know “cultural” exchange with the Soviet Union is still bearing fruit.

-TPP


12
Oct
2007

Torture on US soil

Published in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , .
original article

CNN.com reports that two immigrants, who were deported from the United States, are suing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with the help of ACLU.

It appears that ICE decided it’d be a good idea to forcefully inject the detainees with powerful anti-psychotic drugs to make the detainees easier to handle. The detainees medical condition was not assessed before the injections, so the drugs could’ve had severe side effects with other medication the detainees might have taken.

I know ICE really doesn’t think immigrants, especially the illegal ones, have any rights and that they can do whatever they please to these people, but this is going way over the line. It is, according to all international (and likely domestic) laws, torture, plain and simple.

Let’s see what becomes of this. Will some higher ups get a slap on the wrist, or is there going to be an appropriate punishment for all involved for torturing another human being?

-TPP


11
Jun
2007

Republicans playing politics with people’s lives

Published in Uncategorized. 1 Comment Tags: , , .
original article

The Washington Post has uncovered a blatant effort by Bushies to stack the immigration courts with Republican (and presumably anti-immigration) judges, who often have no other qualifications than being loyal to Emperor Bush. These judges reside over deportation proceedings and other serious immigration matters. They literally can decide the faith of immigrants’ lives…with little or no experience in immigration law. It’s kinda like putting a an international horse show judge in charge of FEMA.

One third of all immigration judges appointed by the Attorney General since 2004 have close ties to the Republican Party. It’s illegal, btw, to appoint civil service employees such as immigration judges based on political factors. But what’s illegally appointing party loyalists compared to illegally wiretapping the entire country.

You know, if the Republicans really want that bad to keep the brown people out of the country, why don’t they just make a law that says that, rather than try all these behind closed doors tricks to do the same.

-TPP


10
Apr
2007

Racism alive and well in Long Island

Published in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , , , .
original article

The New York Times writes about semi-legal raids on immigrant owned homes in the Hamptons in Long Island.

It appears the honkeys living there (incl. Richard Herrlin, William E. McGintee, Lucinda Murphy, Todd Sarris) don’t quite appreciate the brown people around them and are trying their best to drive them out so that their McMansions could appreciate in value and they could hire illegal immigrants to cater to their every need.

The article concentrates on telling the story of the Leon family from Ecuador. They’re all legal immigrants, but were still raided by a SWAT team at 5am in the morning, because apparently the immigration officials thought the family’s mother could be hiding her ex-husband against whom she had acquired an order of protection before the divorce.

“It would appear that in the war against terrorism, agents of our nation are now acting in the role of terrorizers,” the group of local clergy, East End Clergy Concerned, wrote their congressman in a letter asking for an investigation over the raids.

I couldn’t agree more.

-TPP


11
Mar
2007

When bigotry hits home

Published in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: .
original article

The New York Times is writing about unintended consequences of a new federal rule that prohibits illegal immigrants from claiming medicaid.

It turns out the rule is keeping more American citizens from medicaid than illegal immigrants. The lawmakers didn’t anticipate the number of American citizens unable to provide the proper documentation to prove their citizenship. So now these American citizens are unable to receive medicaid at all.

-TPP


11
Jan
2007

Illegal immigrants have no rights. Really?

Published in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , .
original article

Three months later, protesters waving flags and holding signs that said “Illegal immigrants have no rights” stood outside Columbia University.

What these racist bigots don’t realize is that then the US Constitution says “people” it means all people, not just citizens. So, yes, even illegal immigrants, those dirty criminals, who steal “our” women and jobs and probably all terrorists anyway, do, in fact, have rights.

-TPP


08
Jan
2007

Foreigners in the US – guilty until departing the country

Published in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , .
original article

The Guardian is reporting on new plans by the US Government to extend the US-Visit program’s fingerprinting requirements for foreign visitors to the US.

The US is planning on taking 10-digit, instead of today’s two-digit, fingerprints from all foreign visitors, storing the fingerprints in the FBI fingerprint database, and allowing sharing the fingerprint information with foreign law enforcement agencies effectively bypassing any due process rights you might’ve otherwise had in case you do end up in legal trouble.

All this, of course, to catch the terrorists. Terrorists, who wouldn’t forge their identity, including fingerprints. Yes, that’s entirely possible, and according to studies, even easy.

Let’s see who is the first innocent bystander, who gets falsely identified as a terrorist.

Does anyone know if it’s possible to have plastic surgery to get 10 middle fingers? Anyone?

-TPP


27
Dec
2006

Oh, the irony

Published in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , .
original article

A company that has built part of the fence between Mexico and USA has been found knowingly employing illegal immigrants.

-TPP


27
Sep
2006

Lou Dobbs delivers a sermon

Published in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , .
original article

Keep religion out of politics, Lou Dobbs writes. I couldn’t agree more.

Mr. Dobbs’ sermon on immigration (does he ever talk about anything else?) begins so well. How could he be so right and so wrong at the same time, though?

He’s talking about churches’ involvement in politics, and offers examples of various churches embracing illegal immigrants. He’s, on purpose, I think, politicizing an issue that has nothing to with politics. Churches have always throughout history taken care of immigrants, refugees and other humanitarian causes.

However much Lou Dobbs wishes he could just dump all these illegal aliens on the other side of the border (there’s only one border he’s talking about…), there are good reasons why churches across the US are using their powers to protect some of the illegal aliens from further harm. It’s got nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with humanitarian aid.

Keep the politics out of religion, I say.

-TPP