Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Reports of US Citizens Being Caught in Secure Communities



In my last post, I wrote about how easy it is to get caught up in the drag net that is Secure Communities if you are undocumented. Well, more and more reports are coming out into the lime light of US Citizens being caught in this drag net as well. This just goes to show, that when local police try to act as immigration officials, it's only going to create endless problems with an already defunct system that should be terminated. It also highlights the fact that immigrants receive far worse treatment when they are being processed, held in detention centers and put through this inhumane system.

The New York Times featured two of the most recent cases of citizens being held against their will because they were profiled as being undocumented and of Latin Decent. Antonio Montejano lives here in Southern CA and despite not having a criminal record, the judge dismissing his case about him shoplifting, officers didn't believe him when he pleaded with them that he was a Citizen. If you see the video above, he has an accent, which is how the police profiled him as being "Mexican" and undocumented.

“Just because I made one mistake,” Mr. Montejano said, “I don’t think they should have done all those things to me." He said he thought the police did not believe he was an American because of his appearance. “I look Mexican 100 percent,” he said.

It was only through the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, that Antonio was released after they showed proof of his citizenship with his passport and birth certificate. Homeland Security has stated that they "need" to "fill" a quote of deporting 400,000 people every year, and anyone caught in-between that net is collateral damage and the price for "keeping the country safe." Neve mind the fact that folks are suffering from sexual abuse and indefinite imprisonment in immigration detention centers, that view people as money and could careless about their lively hood. Things are only going to continue to get worse as the next year comes around the corner. 

C/S