LETTER TO THOSE WHO CARE:
Feel free to share this, to copy this, to use portions
of this or to send this to whomever you like. I only ask that you include
the link to our site . . . oh, not even that . . . take some of it and
use it as your own if it works for you. Claims to my work don't matter
here - the issue is bigger than that. I can always write more. You will
also find this posted on my blog for emailing to friends. Please don't
turn away and do nothing - these people are running out of places to
turn . . .
(FYI - I am currently dealing with a number of immigrants
kept in prison by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). - most
are totally legal, some know no other country, some
are not guilty of any crime at all. One, a minister, was picked up because
he was a victim of identity theft, two are victims
of domestic abuse and servitude, two are cancer patients denied medical
treatment, three face likely death if deported, one suffers with a unrepaired
jaw broken from guards, - the list goes on and on. I never intended
to step into this nightmare - just wanted to help my friend.
Thanks in advance for your help - from all those whose
hopes of finally being heard are riding on this . . .
My name is Deborah Sherman de Santos. I’m writing
to you as a resident of New Hampshire and a citizen of the United States
in regards to a matter of great concern. People in our small New England
town were shocked and dismayed when a close friend and valued neighbor
was taken from us by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) the day
before Thanksgiving, 2008. A good friend was suddenly missing, his two
small daughters left without a father, their primary care-taker for
the last eight and a half years.
It has been nearly a year and our friend still sits in
prison. When he was first taken I promised my help, expecting that since
he is a good man and this is a country of fairness and justice the situation
would be quickly resolved. Many thousands of dollars of my own money
and nearly a year later I am appalled at what I have experienced and
horrified that such things as I have witnessed go on in the United States
of America. I am now trying to help a number of immigrants who are doing
hard time in prison while their deportation cases slowly wind their
way through a system that I as a citizen find unrecognizable. Each day
brings fresh revelations of inhumane conditions and third world-like
injustices.
While doing what I can to help my friend I have learned a great deal
about ICE. I have spoken with many who are terrified of that department.
Some of our townspeople fear I am in danger for what I am doing despite
my assurances that my ancestry in this country traces back to the founding
families. ICE can not deport me or any of my family. Still my friends
and family worry. I have not witnessed this kind of fear from law-abiding
citizens since the civil rights battles in the Deep South during the
60s. Neither have I witnessed such a callous disregard for the most
basic of human rights since that time. What is being done to my friend
and others is torture for them and demoralizing to those of us who are
forced to bear witness to it. Our country cannot thrive while consistently
committing such acts against humanity.
From what I have seen thus far, these are the questions
I would like answered:
Why is ICE attempting to deport immigrants who are here
legally and who are guilty of no crime? Why are such immigrants doing
hard prison time for months and even years while their case is being
heard?
Why are some people detained by ICE being treated in ways
that would result in arrest if those same acts were committed against
a dog?
Why are immigration courts closed to public scrutiny?
Why are petitions for political asylum or withholding
of removal not investigated thoroughly and in good faith?
Why are immigrants held in civil detention denied the
minimum prison conditions provided to murderers, rapists and drug dealers?
Why are their children and families denied the most basic human considerations,
such as contact visits?
Why are victims of human trafficking who have under-age
citizen children in this country subject to deportation? How has ICE
become the main enforcer for those who would hold immigrants in conditions
of slavery or domestic servitude?
Why are incidents of assault and battery committed against
immigrants while in custody, whether by other inmates or government
officials, not investigated and why are appropriate criminal charges
not filed against the perpetrators?
Why is medical care not provided to some injured and/or
ill immigrants in ICE custody and why are deaths due to withholding
of proper medical care not considered worthy of investigation and discipline
of those responsible?
How did it ever happen that very young children were kept
in ICE custody in this country by being locked in actual prison cells
and treated as prisoners?
Why are people in ICE custody who have been ordered deported
and are eager to be deported still sitting in prisons for months, even
years after, at a cost of $100 a day to the US taxpayer?
How is it that a detainee who has been in prison on no
criminal charge for nearly a year can have his case listed by ICE as
ongoing for only 42 days?
Why do we not investigate and rectify all incidents of
deliberate perjury, withholding or destroying of pertinent documents
or any other deliberate denial of justice in an immigrant’s case
and file criminal charges against those responsible?
Why do we not investigate and rectify all cases of withholding
of adequate food, water or other basic necessities to health and life
from immigrants in ICE custody and file appropriate charges against
those responsible?
Why are some of our under-age citizens in this country
being forced to choose between being raised by their immigrant parents
and being raised in their country?
Why do we continue to imprison non-dangerous immigrants,
many who have committed no crime, when ICE and DHS has proven they are
currently unable to provide said immigrants with adequate physical conditions
of detention and/or timely justice?
Why are suspected terrorists being granted greater considerations
for their safety and well being than innocent immigrants held by ICE?
In the United States of America a kennel owner who cannot
adequately care for the number of dogs in his or her care is not allowed
to continue to keep that many dogs. A kennel owner who abuses those
dogs looses his or her right to keep dogs at all. DHS and ICE have,
by their actions and admission shown that they are not able to adequately
care for the number of mmigrants they presently hold in custody. They
have shown through their actions that they can not protect or are unwilling
to protect from abuse the immigrants they are currently holding. Are
not these immigrants, these human beings,
worthy of at least as much consideration as we would grant a dog?
Thank you for your attention,
Deborah Sherman de Santos
www.OBFThePeople.org
Deborah@obfthepeople.org
