[Commpsych] FW: [SCRA-L] The deportation of a mentally disabled man - ACLU and family sue Federal agencies

[Brian Bishop]

Forwarded on from SCRA. They obviously learned from Vanstone's mistakes.
 
-----Original Message-----
From: SCRA-L Div27 General Membership List [mailto:SCRA-L at LISTS.APA.ORG]On Behalf Of Serdar M. Degirmencioglu
Sent: Thursday, 14 June 2007 1:25 PM
To: SCRA-L at LISTS.APA.ORG
Subject: [SCRA-L] The deportation of a mentally disabled man - ACLU and family sue Federal agencies



Intellectually  <http://hymes.wordpress.com/2007/06/12/intellectually-disabled-young-us-citizen-illegally-deported/> Disabled Young U.S. Citizen Illegally Deported


So maybe that's the federal government's new plan to address disability issues, deportation? 

http://select.nytimes.com/mem/tnt.html?emc=tnt <http://select.nytimes.com/mem/tnt.html?emc=tnt&tntget=2007/06/12/us/12brfs-disabled.html&tntemail0=y> &tntget=2007/06/12/us/12brfs-disabled.html&tntemail0=y

June 12, 2007
California: A.C.L.U. Files Suit Over Missing Man
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
A developmentally disabled man who was born and raised in Los Angeles County and is a United States citizen was illegally deported to Mexico last month by immigration agents screening inmates at a jail, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. The man, Pedro Guzman, 29, of Lancaster, Calif., has now been reported missing in Tijuana, Mexico, family members said. The lawsuit accuses federal authorities of failing to ascertain his citizenship and refusing to help find him in Mexico. Mr. Guzman, who was serving a sentence for misdemeanor trespassing, said in a brief telephone conversation with a family member after he was removed that he told jailers he was born in California, the lawsuit said. Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the federal immigration agency, said it "had no reason to believe that it improperly removed" Mr. Guzman.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 at 1:08 pm and is filed under Prejudice <http://wordpress.com/tag/prejudice/> , disability <http://wordpress.com/tag/disability/> , racism <http://wordpress.com/tag/racism/> , civil rights <http://wordpress.com/tag/civil-rights/> . 

 <http://hymes.wordpress.com/2007/06/12/intellectually-disabled-young-us-citizen-illegally-deported/trackback/> http://hymes.wordpress.com/2007/06/12/intellectually-disabled-young-us-citizen-illegally-deported/

 <http://hymes.wordpress.com/2007/06/12/intellectually-disabled-young-us-citizen-illegally-deported/> 

 <http://hymes.wordpress.com/2007/06/12/intellectually-disabled-young-us-citizen-illegally-deported/> 

 <http://hymes.wordpress.com/2007/06/12/intellectually-disabled-young-us-citizen-illegally-deported/> Homeland Security sued over deportation


 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> Family says man is a U.S. citizen 

 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> By Peter Prengaman
ASSOCIATED PRESS 

The San Diego Union-Tribune,  <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> June 12, 2007

 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> LOS ANGELES - The family of a mentally disabled man who was recently deported to Mexico sued the Department of Homeland Security and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department yesterday, claiming the agencies mistakenly removed an American citizen and that the U.S. government should help find him. 

 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> The family said it has been searching for Pedro Guzman in Tijuana for a month, and fears he's living in the streets or possibly worse.

 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> "My worst fear is that he is no longer living," said Guzman's brother, Michael Guzman. "He doesn't know how to read. He often can't remember the family phone number. He even gets lost if he gets off the main street in Lancaster."

 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> It began when Pedro Guzman, 29, a resident of the desert city of Lancaster, was sentenced April 19 to 120 days in jail for a misdemeanor trespassing violation, according to the suit filed in federal court.

 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> At the Men's Central Jail in Los Angeles, he was asked about his immigration status and responded he was born in California, the suit stated.

 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> Sometime after that, the Sheriff's Department identified him as a noncitizen, obtained his signature for voluntary removal from the United States and turned him over to U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement for deportation, according to the suit.

 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, which helped file the suit, has Pedro Guzman's birth certificate showing he was born at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, said spokeswoman Celeste Durant.

 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said the department correctly followed procedures.

 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> "My understanding is that this individual said he was a Mexican national and was in the country illegally when we interviewed him," said Whitmore. "We turn that information over to immigration officials, who re-interview him."

 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed he had been deported, and said the agency had done so correctly.

 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> "ICE only processes persons for removal when all available credible evidence suggests the person is an alien," read a statement. "That process was followed here and ICE has no reason to believe that it improperly removed Pedro Guzman." An agency spokeswoman declined further comment because the lawsuit was pending.

 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> On May 11, Guzman called the home of half brother Juan Carlos Chabes in Lancaster, said Michael Guzman. He spoke briefly with Chabes' wife, telling her he had been deported but didn't know to where.

 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> So he asked a passer-by where he was, and Chabes' wife heard a man respond, "Tijuana," said Michael Guzman. Then the phone cut off and the family hasn't heard from him since. In Tijuana, they've put up fliers, visited police stations, jails, hospitals and morgues, but haven't been able to locate him.

 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> The family has asked various U.S. government agencies for help finding him but have been denied, said Catherine Lhamon from the ACLU of Southern California. Lhamon said Pedro Guzman had been jailed for drug possession, and had a record that could have been cross-checked before a deportation decision was made.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070612/news_1n12deport.html

 <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/black.gif> 


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