Wow. Do you think she could be a little more condescending? Just maybe?
Maria Carvajal walks the sweltering streets of Tijuana, Mexico, clutching a photo of her mentally disabled son, who she says went missing after being deported more than a month ago, despite being a U.S. citizen.
Carvajal says she has searched hospitals, shelters and jails here looking for her 29-year-old son, Pedro Guzman of Lancaster, California, who was jailed for a misdemeanor trespassing violation, then sent to Mexico on May 11.
Guzman's relatives sued the Department of Homeland Security and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department last week in federal court, claiming Guzman was a U.S. citizen and had been wrongfully deported and demanding that U.S. authorities help find him.
"I'm searching for him because he's my son. But it should be (U.S. authorities) searching for him," Carvajal, a 49-year-old fast-food restaurant worker from Lancaster, said Sunday in Tijuana. "They made the mistake. Not me."
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed Guzman had been deported and said the agency had done so correctly. "ICE has no reason to believe that it improperly removed Pedro Guzman," read a statement.
Officials at the U.S. consulate in Tijuana say they have made calls to help search for Guzman and asked other consulates in Mexico if they have information.
"We are doing things to help that we are not obliged to do," said consulate spokeswoman Lorena Blanco.
Often left out of the discussion of security measures is the question who are not mentally able to navigate the tortured waters of Homeland Security policy.
Guzman can't read or write and has trouble processing information. Carvajal fears he could be an easy victim for robbers.
The lawsuit says Guzman was asked about his immigration status in jail and responded that he was born in California of Mexican parents.
Sometime after that, the Sheriff's Department identified him as a non-citizen, obtained his signature for voluntary removal from the United States and turned him over to Customs and Immigration Enforcement, a division of the Homeland Security Department, for deportation.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, which helped file the lawsuit, says it has Guzman's birth certificate showing he was born at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.
It also says that Guzman had previously done jail time for drug possession, so he had a record that could have been cross-checked before a deportation decision was made.
So a guy who can't read or write, and has trouble processing information, signs a voluntary removal order. To have been a fly on the wall for how that went down.
And I'm sure lots of people have said it before, but come on, what the fuck? ICE? LAME
Posted by binky at June 17, 2007 09:47 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Hacktastic! | International Affairs | Latin America | Liberty | Politics | Shame | You Can't Make This Stuff Up