[prisoner-rights] Choosing between death and detention

DIGITAL FREEDOM NETWORK: North and Latin America

Choosing between death and detention
by Zahida Pirani, Digital Freedom Network

URL: www.dfn.org/news/usa/ins-detention.htm

(June 21, 2002) On the week of his 26th birthday, a former U.S. Immigration 
and Naturalization Services (INS) detainee saw sunlight for the first time 
in almost ten months. Ahmed (not his real name) had spent his entire stay 
in the United States within an INS detention center where windowless white 
walls and glass separates detainees from outsiders. He came to the United 
States shortly before September 11, seeking political asylum from his 
country where he would face torture by the government and possibly death. 
Instead of finding freedom, he was arrested upon arrival at the airport, 
interrogated by the INS twice, and put into detention.

Especially since September 11, many immigrants to the U.S. have been 
arbitrarily detained under harsh conditions.

Since September 11, many immigrants to the U.S. have been detained in the 
name of national security, and placed in even worse conditions. The 
majority of these immigrants have been charged with minor visa violations, 
such as overstaying a visa, for which they would not normally be detained, 
but instead, immediately deported. However, as Ahmed's case illustrates, 
the detention of immigrants has been going on well before the events of 
September 11. Subhash Kateel, who organizes a De-detention Campaign through 
the New York City community organization Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), 
pointed to the number of immigrants who make up the fastest growing 
population in prisons: "September 11 is just a catapult for what has been 
going on before. The Justice Department has been using detention and 
deportation in this country as a historical basis for striking fear in 
certain communities."

Kateel's concern about race and origin playing a determining role in the 
continued detention of those rounded-up is verified by a March 2002 report 
by Amnesty International regarding post-September 11 detentions in the 
United States. The New York Times has also reported that out of the 320,000 
immigrants from all backgrounds in the United States who have outstanding 
orders of deportation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and INS 
has singled out 5,000 Muslim men for arrest. (Susan Sachs, "For Many 
American Muslims, Complaints of Quiet but Persistent Bias," April 25, 2002.)

Numerous enforcement policies and legislation in the United States also 
demonstrate a historical tendency to target immigrant communities. In 1996, 
the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) equated 
immigration law with criminal law by reestablishing guilt by association 
for anyone supporting even lawful political activity or humanitarian 
activities of any foreign organization designated by the United States as 
terrorist. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act 
(IIRIRA) extended detention and deportation to legal residents, including 
green card holders, who were noncitizens with criminal offenses such as 
selling marijuana, gambling, prostitution, and drunk driving. Kateel 
stated, "It is important for people to understand now that what is 
happening is based on the development of apartheid through immigration 
policies that distinguish citizens from both legal and illegal noncitizens."

Arrest and detention conditions

In addition to such discrimination, the Amnesty International report also 
documented punitive conditions where detainees are being held that violate 
international standards and civil liberty rights guaranteed by the United 
States. The report states that the jails and detention centers are holding 
detainees under conditions of "cruel treatment, including prolonged 
solitary confinement, heavy shackling of detainees (including use of chains 
and leg shackles) during visits or court appearances and lack of adequate 
outdoor exercise. There have also been allegations of physical and verbal 
abuse."

There have also been reports of inadequate medical treatment and refusals 
to accommodate religious diets, even though INS Detention Standards 
guarantee otherwise. Violations under international standards include 
"protection from arbitrary detention, such as the right of anyone deprived 
of their liberty to be informed of the reasons for the detention; to be 
able to challenge the lawfulness of the detention; to have prompt access to 
and assistance from a lawyer; and to the presumption of innocence."

Omar, whose real name cannot be used, is a 58-year-old Pakistani man whose 
story demonstrates that the rights guaranteed under international and 
domestic ordinance continue to be violated. The INS has held Omar at the 
Passaic County Jail in the state of New Jersey for over seven months for 
overstaying his visa. He was arrested at a mosque in Brooklyn, New York 
that INS officers targeted shortly after September 11. He was held in 
detention without probable cause for over two weeks and has no connection 
to the events of September 11. He tells the story of how he was arrested: 
"They were waiting for us outside the mosque when we came out in the 
morning. They checked our identifications, searched us and then took us 
downstairs to search our belongings. After that, we went into the mosque. 
We performed the ablutions and prayed. Then we were shackled and taken away."

The INS moved Omar to the Special Housing Unit at the Metropolitan 
Correctional Center (MCC) in New York City without informing his lawyers. 
At MCC he was held in 23-hour lights-on solitary confinement and shackled 
hand and foot. The U.S. Attorney's Office and the INS interrogated him 
without counsel by his side. He has testified that INS officers informed 
him that he could receive a green card if he fired his lawyers. He, along 
with many of the other detainees and their lawyers, are reluctant to use 
their real names when conveying such stories because they fear prolonged 
detention, abusive treatment, or further FBI interrogation.

The land of promise

According to Kateel, such civil and human rights abuses have done several 
things including separating "a whole class of people declassified as human 
beings simply based on their immigration status. I also see an attempt to 
crush any kind of movement building in the immigrant communities by making 
people so scared that they won't speak out whether it's against an abusive 
spouse, exploiting employer, or unjust war."

However, Kateel and other members of DRUM are not losing hope over building 
a movement challenging current immigration policies. Detainees continue to 
peacefully protest against the abuses within the detention centers whether 
it is through publicizing their stories or going on hunger strike. Family 
members, who have been financially and emotionally effected by the 
imprisonment of their loved ones, have also joined a movement to speak out.

Zahida Parveen is an example of someone courageous enough to share her 
family's story. Her husband and breadwinner of the family, Mohmmad Akram, 
was deported back to Pakistan after being picked up by the FBI for an 
overstayed visa and detained for over five months. Three of their children 
were forced to return with the father, the other three live with Brooklyn 
with their mother and grandmother.

Parveen works 12-hour days running a convenience store to try to provide 
for the family, both in the U.S. and Pakistan. She enjoys life here but 
will have to return to her home country because she is unable to make ends 
meet. "We have lived here for 10 years. We run a store. We like this 
country, we like this government. We do no problems," said Parveen. "Our 
only problems are immigration problems. Three of my children were born here 
and are citizens. Now we have to go back to Pakistan. My children's lives 
are over. They will have no more education, no more future."

America has long been known as the land of promise to those seeking refuge 
from the persecutions of life in other countries. But what some do not 
realize before they get here is that life for those who are non-citizens 
could potentially be similar to the one they left behind in their homeland. 
While in detention, Ahmed expressed his realization of this fact: "I am not 
a September 11 detainee, but I am still in detention. I left my country 
because I could not stay, and I come here they put me in prison. I left 
because there is no human rights. I came to America because I heard that 
here there is human rights, but instead I am in detention. How can you say 
there is human rights when they do this to us? Now what do I do? How is 
this human rights when I have to choose between death and detention?"


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