Among those detained at this jail is this reporter. I was arrested December 3 at Houston Intercontinental Airport as I returned home from a reporting assignment abroad for the Spanish-language magazine Perspectiva Mundial and the labor and socialist newsweekly the Militant.

Every night we are joined by dozens of workers of all nationalities brought here by the federal Border Patrol after they are arrested attempting to cross the border. And every night they pull many others out of the prison dormitories to put them on a plane or a bus--handcuffed and shackled--to be sent to their countries of origin or, in the case of those born in Mexico, dumped on the other side of the border.

Located just a few minutes from Houston Intercontinental Airport, the "Houston Processing Center"--the official name of the jail used by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)--is also where the immigration cops bring legal residents arrested at the airport on their arrival from abroad when they decide to arrest them on the basis of a previous conviction on their records.

In the first few days since I’ve been incarcerated here, I’ve had the opportunity to meet several fellow workers and hear their stories. Many are similar to my own.

Manuel García, 63, a carpenter originally from El Salvador, who has been living in this country since 1974, was arrested at the airport five months ago as he was returning from a visit to his family there.

The INS detained García when he got off a Continental Airlines flight from San Salvador. They said the record of a misdemeanor case going back to 1987 showed up in the computer. García had passed through this same airport a year ago with no problems. He has been a legal resident since the U.S. government granted him that status through the 1986 general amnesty.

"We are paying a second time for something we did in the past," said García. "We obtained legal papers and now they put us in jail."

After his conviction on the misdemeanor charges, García completed three years’ probation. Since then, he has attempted to clear his record in order to apply for U.S. citizenship. Two years ago when he requested a copy of his criminal record, he was told they "couldn’t find it" because it had been a long time ago. A lawyer even took $2,000 to help him clear his record and García has never heard from him since.

García hopes his case will be resolved soon. He is nearing the end of the six-month period during which the INS can detain someone before it is supposed to either deport or release an individual without having to go before a federal judge. He is looking forward to going back to his job as a carpenter in Utah, where his two children live.

Salvadorans threaten hunger strike
Workers here report that in mid-November a group of about 80 detainees, mainly from El Salvador, threatened to go on a hunger strike after being denied a hearing for several months.

Many had been at the detention center for well over six months. Some of them had expected to be deported immediately after arriving at this immigration jail because they had just served out a term at a state or federal prison.

In the end the hunger strike did not take place, but the protesters did force the intervention of the Salvadoran consul, who promised they would be released promptly. Since then, those that led the protest have been moved around to other cells in an attempt to isolate them.

Some of the detainees have been locked up here much longer than six months, including at least one who has been here more than two years. Some have had to appeal their cases while in prison after being denied bail.

In my cell, there are immigrant workers from Haiti, Algeria, Nigeria, China, Cuba, Pakistan, Albania, as well as from Mexico and Central America.

The U.S. government has expanded the list of offenses for which an immigrant can be deported under the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. In addition, the INS has made the law apply retroactively to convictions that took place even before the law was enacted. The infractions for which many have been locked up here range from driving while intoxicated to trespassing to a variety of petty drug-related crimes.

The INS is carrying out the detentions of U.S. residents who have a previous record with total disregard for the fact that many have made their lives in this country.

One person who was recently brought to this INS prison had been detained when he was returning home from Guatemala with his family.

A resident of Long Island, New York, father of two U.S.-born children, is facing deportation for a disorderly conduct case from 11 years ago.

In my case, the government is attempting to use a 1988 conviction from when I was in high school in Los Angeles and was accused of selling marijuana to an undercover cop, for which I was given probation.

I was arrested December 3 on my return from Guadalajara, Mexico, where I had carried out a reporting assignment for Perspectiva Mundial at an international student conference.

Detained at the INS office at the airport, I was denied the right to contact a lawyer on the grounds that it was an administrative detention, even though the immigration cops had just finished reading me my Miranda rights.

I was traveling with an accreditation letter and photo ID press credentials. Among other things, the INS cops confiscated my work tools--Perspectiva Mundial’s laptop computer and digital camera.

García, the carpenter, referred to the provision of the immigration law used against him and others as a "trap," because it was one that many immigrants did not know about. "All the flights to our countries are full over the holidays, and many of these people are going to end up in jail," said García. "This must be condemned."
 
 
Related articles:
Staffs of ‘Perspectiva Mundial’ and the ‘Militant’ fight INS effort to exclude editor
UFCW official: ‘A travesty of justice’
Facts on INS detention of Róger Calero and the fight to free him
Many immigrants face denial of rights like Calero
An Appeal to readers
How you can help  
 
 
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