October 06, 2008

After life in U.S., migrant children struggle with return to Mexico

CIUDAD HIDALGO, Michoacan: "After nearly seven years in the United States, Edgar Gutiérrez was back in a hometown he hardly recognized.

Returning as a 16-year-old, Gutiérrez found relatives he couldn't remember. Kids thought he was stuck up because he had lived in the U.S. Teachers scolded him when he pronounced his name with an American accent.

Gutiérrez had spent his early life in these mountains of Central Mexico, but now he felt like a stranger."

JEREMY SCHWARTZ in the Mexico City Bureau of the Austin American-Statesman.

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October 05, 2008

Persecuted in Senegal, Finding Refuge in New York

"In February, a Senegalese magazine published photographs of what was reported to be an underground gay marriage and said that Mr. Mbaye, who appeared in the photos and is gay himself, had organized the event. In the ensuing six months, Mr. Mbaye said, he was harassed by the police, attacked by armed mobs, driven from his home, maligned in the national media and forced to live on the run across West Africa.

In July, the United States government gave him refugee status, one of the rare instances when such protection has been granted to a foreigner facing persecution based on sexual orientation."

KIRK SEMPLE and LYDIA POLGREEN in the New York Times.

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The Profit of Detention

"The 1,040-bed facility will be unique not only because it will dwarf many of Virginia's jails but also because it is a private venture aimed at capitalizing on the massive influx of detainees into the Immigration and Customs Enforcement system over the past year. A small group of Richmond investors looks to reap millions of dollars in profit by building what has been described as the "mid-Atlantic hub" for ICE operations in a town just three hours south of the nation's capital."

JOSH WHITE and NICK MIROFF in the Washington Post.

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October 02, 2008

Rights group investigates T. Don Hutto immigrant detention center

"A delegation of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was in Austin on Wednesday on a fact-finding mission on the treatment of immigrant families and asylum seekers at the T. Don Hutto detention center in Taylor and other Texas facilities.

The commission, a body of the Organization of American States, monitors compliance by members, including the U.S., with human rights obligations established by international law."

JUAN CASTILLO in the Austin American-Statesman.

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October 01, 2008

68-year-old woman - a U.S. citizen for 40 years - terrorized by ICE in South Texas

"The 68-year-old woman told Action 4 News that she heard a knock at her door Tuesday morning.

But before she had a chance to get up she said U.S. Immigration & Customers Enforcement (ICE) agents were inside her home.

“They came in with guns, grenades and holding their pistols,” Savage recalled.

When she asked them why they came into her home they allegedly responded, "Show us your papers."

Savage complied by showing them documentation proving that she's been a United States citizen for 40 years."

JACKIE DIAZ for KGBT4.com in Harlingen, Texas.  [Click here for video.]

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Feds say Wash. immigration guards weren't checked

"A privately run immigration lockup in Tacoma hired security guards without required preliminary background checks and then lied about it, according to authorities.

Sylvia Wong, a human relations specialist with GEO Group Inc., the private contractor that runs the Northwest Detention Center, was charged in U.S. District Court on Tuesday with lying to federal investigators when she claimed in April she did not falsely generate documents."

GENE JOHNSON for the Associated Press.

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