President Bush, in one of his final acts in office, commuted the prison terms of Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos, two former US Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting an unarmed Mexican drug smuggler who fled across the Rio Grande.  The Los Angeles Times reports that the clemencies were prompted by sustained pressure from Republican lawmakers in California, Texas and other border states, and were granted without input from the Justice Department. 

Compean and Ramos were convicted of shooting admitted drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks as he fled a van loaded with marijuana in 2005.  They testified at their trial that they though Aldrete Davila was armed and that they had shot him in self-defense.  But the prosecution said there was not evidence linking Davila to the van, that the agents had not reported the shooting, and that they tossed their shotgun casings into the Rio Grande to hide the evidence.  The agents were found guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon, violating Davila’s civil rights, and defacing a crime scene.  

The response from Capitol Hill was mixed.  “A gross miscarriage of justice has finally been righted,” said Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), who spoke to Bush about the agents’ plight.  However, one Justice Department official, under anonymity argues that “there was obstruction of justice; they shot a man in the back.  I am speechless.  These are terrible clemency cases.” 

***** 

Women held at immigration detention centers in Arizona face dangerous delays in health care and widespread mistreatment, according to a new study by the University of Arizona, the latest of studies to report on conditions of such centers throughout the US.  According to The New York Times, the study was conducted from August 2007 to August 2008 by two University organizations, Southwest Institute of Research on Women and the James E. Rogers College of law, and was released Jan. 13.   

Researchers examined the conditions facing women in the process of deportation proceedings at three federal immigration centers in Arizona.  The study concluded that immigration authorities were too aggressive in detaining the women, who rarely posed a flight risk, and that as a result, they experienced severe hardships, including a lack of prenatal care, treatment for cancer, ovarian cysts and other serious medical conditions, and in some cases, being mixed in with federal prisoners. 

Katrina S. Kane, who directs Arizona detention and removal operations for ICE, dismissed the study as unsubstantiated accounts from a limited number of detainees and their advocates.  “Reports such as this, while alleging to be unbiased, do great harm to the public’s understanding of the complex issues involved in immigration law enforcement,” Ms. Kane said. 

The director of border research for the institute, Nina Rabin, countered that interviews with detainees, former detainees and their lawyers corroborated a pattern of endemic mistreatments.  Ms. Rabin said she had spoken with immigrant advocacy groups around the US, many of whom stated that mistreatment of women at the centers was not unusual.  “We were pretty shocked to learn about all the ways in which life is made endlessly difficult for these women,” Ms. Rabin said, especially those who were pregnant or had recently given birth.   

In one of several cases documented in the study, a woman being held at the Central Arizona Detention Center who experienced excruciating abdominal pain for months after she had been forced to undergo female genital mutilation in West Africa was told by the center’s staff to “exercise and watch her diet,” her attorney Raha Jorjani said.   After nearly six months, the woman, who had been convicted of a nonviolent crime, was taken to a hospital where an ultrasound revealed a cyst the size of a five month-old fetus, Ms. Jorjani said.  She added that immigration officials suddenly released the woman with no money or health insurance to treat the cyst. 

The SIROW report is available online at http://sirow.arizona.edu/files/UnseenPrisoners.pdf. 

***** 

A handful of Hispanic House and Senate members met earlier this month to lay out a new strategy to get a sweeping immigration reform bill passed, and discuss the increase in workplace raids that have increased as a result of a current lack of such a reform bill.  The Hill  reports that Capitol Hill’s highest-ranking Hispanics, including House Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman Xavier Becerra (CA), as well as Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), CHC Immigration Task Force Chairman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), the sole Hispanic in the US Senate.   

The lawmakers met to devise strategies to convince President Obama that the issue of immigration reform is necessary.  “I don’t believe that the president-elect grasps and understands the magnitude of the damage that is currently being caused [by immigration raids]” Guiterrez said.  “He understands the need for comprehensive immigration reform.  What I don’t think we’ve been able to bring to his attention in an effective manner is the plight of the millions of undocumented workers.”  Even though President Obama has given Hispanics a clear message during the 2008 presidential election campaign that comprehensive immigration reform is a priority of his, the Hispanic Caucus received no indication from the Obama administration he intends to reverse the workplace raids policy. 

With the Congressional agenda fixated on the economy, Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate have said next to nothing about immigration since the November 2008 election.  Despite the large increases by Hispanics in the House, the chance of response from the Senate regarding reform looks grim.  Of the two senators who sponsored the failed Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) has suffered personal health problems, and there is uncertainty of where Sen. McCain (R-AZ) currently stands on the issue.   

Despite the uphill battle for Hispanics to push a successful act, President Obama remains pledged to tackle the issue.  “No one has been more devastated by our economic crisis than the Latino community, particularly because many Latinos are employed by the construction industry where there are no houses being built,” the president said.  “But I’m not going back on my commitment.  My goal is for the process towards reform to start this year.”   

***** 

Last week, the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility began investigations into accusations of federal agents accused of beating a man being deported to Mexico, The San Diego Union-Tribute reports.  Representatives of ICE and Border Patrol met with Mexican consular and immigration officials in San Diego this week to discuss the incident, which occurred on January 22. 

According to US immigration officials, Agustin Castillo Hernandez, 33, attempted to escape as agents were preparing to send him through the turnstile into Tijuana at the San Ysidro border crossing.  Shortly after, agents gave chase and caught him.  A witness said the agents repeatedly kicked Castillo while he was apprehended. 

An ICE spokeswoman said last week that the agents had used “necessary force.”  According to the Mexican Consulate, and as confirmed by US officials, the independent probe could take two weeks to six months.  

***** 

NBC News reports that federal officials announced that immigration agents arrested 1,970 alleged undocumented immigrant gang members in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and four other California counties in 2008.  The arrests were part of Operation Community Shield, a nationwide anti-gang effort by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Of those arrested, more than 850 were prosecuted on state or federal charges, including firearms violations and undocumented reentry to the US after deportation, ICE reported.  Others were foreign national gang members who were arrested on administrative immigration violations and place in deportation proceedings.   

“These arrest statistics are further proof of ICE’s major role in combating gang-related crime in Los Angeles,” said Robert Schoch, head of ICE’s Los Angeles office.  “Our immigration and customs authorities are proving to be powerful weapons in this effort, and we’ll continue working closely with local law enforcement to attack and dismantle the gangs that have terrorized our communities,” Schoch said.   

***** 

According to Fort Lauderdale’s The South Florida Sun Sentinel, advocates and congressional leaders have begun to renew their efforts to have the US government grant temporary protected status of undocumented Haitian immigrants, after the request for the country to receive the status was denied last month.  The renewal for support came about mere moments after Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) was sworn into Congress, where he reintroduced a bill to grant temporary status.  He pledged to meet with Obama administration members to push the issue. 

The government halted Haitian deportations in September after four tropical storms ravaged Haiti, raising the hopes of advocates that the outgoing Bush administration would grant temporary protected status.  But days before Christmas, immigration officials started deporting Haitians again.   

On Dec. 19, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff wrote Haitian President Rene Preval, explaining that temporary status would not be granted.  After consulting with the State Department and USCIS, Chertoff wrote, he “concluded that Haiti does not currently warrant [TPS] designation.”