Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Report: Illegal immigrant minors mistreated by US
The Brownsville Herald/AP ^ | November 14, 2008 | Anabelle Garay

Posted on 11/14/2008 2:49:28 PM PST by SwinneySwitch

DALLAS (AP) - Federal authorities have compromised the rights and safety of some unaccompanied illegal immigrant children they have detained, and inadequate government guidelines are partly to blame, according to a Texas-based research group.

Many children appeared before news/" class="autolink">immigration judges without legal representation, some were transported home in shackles or cages, and the medical needs of some were ignored, according to a report released Thursday by the Center for Public Policy Priorities, a nonprofit think tank.

"There's no consistent policy. There's nobody who's responsible for these kids, in looking out for their safety," report author Amy Thompson said. "It's being handled in ad hoc fashion."

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration and border enforcement, disputes the center's findings.

"DHS and its component agencies treat all minors, including unaccompanied alien children, with dignity, respect and special concern for their particular vulnerabilities," spokeswoman Laura Keehner said in a statement Thursday evening.

The report was compiled by examining U.S. immigration agency documents and immigration policies and statistics in the U.S., Mexico and Honduras. The center also interviewed children who were apprehended, government officials, contractors and nonprofit workers in the three countries, and toured of two Texas facilities where unaccompanied illegal immigrant children are held.

An estimated 43,000 unaccompanied illegal immigrant children were removed from the U.S. in 2007, according to the report. They were caught while traveling alone, or with siblings, other children or adults whom they may not know.

Fifty to 70 percent of unaccompanied minors who appeared before an immigration judge last year did so without legal representation, the center contends. Sometimes, consulates weren't notified about the repatriation of children from their country, a violation of an international treaty, the report says.

"I would say 'Imagine your 8-year-old daughter or niece in a country where they didn't speak the language, don't know the culture and were completely at the mercy of strangers. How would you want them to be treated?" Thompson said. "Children aren't capable of understanding international laws and boundaries. They're little kids mixed up in something bigger than themselves."

Some children flown to non-bordering countries were shackled during the flight and those taken by vehicle across the border to Mexico were transported in kennel-like compartments, the report says. Mexican officials reported that some children were returned in the middle of the night and brought to ports of entry that weren't specified in agreements.

In one interview, a 13-year-old girl from Mexico described being injured during her apprehension in the summer of 2007. She said she was tackled by a U.S. official she thinks was a drug enforcement agent. The agent apologized but refused to take off her handcuffs, the girl said.

After she was transferred to the Border Patrol's custody, the girl said she asked for a pain reliever because she had recently had surgery on her arm and the injury caused by the agent aggravated the wound. But Border Patrol agents refused to give her over-the-counter medication, she said.

When the Mexican consulate intervened, the girl was taken to a hospital. The medical attention she received there seemed to be geared toward responding to the possibility of an abuse allegation, according to the report.

As many as 15 different federal agencies can be involved in the apprehension and repatriation of an unaccompanied child, the report states. There are very few written guidelines for the treatment of those children, it says.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Mexico; News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: aliens; cppp; immigrantlist
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-22 next last
I would ask, what kind of person would send an 8-year-old daughter or niece to a country where they didn't speak the language, don't know the culture and were completely at the mercy of strangers, Amy?
1 posted on 11/14/2008 2:49:29 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SwinneySwitch

My first thought was duh...where are the parents?
I agree with your thought on what kind of person would
send their child alone to another country at age 8?
I have an 8yr old and I wouldnt send her to the next neighborhood without me.


2 posted on 11/14/2008 2:52:28 PM PST by donnab (Will the real Obama please stand up?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SwinneySwitch

Important notice: according to a Texas-based research group

Could we have the name and where they get their money
Ok here is one employee:

Celia Hagert, Senior Policy Analyst

Celia Hagert joined the center in 1998.. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Columbia University in 1991 and a Master of Arts from the Institute of Latin American Studies at The University of Texas at Austin in 1996.

SECOND EMPLOEE:

Don Baylor, Senior Policy Analyst

Don Baylor joined the center in 2004 and focuses on workforce and economic development. Before coming to the center, he served as a Legislative Director at New York ACORN, ..........................NEED I SAY MORE??

3RD employee:

Lonny Stern, Outreach Director
Lonny has served as the Executive Director for the Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival

MUST I CONTINUE? OR DO YOU GET THE MESSAGE??


3 posted on 11/14/2008 2:58:31 PM PST by chicagolady (Mexican Elite say: EXPORT Poverty Let the American Taxpayer foot the bill !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SwinneySwitch

Where is that little fiddle!!


4 posted on 11/14/2008 2:59:54 PM PST by org.whodat (Conservatives don't vote for Bailouts! Republicans do!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: chicagolady
LOL, a Lizzy and a dizzy. Now I'm off to rehab!@!
5 posted on 11/14/2008 3:05:16 PM PST by org.whodat (Conservatives don't vote for Bailouts! Republicans do!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: chicagolady; stan_sipple; time4good; Guenevere; mugsaway; CSM; calcowgirl; RightSideNews; Grimmy; ..

CPPP ping!

http://www.cppp.org/index.php


6 posted on 11/14/2008 3:05:24 PM PST by SwinneySwitch (ObamaNation - beyond your expectations.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: donnab

“neighborhood”? My son wondered away from his mother and me at a mall once when he was about 7. Took ten minutes to find him. Worse feeling I’ve ever had in my long life.
Send him to another country by himself?


7 posted on 11/14/2008 3:05:29 PM PST by Joe Boucher (An enemy of Islam)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: chicagolady

Thanks for your devastating analysis.

The minute I saw “ACORN,” and the other associations, I know there’s sleaze.


8 posted on 11/14/2008 3:05:40 PM PST by Da Coyote
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: donnab

Now it is Obama’s fault.


9 posted on 11/14/2008 3:08:01 PM PST by bmwcyle (Primary support for McCain and Huck showed complete stupidity)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: SwinneySwitch
...by the Center for Public Policy Priorities, a nonprofit think tank.

The validity and authority of which I reject totally.

If they had any sense at all, they would target the adults in Mexico who caused them to appear in the US.

Our responsibility is to humanely and as quickly as possible return them to their own country, Mexico.

Period.

End of story.

10 posted on 11/14/2008 3:08:05 PM PST by Publius6961 (Change is not a plan; Hope is not a strategy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SwinneySwitch

Back a few years ago when people were screaming that Bush should put all the illegal aliens on a bus and send them home, I said that if he did, we’d see the liberal headlines SCREAMING about the abuse of the poor illegals. This is only the beginning.

***In one interview, a 13-year-old girl from Mexico described being injured during her apprehension in the summer of 2007. She said she was tackled by a U.S. official she thinks was a drug enforcement agent. The agent apologized but refused to take off her handcuffs, the girl said.

After she was transferred to the Border Patrol’s custody, the girl said she asked for a pain reliever because she had recently had surgery on her arm and the injury caused by the agent aggravated the wound. But Border Patrol agents refused to give her over-the-counter medication, she said.

When the Mexican consulate intervened, the girl was taken to a hospital. The medical attention she received there seemed to be geared toward responding to the possibility of an abuse allegation, according to the report.***

MY EXPLANATION OF THE ABOVE:

Alien girl (13) refuses to obey legal order to stop and agent is forced to tackle her. Her previously injured arm is scuffed up; she demands medication. She is refused because nobody knows what else she might be on and the over-the-counter medication could kill her. Home Security informs the Mexican consulate which HOPES FOR and LOOKS for any sign of abuse.


11 posted on 11/14/2008 3:42:27 PM PST by kitkat (THE DAY WE LOSE OUR WILL TO FIGHT IS THE DAY WE LOSE OUR FREEDOM.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SwinneySwitch
some were transported home in shackles or cages, and the medical needs of some were ignored,

What's the problem?

They are airline approved for shipping to any place in the world.

As to the 'ignored medical needs', who took care of their medical needs on their way here?

12 posted on 11/14/2008 4:01:25 PM PST by ApplegateRanch (The mob got President Barabbas; America got shafted)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Joe Boucher
Send him to another country by himself?

No, no, noo; they just sort of wander away, and accidentally cross the border(s).

...Thompson said. "Children aren't capable of understanding international laws and boundaries. They're little kids mixed up in something bigger than themselves."

!!? BS.

13 posted on 11/14/2008 4:13:36 PM PST by ApplegateRanch (The mob got President Barabbas; America got shafted)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: SwinneySwitch
Illegal immigrant minors mistreated by US

Not here in San Francisco.  The illegals can rape, murder, and plunder all they want.  In fact, as a sanctuary city, we give them free rein to do so.

14 posted on 11/14/2008 4:27:13 PM PST by my_pointy_head_is_sharp (We're living in the Dark Ages.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SwinneySwitch

Don’t want your kids to deal with US cops? Then quit invading the US...


15 posted on 11/14/2008 4:45:14 PM PST by gaijin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: my_pointy_head_is_sharp; Da Coyote; stan_sipple; time4good; Guenevere; mugsaway; CSM; calcowgirl; ..

Folks look at this piece of Legislation that did not come up for a vote in Illinois, BUT you know they are up to the same garbage.

HOW RACIST is this legislation??

ALL MEXICANS ALL THE TIME!!

ALL OTHER MINORS of any other Nationality can go to Hell

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=5125&GAID=9&GA=95&DocTypeID=HB&LegID=36135&SessionID=51


16 posted on 11/14/2008 4:49:16 PM PST by chicagolady (Mexican Elite say: EXPORT Poverty Let the American Taxpayer foot the bill !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: 1_Inch_Group; 2sheep; 2Trievers; 3AngelaD; 3pools; 3rdcanyon; 4Freedom; 4ourprogeny; 7.62 x 51mm; ..

ping


17 posted on 11/14/2008 7:08:15 PM PST by gubamyster
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: chicagolady

Oh geez that is a group of long-time, well known poverty pimps and socialists, Saul Alinsky organized, It is a public disgrace that AP would take them at their word for any of this. That particular reporter has a track record: big honking factual errors in several stories that I know of. She is open-borders, welfare for all, government is evil for not spreading the wealth more. I simply do not believe any law enforcement officer deliberately injured a 13-year-old. And the reason they didn’t give her an aspirin is that they are forbidden to give detainees any kind of drug whatsoever without a doctor’s orders. What if they gave her something she was allergic to and she died? Another officer in prison, I would bet. The villains in this story are the Mexican adults that would send their little children over the border unaccompanied, or leave their children in Mexico to come here illegally.


18 posted on 11/14/2008 7:31:30 PM PST by 3AngelaD (They screwed up their own countries so bad they had to leave, and now they're here screwing up ours.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: bmwcyle

Oh, you’re right. Good point. I forgot.


19 posted on 11/14/2008 7:32:12 PM PST by 3AngelaD (They screwed up their own countries so bad they had to leave, and now they're here screwing up ours.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: SwinneySwitch

Get them back to Mexico ASAP. It’s where they’ll be treated better and be home.


20 posted on 11/14/2008 7:34:27 PM PST by MartinStyles
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-22 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson