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| 2007-06-22 register | login | ||
What Happened to Pedro Guzman?So what exactly happened to Pedro Guzman, a U.S. citizen deported and missing in Tijuana? After reading news releases, the statements made by the Sheriff's deputy and the ICE agent who interviewed him, and speaking to an ACLU representative who was in contact with the family, it starts to make more sense. Here is what I understand:Pedro was serving a (brief?) sentence for trespass. He was anticipating being released, and had called his family to let them know he was coming out. As part of the release processing, he was screened for legal status. Pedro was a quiet kind of guy, who was always 'a little different' and didn't talk much, though he worked hard and could drive a car. He spoke less Spanish than English, and was used to 'covering' for his inability to understand. In an interview that wasn't taped and had no witnesses or representation, L.A. Sheriff's 'custody assistant' Sandra Figueras determined that Pedro 'entered the United States illegally at San Ysidro, CA on Sept 9 1989' - which approximately corresponds to a trip the family took when Pedro was 12 years old. She also said that he stated that he 'had no legal right to be in the United States'. Pedro Guzman was born in Los Angeles and has a birth certificate proving it, so why would he say that? I talked to Celeste Durant of the ACLU and her take on it was that he was expecting to get released and was going thru a bunch of interviews and paperwork without fully understanding all that was said, and was pretty much agreeing to everything so he could be released. We don't know exactly what Figueras said to him or how he replied. Then, although all who know him say that Pedro cannot read or write, he signed a statement put in front of him by ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement) agent Pilar Garcia agreeing to his voluntary deportation. Garcia checked the box on the form for 'Notice read by subject', so she did not read to him what he was signing. He signed the Spanish version, not the English one. Pedro has only gone to school in Los Angeles, so if he can't read English he is much less likely to be able to read Spanish. Most likely, he had no idea what he was signing and was just going thru procedures and doing whatever was asked of him. He was deported to Tijuana without any money and only light clothing (what he was wearing when arrested). He tried to call his family from a borrowed cell phone, and his sister-in-law overheard him asking someone 'Where am I?'. Then the connection dropped and he hasn't been heard from since. His mother and sister-in-law have been searching for him all over Tijuana. I don't know any more than the news releases on this part. A month later after arguing they had done nothing wrong, the federal government has finally admitted that Pedro is a U.S. Citizen and the US Marshall's office has asked that all federal agencies be on the lookout for him. Apparently people do not have right to have an attorney or other representative present when going thru deportation hearings, and are not given the opportunity to call family or collect belongings prior to being deported. Since the deportation hearing is to determine if they are a US citizen, presumably some percentage of the people in these hearings are citizens, so there are many US citizens undergoing this procedure with no representation of any kind. My opinion: Even if every deported person were not a citizen, the procedure of abruptly parting families and dropping people in a strange, dangerous town where they know no one with no money or resources seems inhumane in the extreme. If this happened to my (grown) child I would be desperate." |
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