Border (in)Justice

Illegal immigration has been a major political, economic and security concern for as long as I can remember.  States like California and Texas spend millions every year to provide services for those we used to call wetbacks but now must be referred to as undocumented workers.  Cities like Houston gain a reputation as “sanctuary cities” where police can not question citizenship status.

Sometimes though, it seems the shoe is on the other foot, as in this story from yesterday’s Brownsville Herald.  It is a little long compared to most entries here, but I think it is worth your time:

By MADELINE BUCKLEY/The Brownsville Herald

Though she was born in Weslaco in 1982, Brenda Vazquez swore to a Customs and Border Protection officer that she was born in Mexico and is not a U.S. citizen.

Desperate for the end of what she says was hours of intense questioning at a Brownsville international bridge, she signed a statement denying her citizenship.

A petition filed in federal court last week states that Vazquez made the false statement on Feb. 19 after seven hours of intimidation from a Customs and Border Protection officer.

The petition says the officer seized the Texas driver’s license and U.S. birth certificate she pre-sented when returning from a visit to Matamoros.

Customs and Border Protection officials did not respond to repeated requests from The Brownsville Herald for comment for this article.

Vazquez’s petition alleges that the CBP officer repeatedly threatened her and told her she had no right to an attorney until she signed the statement of noncitizenship.

The petition states that Vazquez’s documents were taken from her and that she was forced to return to Mexico.

She remains in Matamoros, unable to cross to the U.S., and has retained an attorney, Jaime Diez of Brownsville, to help her.

Diez said that when he asked Texas Health and Human Services for a copy of her birth certificate, the agency said it could not supply it because Customs and Border Protection had provided a copy of the statement Vazquez signed.

Vasquez is fighting, through her attorney, to retrieve her documents and undo what she says is a false and coerced admission of noncitizenship.

COMMON STORY

Vazquez’s story is not uncommon, some immigration lawyers say.

They say she joins a number of U.S. citizens stuck on the other side of the border after they falsely denied their citizenship during intense questioning.

“They were under so much stress that they were willing to do whatever to get out of that situation,” stated Diez, who said he has several similar cases pending.

Diez said he has numerous clients who were questioned for hours without food, water or the chance to contact an attorney. Some were subjected to threats and taunts, he said.

Vazquez’s petition follows a recent complaint filed by the American Civil Liberties Union asking for a federal investigation into cases of alleged abuse by CBP officers.

The ACLU complaint lists several examples from Brownsville ports of entry in which U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents allegedly were denied entry and harshly questioned.

According to regulations listed by the U.S. State Department, citizens re-entering the country must present a passport, enhanced driver’s license or passport card. Citizens who have crossed at Brownsville bridges say they have been allowed back with other documents, however.

In Vazquez’s case, a mistake printed on her birth certificate caused the CBP officer to send her for a second look.

In the petition for writ of habeas corpus and complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief, Vazquez asks a judge to declare that she is a U.S. citizen so she can return to Texas, return her documents, and declare that the officer’s actions violated her constitutional rights.

She also asks the respon-dents — listed as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Michael Freeman, CBP port director in Brownsville — to pay attorney’s fees and she asks for other relief the judge deems appropriate.

AWAY FROM FAMILIES

“The emotional impact is really something,” Diez said of his clients who are separated from their families and jobs, sometimes for years. “It doesn’t go away once the documents come back.”

Lisa Brodyaga, an attorney based in San Benito, said she represented a man several years ago who was a U.S. citizen but was denied entry into the U.S. in Laredo.

Brodyaga said he was handcuffed to a chair for hours until he told them he was born in Mexico. She said the man was born in a hospital in McAllen but lived most of his life in Mexico and spoke little English.

“There’s a little racism involved,” Brodyaga said.

U.S. citizens who come through checkpoints with their documents questioned are often presumed to be noncitizens unless they can offer proof, Brodyaga said.

Officers can detain and question individuals for hours without charging them, she said. She once represented a man who was held for 60 hours, she said.

Once a person signs a paper stating they are not a U.S. citizen, it can take years to rectify in the courts, Brodyaga said.

Both Brodyaga and Diez are involved in litigation against the federal government involving a Brownsville family denied entrance to the U.S. in 2009.

Trinidad Muraira de Castro, a Mexican citizen with a border crossing card, tried to enter the U.S. at the B&M International Bridge with her two adult daughters, who are U.S. citizens, and her infant granddaughter, according to court papers.

A CBP officer — the same one listed in Vazquez’s case — separated the family and questioned some of them for 10 hours until one of the daughters said she was born in Mexico to end the interrogation, according to court papers.

The case is still being fought in court.

'WON'T WIN THE CASE'

Both Diez and Brodyaga said citizens whose right to enter the country is questioned at a port of entry should never sign anything stating that they are not a citizen.

Instead, they should stand their ground, and if they are eventually charged, the charges will be dismissed when they get a lawyer, they said.

If the government files criminal charges, “they won’t win the case,” Diez said, noting that dismissing charges is a faster process than declaring someone a citizen who has signed a statement saying they are not.

Diez said he hopes the civil cases will change the way officers handle interrogations.

“We understand they have a very difficult job doing their work,” Diez said. “If someone was born in the U.S., if they have doubts, they need other ways to resolve those doubts than putting someone in a room for seven hours without access to an attorney.”