Birth Certificates Destroyed by DHS Personnel?

Exclusive and Breaking News from the States Without Nations blog:

Here are descriptions of two previously unpublished accounts of U.S.-born Mexican-American teenagers who had their birth certificates ripped up by Customs and Border Patrol Agents. I have information on other similar cases, but only time to write up the details of these two, along with summaries and links to two other recent cases published elsewhere.

Just to be clear, a national identity card doesn’t solve these problems: in many cases of U.S. citizens deported ICE or Customs and Border Patrol doesn’t even check the digital files that have evidence matching the identity cards presented by the individual with the information in their databases– as was the case at several points for Mark Lyttle. If no one bothers to check that a passport (or national identity card) matches the information in a law enforcement database– as should happen when a U.S. citizen objects to having his proper identity disregarded by an agent or an immigration judge — then having a national card does nothing and is no improvement over our current system.

Mexican-Americans with Birth Certificates Border Patrol Destroys or Ignores
1. Mario, 17, was born in a Colorado hospital in the late 1980s and I’ve seen his birth certificate and hospital records.

Mario’s mother is a U.S. citizen and his father Mexican. When Mario was a toddler his father and mother separated and Mario’s father brought him to Mexico. His father’s plan was to raise Mario, and then he would return to the United States. When Mario was 17 he decided it was time to “go back to the United States and claim his destiny,” according to an individual familiar with this case. Mario had uncles in Tucson who visited Mario frequently in Mexico. He was especially interested in finding his mother. A birth certificate is a valid form of identification for entering the United States, and Mario thought he was all set. (Mario couldn’t obtain a U.S. passport from Mexico because if you’re 17 or under, that requires the presence of both legal parents.)

In early 2007, when Mario tried to return through Nogales, Arizona the Customs and Border Patrol agent, the attorney said, “tore it up on the spot. They told him, ‘It’s not real. Go away, kid, this is fraud.’ There goes your Colorado birth certificate. Go away, have a nice day.” Mario was upset and insisted he was a U.S. citizen. “They told him that if he says he’s Mexican he can leave, but if he keeps saying he’s a citizen he’ll be detained at the Nogales border patrol station and arrested.” He signed and returned to Mexico.

Read the full post here

I am working to independently verify the information presented by Jacqueline. These are very serious allegations, and if proven, should be fully investigated by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security. If anyone has more information, please email me at the link to the left or drop the info in the comments to aid with compilation of data.

These types of civic violations are not uncommon. Pedro Guzman, a U.S. Citizen whose mental disability complicated his interactions with border personnel in 2007, was deported to Mexico and left to wander in the streets for weeks as his family searched frantically for him. Stretching back even further, Operation Wetback was the culprit for scores of Mexican Americans having their civil rights violated through racial profiling and mass deportations alongside those without papers.

So, no, this is nothing new – but it is unacceptable. Time to dig in to these incidents deeper to see how completely broken the U.S. immigration system has become through centuries of rotting racism and delusions of superiority.

 

Arizona News Round-Up

Picking up where we left off last week, the grassroots leadership in Willcox is working to make sure there’s plenty to do during the summer.

Willcox Against Substance Abuse (WASA), Willcox Parks and Recreation and Southwest Transmission Linemen (AEPCO) sponsor the summer activities.

Total cost for the programs this summer will run about $9,000, said Sally White, director of WASA. “With the Southwest Transmission Linemen’s donation of $4,500 from their charity golf tournament, their support means the difference between an “OK” summer program and a truly great summer program,” White said. “We deeply appreciate the wonderful support we receive from this great group.”

Arizona Range News

Heading south down to the Bisbee, Tombstone, Sierra Vista area, we can find plenty of heat – as in hot rods.

“When he rolled in, the car show just stopped. Everybody stopped and looked,” he said.

Ward’s enthusiasm for the cars hasn’t quieted since. He and his wife, Shari, are organizers of the 9th Annual National T-Bucket Alliance Nationals on June 21-23, with events in Bisbee, Tombstone and Sierra Vista.

Sierra Vista Herald

Taking the scenic route from SV, through Patagonia to the Nogales area, the history of Santa Cruz County is being presevered by the efforts of local initiative

David Yubeta has a passion for dirt-and that’s not bad. He describes himself as “voracious” in his fervent goal to stabilize every aging, crumbling, adobe building and wall that is in peril.

Yubeta, a preservation specialist with the National Park Service at the Tumac‡cori National Historic Park, is recognized as one of the premier authorities in his field.

In 1998, he was presented with the National Park Service’s top award in Washington, D.C., for cultural preservation.

Doubtless, Yubeta is at the right place to hone his adobe-preservation skills. The Tumac‡cori park protects Spanish colonial missions on three sites. The largest, with a mission church constructed of adobe, was established in January 1691 by Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino. The park includes the ruins of the circa-1691 Los Santos çngeles de Guevavi south of Rio Rico and circa-1756 San Cayetano de Calabazas in Rio Rico.

Nogales International

Meanwhile, on the Tohono O’odham Nation to the northwest, the Sonoran Desert is continuing to claim lives of economic refugees

Fewer illegal immigrants may be crossing the Arizona desert than last year, but more are dying.

Authorities found the bodies of at least six migrants along the border during the first six days in June, adding to a death toll that has outpaced last year’s, despite falling arrest figures.

According to the U.S. Border Patrol, 96 illegal immigrants had died as of Wednesday, a 12 percent increase over the same period last year, when the Border Patrol counted 86 dead.

Tucson Citizen

Over in Ajo, watch out for wildcats (decidedly NOT of UA origin)

Rabies has been confirmed in a fox and a bobcat killed in Ajo during the past week. At least two people have started rabies shots after being attacked by the bobcat. Residents are urged to report any animal behaving oddly and to get pets vaccinated and keep them indoors.

Ajo Copper News

And since we’re having chilly temperatures this week (it’s 92 in the Old Pueblo at the moment), lets take our chances in Gila Bend before the real heat begins. The town’s website alerts us to a Mark-Your-Calendar moment for November

5th Annual Desert Shrimp Festival

November 3, 2007
10:00 am – 10:00 pm
Community Center Park (Euclid Ave.)

More info at the Town of Gila Bend website

Hmmmm, I guess I’ll have to put the “I’ll try anything once” motto to the test.

What’s going on in your part of the world?