Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has come under increasing attack for the brutish approach that it has taken to deportation cases, often refusing medical care and coercing people to waive their rights. In the case of Chinese computer engineer Hiu Lui Ng, the abuses may have killed him.
Ng came to New York at 17 and later became a computer engineer with a job in the Empire State Building with a U.S. citizen as a wife, two U.S. citizens as children, and a house in Queens. He spent half his life here.
Ng was seeking a green card and went to his final interview with ICE. (The family says that a notice had been sent to the wrong address on his visa earlier). Upon his arrival, he was informed that he had overstayed a visa years earlier and was arrested — staring an ordeal that took him to various jails and three New England states. He ultimately ended up dead after ICE officials indicated that he thought that he was faking his complaints about back pain. It turns out that that he had a fractured back and cancer.
There have been a number of such complaints against ICE. I have personally dealt with ICE officials who simply refuse to respond to counsel on deportation cases, showing open content for both courts and counsel. Earlier this year, ICE was accused of negligence in the cancer death of Francisco Castaneda, 36, a Salvadoran, who was also left without treatment for cancer. There is also Boubacar Bah, 52, a Guinean tailor, who was left in an isolate cell for 13 hours with a skull fracture and brain hemorrhages.
Congress is beginning to express concern over the thuggish and abusive record of ICE in such cases. Yet, it is civil and possibly criminal charged that is needed to hold this agency accountable.
For the full story, click here.
Congress has “expressed concern” over many things including the “war” in Iraq – so I guess many more will die.
I can find many descriptors for this administration: contemptible; illegal; abusive; Zionist; ignorant; stupid; but I think hypocritical fits best.
Small Government turned into the largest in history, reduced spending turned into the largest deficit in history, family values turned into the repressible and lewd conduct we see on a weekly basis.
Now Bush and his lackeys like Rice and Gates are warning that Russia will risk harming it’s standing with the US and the world if it doesn’t leave Georgia. The US wasn’t worried about its standing when nearly every country warned about going to “war” with Iraq.
“Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.’”
— Jesus Christ, Mark 7:6
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense, make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”
— Jesus Christ, Matthew 23: 14-15
I guess when Bush speaks with Jesus, the subject of hypocrisy never comes up.
Do the people who work for ICE, FEMA, INS and police departments whose officers freely use tasers on innocent people have families?
They always seem to justify their inhumane actions. How do they tuck the little kiddies into bed bed at night with the death of innocent people on their hands?
Protectin us from terr-ist?
The next generation of Bush/McCain voters has to come from somewhere.
Last time I checked the Democrats under the amazingly bad leadership of the first and worst female speaker of the house control both houses of congress and steadfastly refuse to do anything other than co-conspire with the Bush regime. So much for the Pelosi et al voters.
It would be nice to have an opposition party again.
Please visit Representative Dennis Kucinich’s web page and sign the impeachment petition. We must act. Call your feckless representatives, they don’t see the light until they feel the heat. Whining alone won’t stop these monsters. Almost every day there is a new story about a person being murdered by those in government. How many more must die before the people awake to realize even one is too many. If enough of us call our representatives and sign Dennis’ petition Pelosi will have to put impeachment back on the table. And impeachment is the only thing that will deter these power mad monsters.
I don’t understand these whiners myself. As I don’t have the good fortune of living in “the greatest country in the world” and apparently the only one that is “Blessed by God”, I became I delegate (surprisingly easy to do) so I could more easily affect change.
But I’m sure that when only a few dozen people protest when a Black man is tortured to death by a White Cop, apathy must have become part of the Pledge of Allegiance. I have been to dozens of countries, and have never seen so many flags as I do in the US, now I know they symbolize blind loyalty to the Government. Congratulations on having the greatest democracy in the greatest country in the world (if you happen to be white and rich).
ICE scares me for many reasons. They are secretive and they deal with people who have few or no rights in this country. Nothing helps corruption along better than the combination of secret dealings with powerless people.
This group needs a lot of sunlight. mnoble, you’re right. We desperately need an oppositon party. There was an interesting discussion which touched on this issue on Bill Moyer’s Journal last night. Here is the link.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/
Jill,
I think once the Republicans nominated McCain they sealed their fate; there’s going to be a glut of True Conservative third parties sometime in the next 5 or 6 years. Bush is in no way Fiscally Conservative, and is only socially conservative to get votes. McCain has to mimic Bush if Fiscal Conservatives are pretty mad at the Social conservatives for taking over “their” party. he wants to get any of that sweet sweet money. If a party comes out that’s a moderate version of the Libertarian Party (because really, who’s going to put a party into power that’s against the National Parks) I think they stand a good chance of getting a share of the power.
Well, interestingly Ralph Nader is picking up McCain’s alleged voters. There is an inherent contradiction at the heart of libertarianism but it may be the most likely third party to gain traction.