U.S. citizens wrongly detained, deported by ICE

U.S. citizens wrongly detained, deported by ICE

www.sfgate.com

The son of a decorated Vietnam veteran, Hector Veloz is a US citizen, but in 2007 immigration officials mistook him for an illegal immigrant and locked him in an Arizona prison for 13 months.

After nine months, a judge determined that he was a citizen, but immigration authorities appealed the decision. He was detained for five more months before he found legal help and a judge ordered his case dropped.

Veloz is one of hundreds of US citizens who have landed in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and struggled to prove they don't belong there, according to advocacy gro

(visit the link for the full news article)

People charged in the criminal justice system have a range of constitutional rights, including the right to a speedy and public trial before an impartial jury and the right to legal counsel even if they can't afford to hire a lawyer. Criminal detainees have the right to a telephone call, to be brought before a judge, usually within 48 hours, and to be told of the charges against them.

Immigration matters, however, are civil, not criminal, so those protections do not apply. Still, the U.S. Constitution is designed to protect citizens from detention without due process. But citizens in immigration detention are not being afforded that due process, advocates say.
www.sfgate.com.../c/a/2009/07/27/MNGQ17C8GC.DTL

Legislation was created earlier this year to ensure such cases do not continue, while also improving the overal human rights for suspected U.S. citizens.


www.sfgate.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Amazing how someone can produce a valid birth certificate and be told by a government agency that they don't know if it is real or not.

Imagine being thrown in another country you don't know with no money, no relatives, and no where to go.

What a nightmare.

They say it happens all the time but they had to qoute a case from 2007. Just in that fact alone proves it doesn't happen all the time or they would of quoted something that wasn't 2 years old.

Im not saying it should happen im just saying there trying to make something seem bigger than it really was one person who had difficuty in proving his identity.

reply to post by MOFreemason

You'll find this is not the first time this has happend.

"Im not saying it should happen im just saying there trying to make something seem bigger than it really was one person who had difficuty in proving his identity."

How about if that "one person" was you?

reply to post by SphinxMontreal


I would atleast like them to make the story about me and bring attention to my case and not make it out to be a large problem involing many people.

reply to post by deadoralive


I don'y beleive most of the highjackers from 911 were guilty of parking tickets either. And some were educated. If they found them here illegal and they were deported just think of what could have been stopped.

Originally posted by SphinxMontreal
"Im not saying it should happen im just saying there trying to make something seem bigger than it really was one person who had difficuty in proving his identity."

How about if that "one person" was you?

Or how about..., the President? You think his certificate would have satisfied the "authorities"?

I look Latino, I suppose I should say away form ICE or they'll keep me sequestered for over a year, before accepting that my birth certificate wasn't a forgery.

What happens when something like this happens? I mean the man lost 13 months of his freedom, you cannot give that back. I do not really pay attention to immigration, but I thought if you were found to be in the country illegally, you were deported?

Maybe they used this mans example from two years ago because it was one that was extremely harsh, hence the 13 months imprisonment and appeal by that agency.

Originally posted by JBA2848
reply to post by deadoralive

 

I don'y beleive most of the highjackers from 911 were guilty of parking tickets either. And some were educated. If they found them here illegal and they were deported just think of what could have been stopped.

You really need to look into this one to understand the full picture, he was a qualified US citizen and wasn't related to any criminal activity . ICE knew that but booted him out anyway, why take nearly 30 years to do it?

DAMN! it took over a year to find out 1 man was a legal citizen? Shame on you ICE...sloppy manwork on yuor behalf. Wrongly imprisoning a war verteran no less? tsk tsk...ide sue the crap outat ICE>