The Texas Civil Rights Review is pleased to publish the following report by Ralph Isenberg concerning Amal and Jasmine Suleiman. The twin girls, who are citizens of the USA, were deported with their parents and older brother following a pre-election immigration raid on their home. For two months, the parents and older brother of the twin girls were held in Texas prisons by federal authorities. Isenberg will be actively seeking the family’s return from Jordan, and the Texas Civil Rights Review will be standing by to help. Please stay tuned.–gm
By Ralph Isenberg
One morning in November of 2006, the lives of Amal and Jasmine Suleiman were changed forever. At the crack of dawn in what can only be described as a SWAT style paramilitary operation, officers from Immigration Customs Enforcement {ICE} stormed the home of the twin sisters. The twins were born in Texas on July 9, 2001.
Suddenly the twins were forced to view automatic weapons being pointed at their parents and brother. Strange men were seen yelling at the top of their lungs. Their otherwise clean home was being messed up by these strangers. Used to their mother dressing them, they did not know what to think when their older brother helped them get dressed. The twins had never seen their parents cry and they had great fear as both father and mother were crying. But nothing prepared them for the sight of seeing their father and brother handcuffed like common criminals.
The twins had no idea as they left their home that morning that they were but a few hours from even more terror. Despite being told by ICE that the family would remain together, the twins were told they could not stay with their parents or brother. Each family member was given a few minutes with the twins to say goodbye before they were ushered out of the holding area. The twins were now screaming at the top of their lungs. They did not want to go.
Their Uncle was kind enough to take the twins into his home. Otherwise the twins would have been placed with Child Protective Services and put in foster care. They were scared and wanted to be with their parents and brother. This did not happen for the next 60 days. When they were united the joy was short as the twins learned they were moving to Jordan. All the twins wanted to do was to go to their home in Arlington, Texas.
The twins were told everything would be OK for them in Jordan. False promises for the twins, because they were citizens of the United States who had grown up and gone to school in an orderly society. The forced separation is still fresh in the minds of the twins. The twins refuse to leave the side of their parents for any reason. This includes going outside to play.
The twins clearly remember the words of ICE telling their parents how if the parents fought deportation the children would be put up for adoption. Mother and Father were kept from one another and ICE told each parent a different story of what the other had said. The duress at this moment of time was unbearable. How does a parent cope with the idea of having to abandon their children? Is there any decent parent that would even contemplate such an idea?
Little children were being used to make sure the policy of the United States Government, whether right or wrong, was carried out. The concept enacted by Congress of “family unity” was being completely ignored. The Suleiman family concluded that the family must remain intact at all costs. No government was going to separate their family.
The United States Government was not concerned with the particulars of this family. All ICE cared about was getting this case closed. In the details lay the horrible truths of what was being done to this family.
This story has been played out thousands of times by ICE. Countless Citizens forced to exile their country of birth because of September 11, 2001. We were a kinder people before that time. We prevent terror from abroad by creating terror from within. Just ask Amal and Jasmine Suleiman.
MoPress 