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It was quite an honor to be invited by Flashpoints host Dennis Bernstein to speak via telephone about three Texas families who have been abducted and imprisoned by Immigration and Customs Enforcements. The live program from the New College of San Francisco aired Jan. 19 on KPFA and other Pacifica stations. The segment of the show about the Texas families runs from minutes 5:30 to 18:10. Visit the Flashpoints website or go directly to the audio file. Note to listeners: Haskell is NorthWEST of Dallas–gm.

A Phone Conversation with Jay

The vigil outside the T. Don Hutto prison camp for immigrant children was small but feisty Thursday evening, as activists from across Texas joined local citizens calling for an end to child imprisonment.

“Local people in Williamson County are taking an interest and digging in,” said vigil organizer Jay J. Johnson-Castro via cell phone Thursday night following the third vigil outside the Hutto jail since mid-December. He says about 35 people attended the vigil, inlcuding “more local people than last time.”

Next Wednesday, the county’s lease expires with Corrections Corporation of America, and county residents are asking commissioners not to renew it. They will ask again next Tuesday at the scheduled meeting of the Commissioners Court.

“Will the commissioners stand on the side of the children or on the side of Chertoff?” asked Johnson-Castro. Michael Chertoff is USA Secretary of Homeland Security, the agency that ultimately directs the imprisonment of immigrant children.

Chertoff
“Some people left the vigil more outraged than they were before,” said Johnson-Castro. The local community, based on information they are gathering from friends and neighbors, have lately been asking how children are paired with cellmates. Are teenaged children paired with pre-schoolers? Boys with girls?

And some Hispanic residents of Williamson County are concerned that they are not represented among county commissioners who have toured the jail.

Williamson county newspaper reporters were on hand to cover the vigil, as were photographers from larger media markets. Univision anchor Diego Muñoz covered the event for the Austin affiliate. And Latino USA gathered lots of taped interviews for broadcast on National Public Radio (NPR) stations.

On the activist side, the American Civil Liberties Uni*n (ACLU) brought fresh signs. And attorney John Wheat Gibson, who represents two families of Palestinian heritage, drove from Dallas in his Corvette convertible, dressed for the day in an American-flag bowtie. Background music of drums and guitars was organized by artist A. J. Montrose.

At the vigil, people shared stories about other groups that are planning to join the growing movement.

“This is about respecting the rights of children,” said Johnson-Castro. He said it is time for the USA to join the rest of the world in ratifying the international Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“Every right of the child that other countries have ratified is being violated at Hutto,” said Johnson-Castro. “This is international law that the US wouldn’t agree to. The international community has higher standards than the USA. And the reason is so the USA can do whatever it wants with impunity.”

As a result, one toddler child living in the Dallas area, Zahra Ibrahim, has been prevented from seeing her pregnant mother since the two were separated upon arrest in early November. More materials about the Ibrahim family have been archived here at the Texas Civil Rights Review.

“It’s time for Congress to show what they are made of,” says Johnson-Castro. “There is an element within the Republican party committing this atrocity and profiting from it. We’re insisting that it stop now.”

Johnson-Castro will return to the Hutto jail for a fourth vigil on Feb. 12 as part of the Marcha Migrante II border caravan that will travel from San Diego to Brownsville. Border mayors are supporting the caravan, says Johnson-Castro.

The border mayors don’t want a wall, and they are not happy about the Governor’s recent announcement to send 600 armed National Guard for border patrol duties. Johnson-Castro says the border mayors were also dismayed by President George W. Bush’s Tuesday night pledge to double the border guard.

“President Bush and Secretary Chertoff represent the heart of America as much as Governor Perry and Ted Nugent represent the heart of Texas,” said Johnson-Castro.

In today’s emails of resistance, John Wheat Gibson clips an article from Guantanamo prisoner Jumah Al Dossari, adding a reminder that “the bureaucrats described below are the same people who are keeping small children and pregnant women, who have never even been accused of a crime, in the privatized for-profit prison in Taylor, Texas.”

Juma’s appeal from Guantanamo calls out to “fair minded Americans,” because, like so many others who are being abused by our runaway machines of state, he still believes that America is a nation of people.

Jay J. Johnson-Castro replies that the T. Don Hutto prison camp is the place where the Homeland Security agenda reveals itself as “a crime against Brown” that must be resisted through solidarity between Latin Americans and Arab Americans.

Here at the Texas Civil Rights Review, on this day after the 78th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. we say that Juma, John, and Jay are bound to be right. How long? Not long? Because this gulag bureaucracy, that feeds upon the power of fear, must fall.–gm ************

email from Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Jan. 16, 2007

Justice is coming amigos…

We the people are slow to raise our voices in solidarity. But once we do…those who view themselves as our rulers will rediscover what the opening words of our Constitution … “We the people” …. actually means. It is we…the disenfranchised people that make up the ruling class! Those in office are merely employees … and many of their actions do not meet with our approval. They can therefore be replaced by those who share and will represent our values of freedom, democracy and justice. Such rulers can no longer commit crimes against humanity with impunity. Hutto will be shut down. But we will not stop there.

The demented acts such as Guantanamo and Hutto have roots somewhere in our country and within the prevailing government. Those roots must be weeded out and replaced with true representatives of liberty, human dignity and of moral fiber. We need genuine representatives of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

To accomplish this…we will communicate with our friends, neighbors, the media and our elected officials. We will accomplish this with our minds and our hearts. This is an intellectual and moral warfare. We cannot fight terror by being terrorists. No border walls. No prison camps. No more torture and violations of the most basic of human rights. No more racial profiling. Refugees are not “illegals”. They are not criminals. Refugees are refugees.

This is turning out to be a crime against Brown. I appeal to the Latin Americans and the Arab Americans to entertain showing public solidarity here. Hutto is the perfect starting place.

The Border Wall was proposed to be built against…not just Mexico …but all of Latin America ’s poor. To accomplish that…it was also bannered by the racist supremacists as the “Arab-Muslim terrorist pipeline”. Essentially, the Border Wall was an assault against both the Latin and Arab worlds. There are literally millions of Americans…of all ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, religious faiths, and political persuasions that are vehemently opposed to things like this being committed in the name of freedom, liberty, democracy and “ America ”. That’s like a Christian committing rape of a child in the name of God…without consequences. Doesn’t work that way folks…and we have to remind our fellow Americans and those who are elected to preserve our country’s values…that we will no longer tolerate such flagrant abuses and crimes against humanity.

We demand that it such malignant manifestations of anti-democracy cease.

Jay

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Border Ambassador

Connecting.the.dots…making.a.difference…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr.

Del Rio, Texas , USA
Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila , Mexico
jay@villadelrio.com
http://www.villadelrio.com

*****

From: John Wheat Gibson
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
FW: [Nlginteract] The Brunei Times – A cry from Guantanamo

Note that the bureaucrats described below are the same people who are keeping small children and pregnant women, who have never even been accused of a crime, in the privatized for-profit prison in Taylor , Texas .

The Brunei Times

OPINION

A cry from Guantanamo

Jumah Al Dossari

15-Jan-07

I AM writing from the darkness of the US detention camp at Guantanamo in the hope that I can make our voices heard by the world. My hand quivers as I
hold the pen.

In January 2002, I was picked up in Pakistan , blindfolded, shackled, drugged and loaded onto a plane flown to Cuba . When we got off the plane in
Guantanamo , we did not know where we were.

They took us to Camp X-Ray and locked us in cages with two buckets — one empty and one filled with water. We were to urinate in one and wash in the
other.

At Guantanamo , soldiers have assaulted me, placed me in solitary confinement, threatened to kill me, threatened to kill my daughter and told me I will stay in Cuba for the rest of my life.

They have deprived me of sleep, forced me to listen to extremely loud music and shined intense lights in my face. They have placed me in cold rooms for hours without food, drink or the ability to go to the bathroom or wash for prayers.

They have wrapped me in the Israeli flag and told me there is a holy war between the Cross and the Star of David on one hand and the Crescent on the other. They have beaten me unconscious.

What I write here is not what my imagination fancies or my insanity dictates. These are verifiable facts witnessed by other detainees, representatives of the Red Cross, interrogators and translators.

During the first few years at Guantanamo , I was interrogated many times. My interrogators told me that they wanted me to admit that I am from al-Qaida and that I was involved in the terrorist attacks on the United States.

I told them that I have no connection to what they described. I am not a member of al-Qaida. I did not encourage anyone to go fight for al-Qaida.

Al-Qaida and Osama Bin Laden have done nothing but kill and denigrate a religion. I never fought, and I never carried a weapon. I like the US and I am not an enemy. I have lived in the US , and I wanted to become a citizen.

I know that the soldiers who did bad things to me represent themselves, not the US . And I have to say that not all American soldiers stationed in Cuba
tortured us or mistreated us.

There were soldiers who treated us very humanely. Some even cried when they witnessed our dire conditions. Once, in Camp Delta , a soldier apologised to me and offered me hot chocolate and cookies.

When I thanked him, he said, “I do not need you to thank me.” I include this because I do not want readers to think that I fault all Americans.

But, why, after five years, is there no conclusion to the situation at Guantanamo ? For how long will fathers, mothers, wives, siblings and children cry for their imprisoned loved ones?

For how long will my daughter have to ask about my return? The answers can only be found with the fair-minded people of America .

I would rather die than stay here forever, and I have tried to commit suicide many times. The purpose of Guantanamo is to destroy people, and I have been destroyed. I am hopeless because our voices are not heard from the depths of the detention centre.

If I die, please remember that there was a human being named Jumah at Guantanamo whose beliefs, dignity and humanity were abused.

Please remember that there are hundreds of deta

inees at Guantanamo suffering the same misfortune. They have not been charged with any crimes. They have not been accused of taking any action against the US .

Show the world the letters I gave you. Let the world read them. Let the world know the agony of the detainees in Cuba .

Jumah Al Dossari is a 33-year-old citizen of Bahrain . This article was excerpted from letters he wrote to his attorneys. Its contents have been deemed unclassified by the Department of Defence.

The Gulf Times

http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn/details.php?shape_ID=17159

By Greg Moses

CounterPunch / ElectronicIntifada / DissidentVoice

Tasting the food that Suzi Hazahza cooked for him on that first Thursday in November, Reza Barkhordari couldn’t have been more joyful. He went to Suzi’s house every night after work, to sit with her whole family. And each night, the wedding drew a day closer.

“We met at a local Middle Eastern coffee shop in Richardson, Texas called the Al-Afrah,” recalls Reza over the telephone. “That’s where I saw her for the first time, and it was instant connection. It was so strong that Suzi’s mother noticed and helped in connecting the two of us. Shortly after that Suzi and I both realized it was something that was meant to be, and we would be spending our whole lives together. That was on August 6, 2005.”
“I proposed to her on August 6, 2006, our first anniversary. My mother encouraged me to do it, and she sent a diamond ring to Suzi. We were to be married over the Christmas holidays.”

In preparation for the wedding, Reza invited the Hazahza family to move closer to his home in Plano, where it would be easier to keep everyone in daily contact. On the first Monday in November, they were to close on a home in Frisco. What American dream could have seemed more complete?

The first Friday of November, however, found Reza driving to the Dallas offices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in search of the love of his life. Suzi and her entire family had been rounded up at gunpoint.

There was father Radi, a 60-year-old refugee from Palestine–a proud provider who had seen better days as a banker in Jordan–now working as a state-certified car inspector. And mother Juma, the one who had steered her daughter toward love, and who shared Suzi’s delicate preferences for freshly-cooked food.

There was sister Mirvat, a 24-year-old newlywed who still lived at home because the religious rites for her marriage had not been completed. She had graduated with honors from North Lake Community College and was running the office of a local insurance agent.

There was brother Hisham, a 23-year-old sales whiz and prized manager for a cell phone company who was moving rapidly from management into ownership, on the verge of opening his own store. And there were younger brothers Ahmad and Mohammad, ages 17 and 11.

Like two other Palestinian families in Dallas, all of them had been rousted from bed at gunpoint and marched out the door in their bedclothes. They were locked away, Reza was told. He could not see Suzi on Friday.

On Saturday, Reza drove again to Dallas ICE, hoping to see Suzi and her family. But no, that was impossible. Then on Sunday ICE gave Reza a little hope. Suzi had been moved to the Rolling Plains Detention Center in Haskell, Texas along with her two oldest brothers, her sister, and her father. Visiting hours lasted until 4:00 pm. If Reza could get there before 4:00, said ICE, then he could see Suzi.

Reza headed West in his car, calling a friend on his cell phone to get directions as he drove into afternoon sun. It was already past noon, and he had a four-hour drive in front of him. If he went just a little bit faster, he could make it in time, and he did, pulling into the immigration jail at 3:45 pm. But it would take ten minutes to get Suzi, explained the guards. And despite Reza’s begging, they told him the visit would not be worth the trouble. Dejected, Reza drove back home.

For the next five weekends Reza planned his visits to Haskell carefully. He drove from Dallas on Friday night and visited with the Hazahza men on Saturday. Then on Sunday he met his beloved Suzi.

One week he recalls Suzi came to the meeting with a fever and cough. She explained that she tried to get medical help but without luck. So Reza made some phone calls and complained. When Suzi’s younger brother reported blood in his urine, Reza called about that, too.

After making complaints to ICE, Reza completed his fifth week of visits. He had no way of knowing that after the fifth visit, things for Suzi would suddenly get worse. She called from Haskell begging her fiancé never to come see her again.

After the fifth visit from Reza, Suzi Hazahza had been subjected to a full body-cavity search.

To this day, Suzi Hazahza refuses all visitors. She will not see the love of her life, Reza. She will not see her mother Juma, recently released from the T. Don Hutto jail in Taylor, Texas. Nor will she see her baby brother Mohammad who was released with Juma. She will not risk another visitor because she is determined to never again let the guards at Haskell prison search her like that again.

New York attorneys Joshua Bardavid and Ted Cox will return to Texas next week to file federal habeas corpus motions in behalf of Suzi Hazahza and her family. The motions they filed for the Ibrahim family in early February worked very well, proving that ICE had no good reason for taking them to jail. Not only were all the Ibrahims freed from Hutto and Haskell both, but Juma and Mohammad Hazahza were also freed from Hutto, two days before a press tour there.

In the coming weeks, as a protest movement grows around the issue of children in prison, let us not forget that 20-year-old Suzi has been wrongfully imprisoned, too. To quit the terror of Suzi Hazahza, she and the rest of her family deserve to be immediately freed.

What is it like for Reza to think about Suzi these days? He takes a call from her every night. Last night he put her on the line with Juma and Mohammad in order to continue this interview.

“You have to understand, this is not your standard strip search,” explains Reza. “What they do makes her extremely uncomfortable.” And how did that chilling phone call from Suzi make him feel, when the love of his life begged him to visit no more? “I felt like I was on fire,” he says. “There’s so much pain. Just to be honest with you, I am literally sick to my stomach.”

And with each night’s phone call from Haskell to Dallas, the marriage of Reza and Suzi, the meant-to-be lovers, slips further away….