"Lawsuit over death of Lynn woman allowed to go to jury" by Milton J. Valencia Globe Staff September 15, 2015
A federal judge in New York refused Tuesday to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of Irene Bamenga, a French national who was trying to return home to France before she was detained for 12 days on immigration violations, held in New York county jails, and deprived of critical heart medications.
Bamenga, 29, who was living with her husband in Lynn, died in custody despite pleas for her medication. She was the subject of a 2012 Boston Globe series, “Justice in the Shadows,” which highlighted the secrecy of the country’s immigration system and the way it cares for detainees.
See: Initiating Immigration Reform
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In 2011, Bamenga had tried to cross the border into Canada so she could return to France, where she planned to resolve her US immigration status. However, she was detained by US Customs and Border Protection agents at the border for having an expired visa, a civil violation.
Bamenga already had a plane ticket to return to France, but federal agents held her in a prison despite her complaints that she had congestive heart disease and needed medication.
The Globe series found that tens of thousands of immigration detainees are being held in secret prisons each day, many with no access to caretakers.
That is a stain on AmeriKa, period.
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Related: White House campaign encourages naturalization
"The owners of Baby Nat’s Fruitland in Roslindale will pay more than $300,000 in back pay and penalties in a settlement with the Massachusetts attorney general’s office. Attorney General Maura Healey accused the store’s owners of underpaying more than 20 employees when they worked overtime and Sundays and subsequently interfered with the state’s investigation. Kenneth Natorelli Jr. and Darlene Etienne Natorelli, the owners of Baby Nat’s Inc., also were accused of keeping inadequate pay records. “This business repeatedly took advantage of its workers by failing to pay them the hard-earned money they were owed,” Healey said in a statement. “Our office will continue to make sure that workers in Massachusetts know their rights and don’t fall victim to unfair employment practices.” In a brief phone call, Darlene Natorelli declined to comment. Healey’s office said the investigation began in January in response to a tip from an employee. Most of the store’s employees were Latinos who didn’t speak English, the attorney general said."
Doesn't that pi$$ you off?
Also see:
Medal of Honor recipients to hold convention in Boston
Nation’s Medal of Honor recipients gather in Boston
Area high schools salute Medal of Honor recipients
Hanna Medal of Honor awarded to Lowell officer
South Boston’s Vietnam veterans memorial rededicated
Cape’s only Medal of Honor recipient honored
"Border Patrol agent is indicted in 2010 fatal shooting" by Astrid Galvan Associated Press September 24, 2015
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Federal authorities have charged a U.S. Border Patrol agent who killed a Mexican teenager in a cross-border shooting with second-degree murder.
Luis Parra, the attorney for the mother of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, told The Associated Press that a federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted agent Lonnie Swartz.
‘‘The Elena Rodriguez Family is grateful to the DOJ (Department of Justice) for this first step in the pursuit of justice, and remain steadfast in their resolve to seek full transparency from the U.S. Border Patrol on behalf of Jose Antonio,’’ Parra said.
Sean Chapman, Swartz’s attorney, did not respond to a late call seeking comment. He told The Arizona Daily Star that he expects his client to plead not guilty at an Oct. 9 arraignment. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also has not responded to a request for comment.
Swartz is also facing a federal civil rights lawsuit in the death of 16-year-old Elena Rodriguez, who was in Nogales, Sonora, on Oct. 10, 2012, when Swartz shot him from Nogales, Arizona.
The Border Patrol has said that Elena Rodriguez was among a group of rock-throwers endangering agents’ lives. But his family says the boy was walking home from a basketball game with friends and wasn’t armed or throwing rocks.
An autopsy revealed Elena Rodriguez had been shot about 10 times.
The case sparked outrage and came amid criticism that the Border Patrol uses force indiscriminately, a charge the agency has adamantly denied. Border Patrol agents generally are allowed to use lethal force against rock throwers because rocks can be potentially deadly. Rock throwers have attacked agents more than 1,700 times since 2010, according to the agency.
The ACLU says the Border Patrol has a systematic problem with use of force and filed a lawsuit in Tucson on behalf of the boy’s mother.
It runs throughout the entire law enforcement community.
Chapman tried to get the lawsuit thrown out on the grounds that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t apply to Elena Rodriguez, a Mexican citizen, because he was in Mexico at the time of the shooting.
I was wondering about that, but it doesn't excuse murder.
A federal judge in July ruled that the lawsuit can go forward.
In a similar case in Texas, a federal appeals court ruled that a teen killed in Mexico by a border agent in El Paso was not protected by the Constitution.
Because they are not a citizen, and combined with the bu$ine$$ advantages, I think you can $ee why the migrant i$$ue is never solved (much like the drug war; when it benefits both sides of the same coin there are no lo$ers). Slippery slope for migrants.
In that case, U.S. Border Patrol agent Jesus Mesa Jr. shot 15-year-old Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca in June 2010 near a bridge between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. Authorities said Mesa was trying to arrest immigrants who had illegally crossed into the country when rock-throwers attacked him. Mesa fired his weapon across the Rio Grande, striking Hernandez Guereca twice.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals originally said Hernandez Guereca’s family could sue Mesa. But the full court overturned that ruling in April.
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"The immigration drama started out on a positive note. The State Department had announced it would allow certain work visa holders to apply for green cards earlier than expected. After the federal government reversed a forward-thinking decision on immigration last month, breaking a promise to tens of thousands of highly skilled legal immigrants, some opted to sue. Flower power indeed. The reversal sends a troubling message from the Obama administration and underscores the need to revamp our current immigration processes. Desai heads Immigration Voice, the advocacy group that launched the unorthodox flower campaign “in the spirit of Gandhian principle and in light of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday on October 2.”
Sorry to be posting that late, but that's all I saw about him in my Globe.
"Crackdown on ‘sanctuary cities’ dies in Senate; Democrats decry GOP effort as anti-immigration" by Mary Clare Jalonick Associated Press October 20, 2015
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked legislation to crack down on “sanctuary cities” that shield residents from federal immigration authorities, casting the bill as anti-immigration policy that echoes the rhetoric of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The 54-45 vote on the measure fell shy of the 60 required to move to final vote on the bill, which Republicans have pushed since the July 1 shooting of Kathryn Steinle in San Francisco. The man charged in the killing, Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez, was in the country illegally despite a long criminal record and multiple prior deportations. He had been released by San Francisco authorities despite a request from federal immigration authorities to keep him detained.
They worked on that over the summer, and notice Democrats are never called obstructionist?
The bill by Louisiana Senator David Vitter would punish jurisdictions that don’t share immigration information or cooperate with federal requests, blocking them from receiving certain grants and funds.
“Rather than reward cities, we must start enforcing our current immigration laws and strengthen our borders to keep Americans here safe at home,” Vitter said.
San Francisco and hundreds of other jurisdictions nationally have adopted policies of disregarding federal immigration requests, or “detainers,” which advocates say can unfairly target innocent immigrants and hurt relations between immigrant communities and law enforcement authorities.
Isn't that treason?
The White House threatened to veto the bill, saying it would jeopardize crucial law enforcement dollars and lead to mistrust between federal and local officials. The administration has criticized cities such as San Francisco for not cooperating fully with immigration officials but has tried to work with them through a program that would allow federal officials to be notified before a serious criminal is released.
Congressional Democrats and the Obama administration have said the best way to get at the problem is a comprehensive immigration overhaul, something House Republicans have blocked for years....
How do you like the game as we all twi$t in the wind?
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A vile man called it “vile legislation.”
Also see:
Immigrant students will be able to claim Adams scholarships
Merit scholarships approved for some immigrant students
Birthright citizenship should be upheld
UPDATE: Cruelty compounds loss for families of missing
