Happy Thanksgiving from the View

This Thanksgiving when I sit down with my family for dinner I will be thinking about the first Thanksgiving in America. How we were the immigrants then and the kindness and welcoming attitude that many of our ancestors had in sitting down to break bread and share a meal. Whether they were my distant pilgrim ancestors or my wife's distant Native American ancestors. I would encourage everyone to think about the current state of immigration in America and ask themselves if the same sense of inclusion and friendship is still present in are homes. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Friday CCA Protest

This story can be found here

Powerful Immigrant Rights Rally at Stewart Detention Center Calls Attention to Deadly Human Rights Abuses

Report back from Stewart Detention Center Protest: Social Justice Activists Processed from Lumpkin Square to Remote Immigrant Prison to Call Attention to Deadly Human Rights Abuses

Lumpkin, GA -- Social justice and immigrant rights activists processed from Lumpkin Town Square to the Stewart Detention Center this Friday morning to call attention to the abuses perpetrated at this commercial prison which in the last year have killed one prisoner and injured many. Prisoners continue participating in hunger strikes demanding better conditions, and local human rights organization Georgia Detention Watch organizes in solidarity with their calls for justice.

protest in a powerful and emotional vigil, survivors of detention centers, family members of those imprisoned and human rights activists gathered to listen to those families torn apart by raids and forced detention, including the family of one detainee whose three children went in to visit him following the vigil.

Many immigrants to the United States are victims of U.S.-sponsored military training and atrocities in Latin America. “In our fight to close the SOA, we continue to work towards a world that is free of suffering and violence” said SOA Watch organizer Jake Dacks, one of the speakers at the prison vigil.

Dacks continued, “We recognize the SOA as a part of the same racist system of violence and domination that operates US immigration policy. We ally ourselves with victims and survivors of state violence and their families in our effort to create a better world.”

The Stewart Detention Center, a temporary detention center for folks who are locked up while awaiting immigration status or deportation. ICE works with the for-profit Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) to operate this remote prison.

One of the participants spoke about her father, who had been deported after living in the United States for more than 20 years, most of her life. "The man that I used to have dinner with, and just shared time with, is now the man I can only speak on the phone with," she said.

Activists brought some puppets down to Friday's rally from the warehouse in Columbus, GA, where they are being built for the annual Vigil to Close the School of the Americas this Saturday and Sunday.

The action at the Stewart prison follows two previous vigils, several humanitarian visitations, and release of a report by Georgia Detention Watch which documented violations of immigration detention standards at the Stewart Detention Center. More than 100 immigrants have died in ICE custody in the last six years alone.

"Roberto Martinez Medina and I would be the same age if he were still alive today," reflected Anton Flores-Maisonet of Alterna and Georgia Detention Watch on the passing of a 39-year-old immigrant from Mexico detained at Stewart, who died of a heart infection on March 11, 2009. To date, many questions about the circumstances surrounding his death remain unanswered. "This death at CCA's Stewart Detention Center and the allegations that the center fails to provide basic medical care to detainees should be of great concern to the County whose name it bears," Flores-Maisonet observed.

Among the speakers at Friday's vigil was Bryan Holcomb, a former high-level manager from CCA. He gave an exposé on the depth of irregularities at CCA-run detention centers and prisons, including high sexual-assault rates.

Those gathered marched in a solemn funeral procession for almost two miles to the Stewart Detention Center. The march included a coffin, carried by shrouded pallbearers, memorializing Roberto Martinez Medina.

The entrance to the Stewart prison was blocked by three large buses, preventing anyone from seeing or entering the facility and largely preventing any of those detained from seeing the protest outside. Protesters challenged this by waving the large puppet and directing some of their songs and speeches to the prisoners in hopes that they could be heard.

At the close of the vigil a few hours later, people walked over to the gates, placing signs solemnly down and left in silence, many continuing on to Columbus, GA, where they will join the mass mobilization to shut down the School of the Americas this weekend.

Azadeh Shahshahani, ACLU of Georgia National Security/Immigrants' Rights Project Director and Chair of Georgia Detention Watch, sees the vigil and funeral procession as the local reflection of a time in which “significant concerns are being raised nationally about the inhumane treatment of immigrants at detention centers and the unnecessary detention of many immigrants in the first place, often for prolonged periods and without being afforded basic due process.”

Herbert Abdul, a former immigrant detainee, also spoke at the rally. Mr. Abdul was detained for months at the Atlanta City Detention Center and the Etowah County Detention Center.

Other speakers at the rally included: Silky Shah, Organizing and Outreach Coordinator with the Detention Watch Network; Samuel Brooke, Attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center Immigrant Justice Project; as well as Flores and Shahshahani.

Located in rural Southwest Georgia, the Stewart Detention Center detains over 1,750 men, primarily from Latin America. Stewart is run by the Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America, the country's largest private prison corporation.

An April 2009 report by Georgia Detention Watch on conditions at Stewart documented violations of ICE’s own detention standards at the facility. The report charged that food and medicine are withheld as punishment and that solitary confinement is routinely imposed without a disciplinary hearing.

The organizations sponsoring Friday's vigil included:

American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia
American Friends Service Committee
Amnesty Atlanta
Center for Constitutional Rights
Coalicion de Lideres Latinos-CLILA
Detention Watch Network
Georgia Detention Watch
Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights
International Action Center
Nipponzan Myohoji Atlanta Dojo
Rights Working Group
School of the Americas Watch
Southern Poverty Law Center Immigrant Justice Project
Texans United for Families

Stewart Detention Center Protest

I will be speaking at a rally in Lumpkin, GA this Friday and also at a workshop on Saturday in Columbus, GA. The workshop is called "Unjust and Unwarranted: The Reality of Immigration Detention in Georgia." The workshop will be in Room 213 of the Columbus Convention Center and is sponsored by and part of the annual SOA Watch events. Details on the Rally can be found in the press release below.

Human Rights Groups Muster Forces in a Vigil, Rally, and Funeral Procession Aimed at Drawing Attention to Violations at the Stewart Detention Center

Press conference and vigil will be Friday, November 20th, at 10:00 a.m., in
Lumpkin town square

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

CONTACT:

Anton Flores-Maisonet, Alterna, 706-302-9661, Anton@alternacommunity.com

Azadeh Shahshahani, ACLU of Georgia, 404-574-0851, ashahshahani@acluga.org

Atlanta – Georgia Detention Watch today announces a vigil, co-sponsored by
several local and national human rights organizations, aimed at focusing
attention on the treatment afforded to immigrants detained at the CCA-run
Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin. The vigil is expected to draw hundreds
from across the United States, including individuals directly impacted by
inhumane immigration detention policies and practices. The action follows
two previous vigils, several humanitarian visitations, and release of a
report by Georgia Detention Watch which documented violations of immigration
detention standards at the Stewart Detention Center.

"Roberto Martinez Medina and I would be the same age if he were still alive
today," reflected Anton Flores-Maisonet of Alterna and Georgia Detention
Watch on the passing of a 39-year-old immigrant from Mexico detained at
Stewart, who died of a heart infection on March 11, 2009. To date, many
questions about the circumstances surrounding his death remain unanswered.
"This death at CCA's Stewart Detention Center and the allegations that the
center fails to provide basic medical care to detainees should be of great
concern to the County whose name it bears," Flores-Maisonet observed.

A silent funeral march from Lumpkin Town Square to the Stewart Detention
Center will memorialize the death of Roberto Martinez Medina and pay tribute
to the more than 100 other immigrants nationwide who have died in
immigration detention since October 2003

Azadeh Shahshahani, ACLU of Georgia National Security/Immigrants' Rights
Project Director and Chair of Georgia Detention Watch, sees the vigil and
funeral procession as the local reflection of a time in which "significant
concerns are being raised nationally about the inhumane treatment of
immigrants at detention centers and the unnecessary detention of many
immigrants in the first place, often for prolonged periods and without being
afforded basic due process."

Rally on the Square

Bryan Holcomb, a former high-level manager at Corrections Corporation of
America which owns and operates Stewart Detention Center, is the key speaker
for the rally on the Square in Lumpkin. He will provide an exposé on the
depth of irregularities at CCA-run detention centers and prisons, including
high sexual-assault rates. Such abuses led in part to the federal
government's ending the incarceration of children at CCA's T. Don Hutto
prison in Texas.

Herbert Abdul, a former immigrant detainee, will also speak at the rally.
Mr. Abdul was detained for months at the Atlanta City Detention Center and
the Etowah County Detention Center.

Other speakers at the rally will include: Silky Shah, Organizing and
Outreach Coordinator with the Detention Watch Network; Samuel Brooke,
Attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center Immigrant Justice Project; as
well as Flores and Shahshahani.

About the Stewart Detention Center

Located in rural Southwest Georgia, the Stewart Detention Center detains
over 1,750 men, primarily from Latin America. Stewart is run by the
Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America, the country's largest
private prison corporation.

Conditions at Stewart: Substandard and Inhumane

An April 2009 report by Georgia Detention Watch on conditions at Stewart
documented violations of ICE's own detention standards at the facility. The
report charged that food and medicine are withheld as punishment and that
solitary confinement is routinely imposed without a disciplinary hearing.

The organizations sponsoring Friday's vigil include:

American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia

American Friends Service Committee

Amnesty Atlanta

Center for Constitutional Rights

Coalicion de Lideres Latinos-CLILA

Detention Watch Network

Georgia Detention Watch

Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights

International Action Center

Nipponzan Myohoji Atlanta Dojo

Rights Working Group

School of the Americas Watch

Southern Poverty Law Center Immigrant Justice Project

Texans United for Families

Georgia Detention Watch is a coalition of organizations and individuals that
advocates alongside immigrants to end the inhumane and unjust detention and
law enforcement policies and practices directed against immigrant
communities in our state. Our coalition includes activists, community
organizers, persons of faith, lawyers, and many more.

For more on Georgia Detention Watch, visit our website:
http://www.georgiadetentionwatch.com/

Azadeh N. Shahshahani

National Security/Immigrants' Rights Project Director

American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia

1900 The Exchange SE, Suite 425

Atlanta, GA 30339

770-303-8111

A New Web Series on CCA and the Media

The video embedded above is not an advertisement. It's inspiration for a new series of postings. Next week the 270 View is starting a short series of articles revealing some of the many tricks that Corrections Corporation of America employs to manipulate the media and public perception of CCA.

Just remember not to ask anything that would paint them in a negative light.....

A True American Hero

I think the story of Major Libardo Eduardo Caraveo is fascinating. The story below sums it up nicely for a Blog such as mine but if you Google him you can find out much more. His contributions were endless and the time he spent in helping others will pay dividends to us all for many years to come even though he has unfortunately passed on. Major Caraveo gave back in many ways whether it was working with bilingual special-needs students at Tucson-area schools, working with federal prisoners or working with soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress. His road was probably not the most profitable path he could of taken. Many of the lives he influenced were people that probably otherwise might of gone unnoticed and unhelped. But I think that he understood that people matter. He came to this country as a teenager from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico barely speaking any English and yet he led a very successful life. He seems to be the definition of a self made man. His life was unfortunately cut short in the recent Fort Hood shooting tragedy. To me it's just another example of how immigrants can and have contributed to our great nation. The 270 View applauds Major Libardo Eduardo Caraveo for all of his contributions to our great country and salutes him this Veterans day as a true American Hero.

The below story was originally found here

By WSJ Staff

Thirteen people were killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on soldiers at the Fort Hood Army base, including Maj. Libardo Caraveo. Here is a short profile:

Maj. Libardo Caraveo, a 52-year-old psychologist, was preparing for his first deployment into a combat zone with a support unit that helped soldiers deal with the stresses of war. He arrived at Fort Hood on Wednesday to finish up paperwork before heading for Afghanistan, his son Eduardo, 31, said by phone from Tucson, Arizona.

“He was somebody to look up to, somebody to admire,” Eduardo Caraveo said. “He was a true self-made man, very driven, very hard-working.”

Maj. Caraveo Va., had arrived in the U.S. from Mexico speaking little English as a teenager, his son said. The major put himself through school and eventually earned a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.

He had worked as a teacher and at the Federal Bureau of Prisons and had a private practice in Woodbridge, Va. He’d been in the National Guard for ten years, and had spent one year at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

As a member of the 467th Combat Stress Control Detachment, he would have been responsible for dealing with battlefield trauma in Afghanistan.

His son Eduardo said they hadn’t spoken much about the details of his father’s deployment, adding, “I didn’t even know the actual date.”