The New York Times has a story on Tanveer Ahmad, a blip on no one’s radar. Nothing terrible or violent happened to him — he died of a heart attack in a prison in New Jersey — but I was moved by the story, and thought it might be worth taking a moment to pay attention to it.
In 2005, a Pakistani man named Tanveer Ahmad died while being held for an immigration offense in Monmouth County Jail in New Jersey. He had been in the U.S. since the early 1990s, when he had come in on a visitor’s visa and stayed. He had married two American women, one in Texas, and another in the Bronx. He had also apparently married a woman back in Pakistan on a visit home in 1999, an event which led to the collapse of the first marriage (he remained legally married to the woman in Pakistan). While working at a frequently-robbed gas station in Texas, he had an incident that came back to haunt him later:
His only trouble with the law was a $200 fine for disorderly conduct in 1997: While working at a Houston gas station, he had displayed the business’s unlicensed gun to stop a robbery. (link)
I can understand the legality of this — possessing an unlicensed firearm can be big trouble (though it sounds like it wasn’t his firearm, but the one owned by the owner of the business). Still, there is definitely a tragic irony here: Tanveer Ahmad was punished for being robbed. As a result of that misdemeanor involving a handgun, Ahmad was classified a “violent” offender, eligible for immediate detention and deportation irrespective of any mitigating circumstances.
Tanveer Ahmad’s immigration status wasn’t simple. Like thousands of other people, he had tried various options to find a path to a Green Card, but failed. Until he was actually imprisoned in 2005, it didn’t seem like there was any particular pressure on him from the USCIS to return to Pakistan:
Like several million other residents of the United States, Mr. Ahmad occupied the complicated gray zone between illegal and legal immigration. Though he had overstayed his first visa, he had repeatedly been authorized to work while his applications for “adjustment of status†were pending. Twice before 9/11 he had been allowed back into the country after visits to Pakistan.
But the green card application sponsored by his Bronx-born wife, Shanise Farrar, had been officially denied in March 2005, leaving him without a valid visa. Although the couple could have reapplied, by the time he was arrested they had not spoken in more than a year, and Ms. Farrar, who had received a letter threatening a marriage fraud investigation, was unaware of his detention. (link)
So yes, for at least a few months in 2005 he seems to have reached an endpoint in his immigration quest. But Tanveer Ahmad wasn’t a criminal, and he wasn’t taking jobs away from ordinary Americans. He was driving cabs and working the night shift at gas stations in rough neighborhoods. The latter at least is dangerous and undesirable work — work most Americans aren’t willing to do.
It’s also worth mentioning that, once he was detained, Tanveer Ahmad was ready to be deported, and had told his lawyer that he would waive any right to contest his deportation: he had no desire to remain in detention. The part of the story involving Shanise Farrar is particularly sad, especially the reason she gives for breaking up with him in 2001-2002:
As she tells it, theirs was an intimate relationship ruined by 9/11. With regret, she recalled her reaction: “I was just cursing him. I was like, ‘You people come here and kill us and mess up our city.’ He was trying to convince me and prove to me that he’s a good man, not those people.â€
“I loved him,†she added. “It was just, once the World Trade Center came down, I changed my mind.â€
I definitely knew some good people who got kind of xenophobic after 9/11, but I have never heard of this before. (Has anyone else heard of 9/11 breakups like this?)
Finally, Tanveer Ahmad died after a few weeks in prison, apparently of a heart attack. The only really “actionable” event leading to his death was the neglect by his prison guard, who ignored his requests for medical attention when it was urgently needed. (It’s not the first time. Read this story from 2007 for several more instances of severe neglect of immigration detainees leading to possibly preventable death.)
As background, according to an earlier story in the New York Times, there were, in 2007, somewhere in the range of 27,000 people in American immigration detention, held in regular prisons across the U.S. Many of them are people like Tanveer Ahmad, with complex immigration status and history, who were rounded up and imprisoned by authorities because of a run-in with police somewhere in their past and the new prosecutorial zealousness of USCIS after 9/11.
As of 2007, 62 of those prisoners had officially died in custody (Tanveer Ahmad’s name was not initially counted in that list of 62). Accused of abuses and neglect of these prisoners, the Department of Homeland Security created a watchdog agency to ensure that detainees are well-treated. That is a good thing. However, the USCIS has resisted pressure to regularize these detainees, giving them the same rights as regular criminal inmates. They remain in a kind of legal limbo: not officially “imprisoned,” but rather “detained” for however many months it takes to try them and, presumably, deport them.
And that is a little bit about Tanveer Ahmad, who died at age 43 in Monmouth County Jail.
I feel bad for Mr Ahmad. But being a legal immigrant who waited patiently for a long time, I find it difficult to find sympathy for his difficulties.
But being a legal immigrant who waited patiently for a long time, I find it difficult to find sympathy for his difficulties.
Baingan, I’m not complaining about the fact that he was due to be deported. He had a few years to try and regularize his status, and might have succeeded. By 2005, it seems like he was out of legal options.
What moved me about his story is the whole picture — the small tragedies in the 1990s, the failed marriages, and so on. My hope is that someone reading about him might feel sympathy for him on that level.
I do feel that detainees should be given proper medical attention while in detention, and that detention should be as short as humanly possible. The old average of nearly 90 days to process a deportation was way too long (I gather they’ve improved it somewhat.) I also wonder why the USCIS doesn’t have its own detention facilities. The types of people we are talking about are not hardened or violent criminals, so why put them in with criminals — and then treat them worse than the real criminals?
Yes, he was a criminal. He stayed in this country illegally.
How can we say that he didn’t take a job away from an ordinary american? I’m sure there are plenty of legal immigrants and natives alike that would take the job.
But he does deserve sympathy, and he did deserve medical treatment in prison.
Amardeep: I posted this sad story on SM’s NEWs tab early this morning.
NYCanuckMallu said:
But think about all the jobs that he provided to prison guards, lawyers, activists (both pro- and anti-immigrant), reporters, pundits, and the defense manufacturers who make the drones and cameras and vehicles which militarize our border.
Yes, he was a criminal. He stayed in this country illegally.
I think the term “immigration violator” is fairer. There are lots of people out there, including people I know, who have had periods of time where they were in violation of one immigration rule or another. You are not a criminal because you submit a form late, or mail it to the incorrect address.
Did the USCIS think he was a “criminal” when they repeatedly renewed his work authorization? They knew his status and history, but they were giving him the benefit of the doubt while his adjustment of status was pending.
“Yes, he was a criminal. He stayed in this country illegally.”
Overstaying a visa is not a criminal offense. See Title 18 of the US Code. Now, he did have a criminal conviction for disorderly conduct. You could call him a criminal for that, but by that definition anyone with a speeding ticket or ticket for jaywalking is a criminal, so it loses any significance.
The conviction for disorderly conduct was because he brandished an unlicensed handgun to thwart an armed robbery at a gas station where he was employed. The article notes that he was robbed 7 times in his first 35 days on the job. The disorderly conduct offense had no jail time and a $200 fine. My guess is that ICE argued that the offense was a “firearm offense” or an aggravated felony that made him ineligible for release on bond. It actually isn’t, but I’ve seen them claim crazier things and have judges in detention centers go along with it.
The problem is a systemic overuse of detention and lack of detention priorities. ICE attempts to detain as many people as possible without regard to their flight risk or security risk. They choose detention over cheaper and less invasive methods like home monitoring. This is largely the result of immigration detention being turned over to private companies (Corrections Corporation of America NYSE – CXW) and state prisons. CCA is well connected in the Republican party especially to the Tennessee congressional delegation. They detain thousands of people across the country every day for profit. The result is that providing CCA with business has taken priority over security concerns. The same with state prisons. Many states especially in the south have excess prison space and budget shortfalls. Politicians successfully lobby to have immigration detainees kept there on the federal government’s dime. As a side result, you see detainees being transferred from NYC to the boondocks of Louisiana and Alabama without any notice to them, their families, or attorneys. Hundreds of miles from family, their attorney, or possibly anyone who speaks their language, they begin to wear down and consider accepting deportation.
The second problem is incompetence by ICE and government contractors. Simply, they are not properly equipped to detain people. Further private contractors are focused on profit and run like a corporation. This is not close to the first time that someone has died in immigration custody. ICE denied Francisco Castaneda treatment for penile cancer. Eventually, it was amputated, and he died shortly after. http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/Castaneda071004.pdf
The third problem is an utter lack of transparency. Kafka had nothing on ICE. Try as a citizen to walk into an immigration court in a detention center. It is nearly impossible. Try finding where a detained relative or client is located. It could take days. Here, ICE did not inform his family or attorney that he had died.
AP said:
Check out my friend Rene Feltz’s website The Business of Detention. She started it as her Columbia School of Journalism thesis and has gotten nominated for a Webby and a SXSW Interactive “People’s Choice” award. There’s a ton of good, original, in-depth reporting and links to other sites, as well.
Amardeep:
Yes, i read this story on the news bar before you posted. And I was quite moved– this just reads like a very sad story. It is a little unfair too. He wanted ot live in America just as legal immigrants do. And legal immigrants take American jobs too. Those of you who have been displaced by H1B’s(all legal and baigan might be one of them) should know that.
Word.
What about Polygamy in then?
This line just made me laugh.
She sounds as if she had been very intimate with her “husband” does’nt she? Let’s see, a person accused of marriage fraud, comes up with an excuse for supposedly breaking up. And we are supposed to believe it? If yes, I have a bridge to sell you for five bucks and an unlimited metro card.
B.S. If a job is undesirable, and no-one takes it up, it will usually pay more until it is desirable or it will be automated. Which is why many of us ramped up on our education and avoided soft degrees, despite the extra time and effort a technical degree required, since it creates a higher barrier to entry.
We feel little sympathy because many us us know people who had to take huge hits to their wealth to go back home, but did so anyway, because the law required them to and because many of us have given up opportunities and have gone to go to some length to be on the right side of of the law.
And because every person who deliberately breaks immigration laws makes it more for difficult for the rest of us.
DizzyDesi,
Your sympathy is unnecessary. The author of the post simply shared a story about a south Asian man. The fact remains that those in the custody of ICE are often out of reach of medical care and are treated like caged animals. I know of a 70 year old Indian man who had overstayed his visa. His status became apparent to ICE because of a criminal issue concerning his relative. He was picked up by ICE and out of sight and communication of family and friends for 7 days. Apparently he was shuffled between 3 states, confined in the back of a van in 90 degree temperatures with other detainees (mostly hispanic), and all were treated rudely, as though dogs, by ICE agents and the county jail guards. Can anyone imagine a 70 year old white man who had overstayed his visa being treated like this by Indian authorities?
and also, because, as you’ve expressed in the past, the only good “paki” is a dead “paki”.
I really hate Indians that try so hard at being a “red neck”
The only Indians that rant about how they did it the legal way are the Indians that are already wealthy in India and can afford to do it the legal way.
“My parents paid for tutors and servants and I did it all the legal way”
In the words of Christian Bale
“OHHHHHHHH Good for you”
I have complete sympathy with what happened with Mr. Tanveen Ahmad. However, if I would have been in his place, I would have immediately left the country where I am staying illegally and when I ran out of options. He was illegal and on top of that, he was practicing polygamy (I have particular disdain for this).
The condition in prisons/detention centers is bad universally. I agree that there should be better provisions, especially in detention centers, but we cannot ignore the fact that the prison officials deal with enough offenders daily that they sometimes ignore genuine demands.
No White man will do his menial job — I don’t think this is correct in current market conditions. Few weeks back I was having a coffee in Dunkin Donuts and a well dressed white guy walked in enquiring whether there is any opening there. I am sure there were enough takers for Mr. Ahmad’s job.
I completely agree with DizzyDesi regarding following statement. �And because every person who deliberately breaks immigration laws makes it more for difficult for the rest of us.�
Hey but it’s just me.
I am wondering, had the man not been in detention, could he have afforded medical care ? I know someone – born into citizenship – who works their ass off but did not go to see a doctor even when suffering from a painful ailment because she has no health insurance.
I don’t feel particularly sad about his New York marriage collapsing. It doesn’t sound like Mssr. Ahmed had any particular reverence for the institution of marriage to begin with. He was willing to let the previous two marriages collapse. Perhaps he was just looking for a visa sponsor. And what illegal isn’t?
he may have committed crimes but does he deserve to die for these ‘crimes’? no.
would ICE and private detention companies have treated him differently if he wasn’t practicing polygamy? no
his crimes may be relevant to his detention but not to his death. i sympathize with his case a lot and so should any immigrant, legal or illegal.
I feel sad for Mr. Ahmad and his family here and in Pakistan. I am especially upset to read about how he was denied medical care while in detention. However, he did break the law. And, he reinforces the myth about all sub-continentals – money and green card grubbing mercenaries.
I guess the title of this post is reinforced: for most of you, Tanveer Ahmad’s death remains a blip, of no particular importance.
At most, it is a chance to make some snide comments about polygamy, underline the right-wing propaganda that immigration violators are criminals, and congratulate yourself on making it through the immigration process.
Carry on.
first, this isn’t an issue of whether tanveer was legal or not—so stop dissing on him as if his illtreatment is somehow justified. it wouldn’t be even if there was photographic evidence jumping across the mexican fence with a fluorescent “illegal immigrant” sign on him. the point is the morbid prison system run by the uscis, and in general, the US.
and this is the other extreme. most indians who are legal immigrants come from pretty ordinary backgrounds. unless you count every indian who isn’t starving as rich. this is just the leftists’ argument for bashing h1’s, equally unfounded as the right’s version—and probably has the same underlying origin for the hate.
At most, it is a chance to make some snide comments about polygamy, underline the right-wing propaganda that immigration violators are criminals, and congratulate yourself on making it through the immigration process.
Yeah, I was all set to do just that until I read the NYT article. Nothing says human like pictures of smiling faces.
Reading this comment thread is really very depressing. I feel really sorry for Mr. Ahmad (I also noticed this story BTW). He did not do anything wrong, and died very sadly in a prison. I don’t see how any immigrant, legal or illegal, deserves this. Many of the comments here are just callous and meanspirited.
Quoth DizzyDesi: pedophilia of MJ – worthy of tacky honor. illegal paki immigrant – worthy of mockery and contempt.
The only Indians that rant about how they did it the legal way are the Indians that are already wealthy in India and can afford to do it the legal way.
I didnt say “All” legal immigrants from India are rich. I said most that “rant” about it are. This has been my experience.
OOO I’ve never heard of Sepia Mutiiny before; found you via a search for the NYTimes article (hadn’t remembered where I’d read it!). Hmm, searched for 1) Immigrant Detainee Cardiac Death, 2) Immigrant Detainee Defends Gas station, 3) Immigrant Detainee Marries TN Woman. And where did it come up among first few entries? Sadly, the last entry yielded Amardeep’s posting on this site–not NYT! Amazing and disturbing confirmation of the “Blip on No One’s Radar.” So, ya, why is the bigamy/polygamy the only part of this elephant anyone sees? I see a life of desperation , and, yes, some poor choices. I am glad this site exists, and that Amardeep cared enough to post about Tanveer Ahmad. We have a sad HX with detainees here, and this man’s experience puts an all too human face on the suffering. Thank you for your insight.
Amardeep, thank you so much for highlighting the human impact of this story. So often immigrants — documented and undocumented –, and individuals in detention, are dehumanized, vilified, and represented as desperate, identity-less masses. I really appreciated this post, as I appreciated the NYT article, in large part because it reinforces that these are real, human stories, and that as individuals on the other side of the bars, we should not settle for the kind of slow, tortuous abuse that takes place behind them.
Everyone who reads the story probably asks themselves who is responsible for this. The choices are a) no one b) Ahmad c) The US government aka ‘the system’. Taking the last one first, it is hard to fault the system for detaining the man. After all, he is a flight risk and would be denied bail for that reason were a criminal charge in question. It doesn’t sound like the detention conditions caused the onset of his heart attack. Could they have provided timely quality preventative medical care ? Probably yes. But medical care has come to be a great luxury in this country – which law abiding people who work hard and not marry random strangers are routinely denied. I don’t know if many of the readers here actually know people without health insurance, but if they do they probably know cases who seem much more deserving of sympathy on that account. Dying alone in a prison in a strange country separated from one’s loved ones is a terrible thing. Which could be one reason many people stay with their loved ones even if it deprives them of the pleasures of living in the US.
.
Pedophilia? Given that the charges were dismissed after a pretty exhaustive trial, you would know of this how? First hand experience? That would explain a lot.I sympathize with you for your traumatic childhood.
The part that annoys me is that is the almost all of the two pages of the article seems to be trolling for sympathy. There is some innuendo, but no real investigation.
Did the journalist dig up mistreatment of prisoners in the detention center — NO. Weasel words are used instead.
Does the article say that Ahmad’s heart attack was caused by the detention — NO.
Would Ahmad be alive if not for his detention. — maybe yes, maybe no, nothing definate.
That is what the journalism should have focussed on. How did Mr. Ahmad really die. How was he treated in the detention center. Interviews with other inmates/ guards/ others associated with the detention center. Whether that are violations of human rights in detention centers.
The Ahmad article tells us little about I.C.E injustices. Instead this NYT article is a one sided fluff piece full of holes. And it is far too tempting to point out the holes.
Are you kidding me??? This guy overstayed his visa, where’s the “grey” area? I was in the US for nine years before I had to leave because my visa expired. Now I’m supposed to feel sympathy for this illegal immigrant because he’s dead?
He wouldn’t be dead if he’d followed the law. Simple as that. I have no sympathy for illegal immigrants from any country. Particularly Pakistan.
In that case, you’ll understand and condone their enlightened treatment of these poor fishermen.
Well thank you for this information have made a Share.
“He wouldn’t be dead if he’d followed the law. Simple as that. I have no sympathy for illegal immigrants from any country. Particularly Pakistan”.
wow.just wow.
Poor guy…he was just trying to make a living for his family back home. Thanks for the post, Amardeep.
No sympathies for polygamy, but his crime in this respect is much less compared to married truck-drivers who stop at brothels….at least here he was in a loving relationship and was probably looking for companionship.
A very sad human story. For most, it will bring out the normal human response to suffering. For a few, the abnormal human respone — callousness towards death.
Thanks anyway Amardeep, for highlighting this.
i may be alone here, but the thing that jumped out for me, and what makes him sympathetic character, is that he bravely prevented a robbery by brandishing a weapon. and then his life is ruined for doing so. what sort of message does that send to kids?
that the gun was unlicensed is a technicality and pales in comparison to the fundamental right to bear arms and to protect ones, or someone else’s, property from criminals.
gun rights and property rights are fundamental american values. if you don’t like it than you, not mr. ahmed, should get out of my country. he should’ve been cut some slack for the technicality and awarded citizenship for the brave act.
Thanks for posting this, Amardeep. Just some points for the discussion for all:
1) overstaying a visa is not a criminal offense. It’s an administrative offense. Not that it would make much difference in the cruelty of this to the person concerned or the waste of money to the taxpayers, etc. 2) If he is being subjected to mandatory detention because of the criminal act, it should be noted that a) you don’t have to even be convicted of the criminal offense to be subjected to deportation and b) as stated, it’s mandatory – and therefore cruel. It’s basically double jeopardy – you serve time and THEN you’re put into a detention center. This was vastly expanded in the collection of anti-civil rights laws that were passed. It shows why even if this were a criminal offense, that wouldn’t make it okay to treat him the way he’s being treated. Whether or not you are ‘legal’ or ‘illegal’, ‘wait in line’ or ‘don’t wait in line and jump the queue’, people should be treated with respect.
3) There is a separate argument about whether those rules that make some people documented and others not or give somep eople green cards and visas mroe easily than others are fair – I would say they’re not – but we should be able to agree that the 1996 laws (AEDPA and IIRAIRA if you want to wiki) are grossly inhumane. To say nothing of denying public benefits to everyone from udnocumented people to green card holders.
4) Politically, peopel are turning on immigrants both documented and undocumented. So for those of you quick to judge this person, you may want to consider when these laws might be turned against you – and the ways they already have been like the family backlogs, the fact that immigration laws kept south asians from coming to the United States for so long and from gaining citizenship for a long time, that they were selective and still are for certain people which has effects on both the South Asian community in the United States and on South Asia itself, and many other things.
thanks.
Some of the detainees who have died:
Yusif Osman – died of a heart attack, autopsy revealed that an aspirin may have saved his life, instead as he was collapsed on the ground, guards asked him to fill out a “sick card” to see a doctor
Bobucar Bah – fell from a bunk fracturing his skull and causing a brain hemorrhage, he became incoherent and was placed in solitary for faking an illness, five days later he fell into a coma and was taken to the ER where he died for months his family and attorney were not able to find out what happened
Walter Rodriguez-Castro – died of meningitis which went untreated despite complains
Francisco Castenada – ICE refused to allow him to have a biopsy done that had been ordered by doctors. His penis was eventually amputated, and he died soon after. Before his death, he testified to Congress. http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/Castaneda071004.pdf
Maya Nand – a 56 year old permanent resident and father detained after his application for citizenship was denied because of an old misdemeanor offense, he had a heart attack but did not receive medical attention, days later he died handcuffed to a hospital bed
There are around 90 others who have died in ICE custody in the past couple of years.
“The part that annoys me is that is the almost all of the two pages of the article seems to be trolling for sympathy. There is some innuendo, but no real investigation. Did the journalist dig up mistreatment of prisoners in the detention center — NO. Weasel words are used instead.”
Actually, this story follows a series of stories by Nina Bernstein, the New York Times, and Washington Post over the past year on deaths in immigration detention and lack of access to healthcare in detention. Precisely what has been dug up is systemic mistreatment of detainees in detention center. I don’t think anyone says that detention directly caused coronary artery disease.
What is galling here is that ICE forgot about Mr. Ahmad. They did not remember he had died. He was left off of their statistics for detainee deaths. Now, this is after a firestorm broke out on Capitol Hill last year on detainee deaths. DHS representatives testified to congress about the number of deaths and got it wrong. Along side the lack of caring and incompetence is a severe lack of transparency.
A few of the prior stories: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/us/28detain.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/immigration/cwc_d1p1.html http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/immigration_detention_us/incustody_deaths/index.html
dizzy desi – stayin’ classy as always.
also – keep defendin’ those who can pay hush money, while mocking the unfortunate.
I don’t understand how people can look at this story and not feel some sort of ache in their heart for this man. He lived, had hopes and dreams, needed intimacy, obviously shared some good memories with his American wives, and now he’s gone. Just like that. He didn’t even have the luxury of dying with freedom. You might not like the fact that he overstayed his visa or had two wives, but it’s just a common human reaction to feel sorry for the fact that he was in this world and occupied a place in it with his hopes and dreams and whatever happiness he brought to other people and that is all gone now without a trace.
Thanks for the background.
If this is directed towards me, you’re wrong. Besides a poor person cannot really afford to fake a marriage. A person who did take that route, told me it cost him around ~20K years back. I was told recently that the price has gone up to $30K.
This (~Rs 15 Lakhs) is more than the cash savings of a typical H-1 when he / she comes to the US.
Discuss.
First, before posting a discussion post, Sepia Mutiny states this: “Requests for celebrities’ contact info or homework assistance; racist, abusive, illiterate, content-free or commercial comments; personal, non-issue-focused flames; intolerant or anti-secular comments; and long, obscure rants may be deleted. Unless they’re funny. It’s all good then.” Can this please be enforced, with tall the intolerant messages here? (e.g. “He wouldn’t be dead if he’d followed the law. Simple as that. I have no sympathy for illegal immigrants from any country. Particularly Pakistan.”) Smacks of intolerance to me, and it ain’t funny.
I have long read Sepia Mutiny and enjoy the site, however, the discussions seem to get dominated by instigators pushing extremely intolerant views. I would say to them, that one should think before one posts. If you would not say something to someone’s face, you shouldn’t post it. Its pretty cowardly to sit behind a computer in the ether and rant without fear of repercussions.
As for Mr. Ahmed, he was not an angel. But he did not deserve to die in custody, and have it go unreported, as if he never existed. But if you must caste stones at him, make sure you are pure first (in every sense, no past or present indiscretion whatsoever). If you can honestly look at yourself, and say that you have never transgressed the law (yes, even speeding, it is the LAW, and it can land you in jail), then comment on Mr. Ahmed’s status relevant to his death.
Here in the U.S., detainees are supposed to be protected by law, and not subject to cruel and unusual punishment (its in the Constitution), of which lack of medical care constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
And who really cares if he perpetuates a stereotype? That only matters to people who are conscious of themselves in the first place.
Mr. Ahmad’s death is a tragedy, and should be seen in that light. If one finds humor in that, or would rather speak to his status rather than address the real issue, then one should take a good look at oneself.
At this point, if you have not made the connection that “illegal” immigrant is a euphemism for intolerance towards ALL immigrants and people of color, no matter what their status, then you really don’t understand reality. And what is even more despicable is turning on your own because you feel priveleged for having “papers,” and that “they” should go back.
“He had married two American women, one in Texas, and another in the Bronx. He had also apparently married a woman back in Pakistan on a visit home in 1999..†Have to feel bad for anyone who dies a sudden death, but beyond that I did not get the point of the story.
I can’t help thinking the level of sympathy (or lack of it) one feels for an incident such as this is – in huge measure – conditioned by one’s opinions about other aspects of the victim – which is to say the victim’s religious/ethnic background, class status, political views and standing in respect to the ‘system’. Instead of being a Muslim immigrant from Pakistan of apparently limited means, if he had been a native born racist redneck participating in some supremacist organization, chances are that he wouldn’t be receiving the same level of sympathy from the same people. So this is not entirely about conditions of detention – it is about how one feels about immigration – legal and illegal and “other” perpipheral markers of identity. As a legal immigrant myself I find strange the assertion that my use of the term ‘illegal immigrant” is a euphemism for intolerance towards ALL immigrants and people of colour. Whether it upsets you or not, I am not equally well disposed towards those who will break laws and manipulate personal relationships…and all towards what noble goal ? The chance to stay in the US at any price ?
The Double Jeopardy Clause does not apply to proceedings to deport an individual. See Zuniga v Greene (1999) among other cases.
” if he had been a native born racist redneck participating in some supremacist organization, chances are that he wouldn’t be receiving the same level of sympathy from the same people.”
Your statement is a reflection on you, wunderbar. You speak for noone but yourself and know nothing of the background of other commenters. You go from saying, “chances are,” to in the next sentence making it a statement of fact: “So this is not entirely about conditions of detention – it is about how one feels about immigration – legal and illegal and “other” perpipheral markers of identity.” It is about conditions of confinement. For YOU, it is about “‘other’ peripheral markers of identity.”
Of course I speak for myself.
But perhaps I don’t need to, since I have you to speak for me. LOL.
How ironic the title, in light of the recent comments. I see firsthand the resentment “legal” immigrants heap on those who they suspect of somehow bypassing/ignoring immigrant laws. (This comes from hearing my white collar boyfriend who works here on an H1 visa moan and groan about cabby drivers.) Perhaps if these folks stopped transferring their anger towards the American immigration system onto their hapless countrymen, and lobbied their legislators, there would be more progress. Not the point, however. I digress.
This man, whoever he was, whatever he did, died alone in conditions that someone with a better attorney might have successfully fought. He came to this country for whatever reason, but it can be assumed he hoped for better things for himself and his family. The system didn’t work for him. It should have. He worked hard. He tried to defend himself. He was punished for this. He died four years ago. Where was his NAACP? What gaps led to him being ignored by not only the South Asian community, but everyone else? If he can be forgotten so quickly, it’s just as likely we can be so forgotten. After all, what’s another dead desi.
But carry on with the stone-casting. When your kid gets pulled over on the NJ turnpike…you’ll be the first one to call the ACLU. Amuses me how we want our heroes to be saints. Perhaps you should google “Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, etc if you’re looking for the flawless man.
“Over Valued American Dream is not for Every One ” Let Americans be Happy with Hispanic Drugs ,Janitors ,Chinese Cheap Labor ,Indian/Chinese/European Middle Class Software Engineers . Tanveer was not an Angel Niether is USCIS a Charity . USCIS System Stinkkkks So Does the Societies in USA lot of Cosmopolitian But Selfish Neighbourhoods !!! There is NO LOVE AFTER 911 XENOPHOBIA RULES USA NOW SO DOES THE ECONOMY DOOM!!! !!!Better be a Hero in a Galli of YOUR Desh !!!