[news] [Fwd: [pga] [CHRI] Migrante Intl slams unjust deportation of 60 Filipinos]

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-----Forwarded Message-----
From: Jane G. <nicajg at panix.com>
To: pga at lists.riseup.net
Subject: [pga] [CHRI] Migrante Intl slams unjust deportation of 60 Filipinos
Date: 25 Aug 2003 12:43:39 -0400


Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 12:37:21 -0400 (EDT)
To: Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants <chri at itapnet.org>
Subject: [CHRI] Migrante Intl slams unjust deportation of 60 Filipinos

[Note: The following press release from the Philippines-based group
Migrante International is followed by an ABS-CBN news article announcing a
mass deportation flight scheduled to arrive in Manila on Wed., Aug. 27.]

Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 21:49:26 +0800
From: MIGRANTE International <migrante at tri-isys.com>
Subject: Migrante Intl slams unjust deportation of 60 Filipinos from US

News Release
August 25, 2003
For reference: Maita Santiago, Secretary-General 0919-333-2803

Migrante Intl slams unjust deportation of 60 Filipinos from US

This Wednesday, another batch of 60 Filipinos deported from the United
States will arrive in Manila.

"Like the hundreds of other Filipinos deported since 9/11, we expect this
group will also be handcuffed and treated like terrorists or hardened
criminals," said Maita Santiago, Migrante International Secretary-General.

Including this latest group, at least 465 Filipinos have been deported from
the US since September 2001.

"The Bush administration's crackdown on foreigners, Filipinos included, is
on the pretext that they are terrorists. But instead of terrorism, most are
only guilty of trying to earn a living," said Santiago.

According to the US Justice Department's own Office of Inspector General,
"None of the 1,200 foreigners arrested and detained in secret after
September 11 was charged with an act of terrorism."

"Instead, after periods of detention that ranged from weeks to months, most
were deported for violating immigration laws," reads the report's excerpt
posted on the internet.

Most who are deported are victims of the US' Absconder Apprehension
Initiative Program. This program targets about 314,000 immigrants for
arrest, detention and deportation. Among them are around 12,000 Filipinos
(most with expired visas), according to the Filipino Community Support
Group (FOCUS) in San Jose, California.

Santiago further explained that even if some of those deported were
previously imprisoned in the US, this still does not mean they deserve to
be deported, handcuffed or treated like violent criminals.

"For all we know they could have been arrested for speeding or shoplifting.
Besides, whatever they may have been jailed for, they already served their
time and this doesn't necessarily mean they are 'threats' to society," she
said, in reaction to reports that the National Bureau of Investigation will
monitor the deportees with 'criminal records' in case they 'create trouble'
in the Philippines.

In contrast to the NBI statement that the deportees might 'create trouble',
Santiago noted that Jerome Aricheta, 28 years old, became severely
depressed after he was deported from the US. Two weeks ago, Jerome hung
himself in his Makati City home.

Santiago concluded that on Wednesday, Migrante International and other
groups will mount a protest rally at the US embassy to oppose the Bush
administration's continued anti-immigrant crackdown on people of color,
including Filipinos. She also called on President Gloria to register a
diplomatic protest against these mass deportations by the US. #

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: ABS-CBNNEWS.COM
X-URL: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/abs_news_body.asp?section=Metro&oid=31421

   ABS-CBN.COM

   Friday, August 22, 2003 10:47:0 p.m
   Metro

   US sets deportation of 60 Pinoys in security crackdown

   By JIMMY PEREZ
   TODAY Reporter

   More than 60 Filipinos, most of them with criminal records, will be
   deported from the United States as part of the homeland security
   measures being enforced by American officials to stop terrorists.

   Local International Police (Interpol) chief lawyer Ric Diaz said
   majority of the deportees have served terms in US jails for various
   offenses ranging from fraud to robbery and other petty crimes.

   The Filipino deportees are included on the list of undesirable aliens
   that American officials consider as security threats.

   They [Filipinos] will be deported partly because they are undocumented
   aliens without valid purpose in staying in the US, Diaz said.

   Tentative date of the arrival of the deportees is on August 27. A team
   of local Interpol agents will fetch them from the US with an American
   team of federal agents on hand for the formal turn over to local
   authorities.

   The US crackdown on undesirable aliens took a stricter phase to
   include those who were arrested, charged and jailed as their criminal
   records are viewed as a threat to national security at a time the US
   was against all nationalities, especially Arabs, in what could be a
   cleansing process designed to weed out potential members of terrorist
   sleeper cells.

   Diaz explained that the deportation is legal because the deportees are
   undocumented aliens and have violated American laws that merit their
   jail terms.

   We may yet see another batch of deportees in the future. The US
   government is determined to stamp out illegal immigrants as part of
   the newly approved stricter immigration laws, he said.

   The National Bureau of Investigation will monitor the deportees who
   have criminal records to prevent them from creating trouble in the
   Philippines.

   Many of the deportees arrived in the US fifteen years ago in search of
   the proverbial greener pasture. But as undocumented, they had a hard
   time landing jobs and eventually got entangled in dubious activities
   to survive, it was learned.

   Most of the Filipinos used US tourist visas to enter the United States
   and later worked illegally in American companies after their visas
   have expired.

   The US government has been deporting hundreds of foreigners almost
   daily, mostly Arabs and Asians.

   International human-rights groups have criticized the US government
   for possible human rights violation brought about by the strict
   security measures.

   US authorities have been monitoring the activities of suspected
   international terrorists to prevent another major attack like the
   attacks in New York and Virginia.

   Please send your comments or feedback to newsfeedback at abs-cbn.com

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