SILENT VIGIL MARKS ANNIVERSARY
OF
ROBERTO MARTINEZ MEDINA’S DEATH

Newly obtained records show lack of transparency in ICE’s investigation and inconsistency in ICE’s account pertaining to Roberto Martinez Medina’s death

 Vigil marks second in the Dignity Not Detention Campaign

 Atlanta, Georgia - A silent vigil at 3:00 p.m. March 11 in front of the ICE office in Atlanta at 180 Spring Street S.W. marks the 1-year anniversary of the death of Roberto Martinez Medina who was detained in ICE custody at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia.  Mr. Medina, aged 39, was diagnosed with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle which is usually caused by a viral infection and normally treatable, according to records of the St. Francis Hospital in Columbus. The records also noted that Mr. Medina had experienced symptoms three days before being rushed to the hospital on March 10, 2009, when his condition rapidly deteriorated.

“Roberto Martinez Medina and I would be the same age if he were still alive today,” reflected Anton Flores-Maisonet of Georgia Detention Watch on the passing of a 39-year-old immigrant from Mexico.

“One year has passed since the death of Roberto Martinez Medina and ICE has yet to set the record straight,” said Azadeh Shahshahani, the ACLU of Georgia National Security/Immigrants’ Rights Project Director.  “The question still remains: Why did Roberto Martinez Medina die of a treatable heart infection?”

Newly Obtained Information Reveals ICE Investigation into Martinez’ Death not Transparent

 New records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the American Civil Liberties Union from ICE related to the death of Roberto Martinez Medina highlight the lack of transparency in the ICE investigation.  The investigation into Mr. Medina’s death was apparently referred to ICE’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties; however, the results of that investigation are unclear. An on-site review of Medina’s death by ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility was apparently scheduled for April 6, 2009; yet there is no indication that this review actually took place.  

 Perplexing Inconsistencies 

 Records show many inconsistencies in the accounts by ICE’s representative, the hospital records, and a report by the Division of Immigration Health Services about when Mr. Martinez started complaining of chest pain and other ailments.  The most perplexing disconnect in these accounts is the acknowledgment by Assistant Field Office Director for ICE Detention and Removal Operations, Michael Webster, to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation last year that Mr. Medina had experienced chest pain for three days prior to his death, even though Webster reported that Medina “did not voice the complaint.”  Newly-obtained records point to a report by the Division of Immigration Health Services stating that Mr. Martinez Medina ran a fever for three days before March 10, 2009.  This is in contrast to the official ICE narrative obtained through the ACLU Freedom of Information Act request which states that Mr. Martinez Medina did not complain of chest pain or other ailments prior to March 10, 2009.

Records Reveal that Roberto Martinez Medina Complained of Health Problems Possibly Related to Lapses in Hygiene Standards

The newly-obtained documents also indicate that Medina made sick calls prior to March 10, 2009 for itchy eyes and foot fungus.  These complaints are consistent with the information Georgia Detention Watch members obtained through interviews with detainees at the Stewart Detention Center where many complained of infections and rashes.

In April 2009, Georgia Detention Watch released a report on detention conditions at the Stewart Detention Center that pointed out the poor medical treatment given to detainees as well as hygiene standards. The report was based on interviews with sixteen detainees during a humanitarian visitation in December 2008.  Using Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Performance-Based National Detention Standards to gauge conditions at Stewart, the report made specific recommendations in several areas, including medical care standards, food services standards, disciplinary system standards, personal hygiene standards, and staff training.  

 In spite of several requests by members of Georgia Detention Watch and partner organizations to meet with ICE to discuss the findings of the report, ICE has yet to respond.

 Immigration Detention Centers in Georgia

Georgia has three immigration detention centers, including two which are run by the Corrections Corporations of America, the country’s largest private prison corporation. With a capacity of 1700+, the Stewart Detention Center based in rural southwest Georgia is the largest corporate-run immigration detention center in the country.

The recently opened North Georgia Detention Center also operated by CCA is located in Gainesville and has a capacity of 500.

Silent Vigil for Dignity Not Detention

The silent vigil sponsored by Georgia Detention Watch remembers the death of Roberto Martinez Medina, as well as the more than 100 other detainees who have perished in ICE custody since October 2003, and stresses the focus of another vigil held two weeks ago in Gainesville, Georgia where more than 50 people congregated to protest the recently opened North Georgia Detention Center and to join in the national launch the campaign: Dignity Not Detention: Preserving Human Rights and Restoring Justice.

Through taking part in the campaign, Georgia Detention Watch and partner organizations call for an end to contracts with the Corrections Corporation of America for the operation of the North Georgia Detention Center and the Stewart Detention Center due to CCA’s deadly track record and lack of adherence to ICE’s own standards.  Georgia Detention Watch also calls on the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to:

• Institute binding standards for treatment of immigrant detainees that correspond to international human rights norms.
• Utilize community-based and humane alternatives to detention.
•  End detainee transfers away from loved ones and communities of support.
•  End local enforcement programs that are contributing to the growth of the immigration detention system.

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 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. 

Member organizations of Georgia Detention Watch include: the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, American Immigration Lawyers Association Atlanta Chapter, Amnesty International-Southern Region, Amnesty International -Atlanta local group 75, Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment (ABLE), Coalición De Líderes Latinos (CLILA), Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR), Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition, Immigrant Justice Project- Southern Poverty Law Center, International Action Center, Open Door Community, Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta (RRISA), and others.

Georgia Detention Watch to Release Report on Conditions at Stewart Detention Facility  

Press Conference will be Friday, April 10^th, at 10:00 a.m., in front of ICE office, 180 Spring Street S.W.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, April 9, 2009

CONTACT:

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

Adelina Nicholls, 770-289-4833, anicholls@glahr.org

Atlanta – Georgia Detention Watch will release a report Friday on detention conditions at the Stewart Detention Center, a facility located in rural southwest Georgia operated by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).  The report is based on interviews with sixteen detainees during a humanitarian visitation coordinated by Georgia Detention Watch in December 2008, at which a group of 30 Georgia residents participated.  The report uses the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Performance Based National Operation Standards as the standard by which to gauge conditions at Stewart.

“As illustrated by the report, conditions at the CCA-run facility are grossly inadequate, even compared with ICE’s own nonbinding standards,” said Azadeh Shahshahani, National Security/Immigrants’ Rights Project Director with the ACLU of Georgia, a member organization of Georgia Detention Watch.  “It is high time for Congress and the new administration to create enforceable standards binding ICE and corporations such as CCA to humane standards of care for the detainees and to ensure an effective and independent oversight mechanism,” said Shahshahani. 

Georgia Detention Watch will hold a press conference in front of the Atlanta ICE office, 180 Spring Street S.W., on April 10^th, at 10:00 a.m. to release the report.  Speakers at the press conference will include: State Senator Nan Orrock; Reverend Gregory Williams, pastor of Holsey Temple CME Church and president-elect for Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment (ABLE), a member organization of Georgia Detention Watch; Herbert Abdul, former immigration detainee; Adelina Nicholls, Executive Director of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, a member organization of Georgia Detention Watch; and Azadeh Shahshahani.

The launch of the report follows the death of Roberto Martinez Medina, a 39-year-old immigrant held in detention at the Stewart Detention facility.  Mr. Martinez Medina reportedly died at a Columbus hospital on March 11, 2009.  The immediate cause of his death remains unclear.  The death of Mr. Martinez Medina marks the latest in the tragically mounting number of immigrant deaths in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – at least 90 reported deaths since October 2003.  Many of the deaths could have been prevented through timely and effective access to healthcare.  Due to the absence of enforceable standards and an independent oversight mechanism, ICE and the corporations that contract with it have for the most part escaped accountability.

“As the inherent inhumanity of the rapidly expanding immigration detention system in Georgia is highlighted through this tragic death, we also call for greater use of community-based alternatives to detention,” said Adelina Nicholls of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights.

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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.   

HOLIDAY ACTION TO HIGHLIGHT THE INJUSTICES OF IMMIGRATION DETENTION IN GEORGIA

Movie screening, mass visitation and church service all focus on plight of immigrants detained at private, for-profit detention center located in southwest Georgia

Member advocates and organizations of the newly-formed Georgia Detention Watch are joining forces to plan a weekend of education, action, and reflection to highlight the inhumanity of the U.S. immigration detention and deportation systems in Georgia.  The weekend’s activities will highlight the conditions at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, located in rural southwest Georgia.  The Stewart Detention Center is a private, for-profit facility operated by the Correction Corporation of America (CCA), now detaining approximately 1,900 immigrants for an average of 45 days each.

On Friday, December 19 at 7 pm, Koinonia Partners (1324 Georgia Highway 49 South in Americus) will be hosting a free, public screening of the film, “The Visitor.”  The film offers viewers a glimpse of the rarely heard stories of lives and dreams shattered by the unjust U.S. detention and deportation systems.  Anton Flores of Alterna will lead a post-screening discussion. “We are disturbed to hear that Hall County Commissioners are considering partnering with CCA to open yet another relic of injustice, the North Georgia Detention Center,” said Flores.  “This weekend’s actions are designed, in part, to remind Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, executives at CCA and the members of the Stewart County Commission and Hall County Commission that we will not be silent to injustices committed against poor immigrants in order to line the pockets of county governments and corporations,” Flores charged.

The next day, Saturday, December 20, citizen and immigrant activists, attorneys and persons of faith from Atlanta, Americus, LaGrange and other Georgia communities will travel to the Stewart Detention Center to conduct humanitarian visitations of detainees who will likely spend the holidays in this isolated facility, far away from their families. 

Sunday morning will be a time when many Georgia residents gather for worship.  At the Americus Mennonite Fellowship, congregants have been encouraged to participate in the weekend’s events.  On the Sunday before Christmas, their worship service will be focused on immigrant detention in southwest Georgia.  “As many of us commemorate the birth of Jesus into a refugee family that, soon after his birth, would flee to Egypt, it is central, not only to Christianity, but to all world religions to show hospitality, not hostility, to the stranger,” stated Sanders Thornburg of Koinonia Partners and member of Americus Mennonite Fellowship.

Azadeh Shahshahani, National Security/Immigrants’ Rights Project Director of the ACLU of Georgia, who will take part in the visitations on Saturday, further added: “Through these visits, we wish to remind officials at the Stewart Detention Center about their obligation to afford the detainees the protections due to them under constitutional and international human rights standards, such as the right to adequate and timely medical treatment.”

“Equally important,” concluded Adelina Nicholls of GLAHR, “these humanitarian visits serve to boost the morale of those immigrants held inside and to remind them that they are not alone in this holiday season.”

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