The Pink Flamingo :: The Heart-warming Fire Stories You Aren’t Seeing

A catastrophe can bring out the best of us and the worst of us. By now most conservatives have heard gratifying story of the Iraqi military sending supplies to California. We’ve heard about how well the Governator and GWB have worked together. They’ve proven Katrina was probably a fluke and the problems were more Lousiana’s fault that GWB’s. But – you aren’t hearing about the intimidation by the Border Patrol, the Minutemen and the abject discrimination against Hispanics there at Qualcomm Stadium. I doubt if you’ve even seen anything about the thousands of migrant workers so intimidated by the BP and their employers that they did not leave the danger area around the fire. Nor is the MSM discussing the lack of initial danger warnings in Spanish.

It really doesn’t matter what side of the immigration issue you are on, basic humanitarian rights and treatment are just that – basic humanitarian treatment. Somewhere along the line that treatment was not passed on to Hispanics who were fleeing for their lives.

The greatest problem of this whole anti-immigration crack-down is the abject harassment, racial profiling, intimidation and abject sub-constitutional treatment of Hispanics, even those who are legal, natural born American citizens.

BP SWOOPS ON FIRE REFUGEES LIKE VULTURES
One report said that up to 20% of all officers on duty at the stadium and at relief shelters were specifically asking Hispanics for their “Papers”.

A first person account by a local reporter of how Hispanics were treated at the Stadium and how the San Diego police were intimidating the local press.

“…Whether or not the supervisor came, I have no idea as no one came to speak with me. I decided at this time that it was better to ask the other latino people who were getting angry at all that happened that it was best for all of us to go inside and keep our distance from the scene. Quite frankly, I felt threatened by the police officers there. One taking my picture and their behaviour being erratic, immature, and physically offensive. The rest of Wednesday and Thursday, people of Latino descent were afraid to get food, water, toilet paper, toiletteries and so forth to the parking lot where many people were making do with make shift housing made out of left overs from other evacuees who were more fortunate not to be easily identified as latinos….”

ARE THE MINUTEMEN HARASSING HISPANIC ‘REFUGEES’

“…The San Diego Union Tribune reported today that many immigrants living in remote canyons and fields near the fires are not evacuating. In some cases, authorities have not informed them of mandatory evacuations in their areas of residence. Others don’t want to leave their homes either because they are afraid of losing their jobs or scared of getting caught by the Border Patrol.[i]

Today, Border Patrol agents found the charred bodies of four people—three men and a woman—in a canyon in Potrero.[ii] Authorities presume them to be immigrants and are trying to determine how they died. Some are saying they might have been border crossers but some are speculating they may have been canyon dwellers who failed to evacuate. Up until today, these amount to roughly one quarter of all deaths directly and indirectly caused by the fires.

This afternoon, I spoke with Enrique Morones (619) 269-7865; enriquemorones [at] cox.net) founder and director of Border Angels. He and other volunteers have been touring rural areas trying to convince immigrant families to evacuate. He reports that there have been numerous instances in which immigrant laborers are being forced to stay working in farms adjacent to evacuated areas. Employers are threatening to dismiss laborers who refuse to work under precarious conditions. This poses a great health risk for them primarily because of the polluted air they are breathing. This was confirmed both in the Union-Tribune article I just mentioned[iii] and an ABC news story.[iv]

I also spoke to Greg Morales from Border Angels and the Mexican American Poets Associaton (619.266.9067; mapa_sandiegocounty [at] yahoo.com). He is the person in charge of receiving food and water donations for immigrants at the historic Chicano Park in the community of Barrio Logan. He reports that authorities are neglecting and in some instances impeding their efforts to bring critical supplies to immigrants in the affected areas. In the past three days, they have loaded about two hundred vehicles full of supplies. Volunteers have been trying to transport these goods to the immigrant communities that need them most. According to Mr. Morales, one of them, Adrián del Río (619.849.9713) attempted to take these supplies to Potrero, a rural community in the fire zone near the Tecate crossing of the U.S. Mexico Border. Authorites there tried to prevent him from entering and reportedly told him: “why do you want to go into Potrero? There’s nothing but drug dealers there.” I haven’t spoken to Mr. del Río yet but one person told me he was able to make it in there eventually and found many immigrant families in need of supplies (and evacuation).

This morning, volunteers gathering donations at Chicano Park received an unwelcome visit from seven members of the Minutemen. They have also received visits from people accusing them of distributing supplies stolen from other evacuee shelters, something that everybody working there emphatically denied. Volunteers have also been intimidated by police officers who have scrutinized their operation all day. When I asked Mr. Morales what help if any they had received from authorities, he responded: “the only thing we’ve gotten from the government is police harassment this morning, giving us grief for being here.”…”

The Border Patrol is randomly checking (racial profiling) “papers” through the whole San Diego evacuation area.

REFUSING TO HELP HISPANICS
It doesn’t matter if a person is legal or illegal, when they need humanitarian care, care is care. But – whites were given preferential treatment over Hispanics in San Diego.

“…At Qualcomm, I spoke to about six immigrant families (approx. 30 people) most of whom confessed to me they were undocumented. All of them said that after the arrest of the six immigrants suspected of stealing supplies, they all felt extremely frightened they too would be deported. Most of them also complained of being treated rudely and unfairly by authorities and volunteers. One undocumented Mexican evacuee from Ramona I spoke to said that volunteers refused to give her a 12 pack of juice boxes as they gave the same pack to white evacuees. The Union-Tribune reports another similar incident: a woman said that “she asked a volunteer for diapers for her 2-year-old son, who had diarrhea, and was handed three individual diapers. Then when I was leaving, they gave an American woman a whole box, she said.”[viii] Legal observers/translators I spoke to today confirmed that they intervened in similar incidents. Another undocumented Mexican evacuee I spoke to said she has been staying in Qualcomm but after Wednesday’s arrest, she is too afraid to ask for food and supplies. Her husband—who is Guatemalan and also undocumented—reported that on Wednesday night, authorities threatened to evict his father-in-law from the stadium for not having proper identification. It was only after he intervened and showed them his driver’s license that they allowed him to stay….”

MALKIN'S VERSION
Several days ago Malkin reported a San Diego Times story about Illegals stealing supplies. Well – that isn’t exactly the whole story, and the MSM has yet to retract their version either, to be fair to Malkin.

“…Yesterday, the Union-Tribune reported that six illegal immigrants who were suspected of stealing relief supplies from Qualcomm Stadium—the largest of all evacuation sites—and were arrested by Border Patrol agents. According to the article, a woman who saw them loading supplies unto a pickup truck reported them to police Sgt. Jesse Cesena. “They were stealing a lot of stuff,” Cesena said. The article claims that when officers intervened, one of the suspects confessed they were being paid to take things of value from the stadium.

“We took the stuff back and we escorted them out. They were stealing from the people in need.” The article then states that “because some members of the group spoke Spanish, officers called Border Patrol agents who were at the stadium for relief efforts. They determined the people were in the country illegally and arrested them.”[v]

Today, the Union-Tribune wrote a new article clarifying what actually transpired (they have yet to make a formal correction). The article reveals that the people the Border Partrol apprehended and deported on Wednesday were two couples, one with three children. Originally they tried to deport a third family that was with them but because they produced documentation, they were released.[vi]

According to a Union-Tribune reporter who spoke with some of the deportees over the phone from Tijuana, they claim that contrary to initial reports by authorities, they did not confess to stealing anything. They said that they were taking items donated to them as they prepared to return home.[vii] This was also confirmed by eyewitnesses I spoke to today.

This incident caused a great deal of anxiety for immigrant families staying at Qualcomm. It prompted immigrant rights activists to go to the site and serve as legal observers and translators. Today, I spent half a day today working as a legal observer and a volunteer translator for the San Diego Coalition for Immigrant Rights. I spoke to Andrea Guerrero (619.405.0620; aguerrero [at] aclusandiego.org) an ACLU immigration rights lawyer and one of the people in charge of legal observers at the evacuation sites. Guerrero claims that the apprehensions and deportations of these immigrants are potentially illegal since San Diego Police Officers are not supposed to report undocumented immigrants to Border Patrol agents unless they are formally arrested and charged with a crime. I should note that none of the individuals deported were charged with robbery by San Diego police. She and other ACLU lawyers consulted this issue with the local police chief at the stadium. He admitted that the ordeal was poorly handled….”

ANOTHER VERSION OF THE STORY

“…Immigrant evacuees at Qualcomm Stadium are threatened with deportation and mistreated by authorities and volunteers. Yesterday, the Union-Tribune reported that six "illegal immigrants" who were suspected of stealing relief supplies from Qualcomm Stadium—the largest of all evacuation sites—and were arrested by Border Patrol agents... [According to an AFSC volunteer and]... a Union-Tribune reporter who spoke with some of the deportees over the phone from Tijuana, they claim that contrary to initial reports by authorities, they did not confess to stealing anything. They said that they were taking items donated to them as they prepared to return home. Today... one African-American woman was accused of stealing supplies as she loaded her belongings unto her SUV... none of the things I saw in her car were the same as the items that were being distributed at the site. This did not stop several overzealous European-American onlookers from writing down her license plate, taking digital camera pictures of her car, and commenting on her ‘audacity’ for taking so many things. The deportation of these six immigrants was followed by a security crackdown at Qualcomm... I heard unconfirmed rumors [from evacuees and Border Angels volunteers] that the Border Patrol has been randomly checking people’s documentation status in the northern and northeastern areas of San Diego county... [as they were at Qualcomm on Wednesday] This contradicts the Border Patrol’s claim that they are not actively seeking out undocumented immigrants...”