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Constitutional Protections Not Applied to Ana Romero: Mujer, Madre, Trabajadora, Muerta

13:43 H | Topics: Activism - Immigration - Justice - Kentucky - Women

Today marks the 221st anniversary of the U.S. Constitution so today is Constitution Day, apparently known also as Citizenship Day, and perhaps it was Ana Romero's lack of citizenship, lack of "status" that made it ok for her, a domestic worker to die in a jail in Frankfort, Kentucky.

Ana Romero, a 44 year old mother of two, working cleaning houses to support her sons and elderly mother in El Salvador. Hers is the story of countless women but we know her name now because she is no longer here. Romero was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and incarcerated for eight months. During those eight months:

Ana was distraught and suffered from medical ailments, refusing to eat the food which she told family members "…stinks and there is something wrong with it."
Shortly before her death, she was placed in solitary confinement. Her jailers have yet to explain why this was done.

Ana Romero died of asphyxiation by hanging.

What often happens in cases like this, where prisoners are found dead and the medical examiner labels the death a suicide, the case is closed. It is only through the pressure and presence of community that the questions left unanswered are dealt with.

The family of Ana Romero and the general public deserve answers.

What kind of treatment do persons awaiting deportation receive in jail?

Why was Ana Romero placed in solitary confinement?

What was the true cause of her death?

How can deaths such as these be avoided in the future?

I personally know of a few cases where a community paid for an independent autopsy that cast doubt upon the official cause of death, which far to often is "asphyxiation by hanging". This way the victim is blamed, and the responsibility of community and a country who sells tickets to the "American Dream" is shirked.

Comunidad, take responsibility via a tiny step and sign a petition demanding answers. See after the jump for petition and instructions

We are requesting your organization and/or you as an individual consider endorsing the petition. To sign, just reply to these two email addresses: lauren.martin@uky.edu and brich@transy.edu
stating ”We [organization] / I [name] endorse the petition”, including organizational name, personal title, city, (and state if outside of Kentucky), and country (if outside U.S.), as you wish them to appear on the petition.

You can also sign the petition via http://www.anaromero.org/

Justice for Ana Romero Petition

We,___________ the undersigned family members, organizations, and individuals, motivated by our consciences and our faiths, demand answers to these questions.

We demand justice and a transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Ana Romero’s death.

We demand a full reporting of all the information learned, so that her family and loved ones can get an honest and complete explanation of how and why she died in the Franklin County jail and so they may have spiritual closure.

We demand moral, decent, and humane treatment for all persons in jail, regardless of their legal status, national origin, skin color, or language.

We demand the due process rights guaranteed in United States Constitution.

Finally, we ask all public officials involved in this situation, from the federal government, to the Kentucky state government and all other state governments, to the county and city governments all over this land to implement a moratorium on the raids and deportations of immigrants until such time as we obtain a fair, humane, and comprehensive immigration reform that our country so badly needs.

Recently such a moratorium was granted to all immigrants in Louisiana that rushed in after Katrina to do the back-breaking work of helping clean up New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. This moratorium should be implemented nationally and immediately to stop the terror, the destruction of families, and the economic disruptions causing so much fear and grief in our communities.

Let’s solve our broken immigration system in a way that benefits all and treats all fairly, in accordance with national and international standards of justice and human rights.

Shelbyville, Kentucky

September 14, 2008

Otros blogs gritando por justicia por Ana : The Unapologetic Mexican, Man Eegee

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