VivirLatino

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

Read more…