San Diego Poor-Lice Policy of Deporting Wildfire Evacuees

San Diego Poor-Lice Policy of Deporting Wildfire Evacuees

By Mahtlactli Huan Yei Atl

October 28^th, 2007-Chicuei Acatl Chicunahui Malinalli

This past Wednesday October 24^th, in San Diego California Poor-Lice officers called in ICE/Migra to the Qualcomm Stadium and deported two wildfire evacuee couples that were accused of stealing by the San Diego Poor-Lice, in total three families were detained when they weren’t able to show any identification documents to Poor-Lice or Migra agents. One of these detained families was eventually released after they were able to provide the Migra with proof that they were in the United States of Amerikkka legally. All of the families that were detained are part of the same extended family, one of the deported couples has three children ages 13, 8, and 2 (Berestein, October 25^th, 2007). Remigia “Remy” Bermudez, an eyewitness to the incident and a former Sand Diego City Council candidate, describes the detainment at the Qualcomm Stadium as follows:

“I asked the Police Department officers if this was an INS pick up point and the African American female officer said, ‘No.’ I asked, ‘then just what happened here?’ She said that a crime had just been committed. I proceeded to ask her, ‘let

me see if I understand this correctly… An alleged crime was committed, and you

proceeded to card them; you found out that they didn't have documentation and

then you turned them over to the INS?’ The female, African American, officer

said, ‘Yes! (Bermudez, October 26^th, 2007)’”

This is an unconstitutional act on the part of the San Diego Poor-Lice and Migra that gives us an insight of how these people who put on uniforms work within their institutions of oppression and power. This incident makes it clear to the Xican@ and Nican Tlacah communities, the indigenous peoples of this continent, what are the true intentions behind the public policies of the San Diego Poor-Lice and Migra. The fact that the San Diego Channel 8 media was also harassed by the Poor-Lice reminds us of the beatings that Spanish speaking reporters, journalists, and independent media experienced this past year at the pro-immigrant marches in Los Angeles. The fact that Remigia “Remy” Bermudez was harassed for translating and speaking to the media gives us further proof that this is a coordinated policy. Officer Rubio attempted to intimidate Mr. Bermudez by taking a picture of him with his personal cell phone while the media was interviewing him about the incident. This is also not an uncommon practice for Poor-Lice as many activists and leaders of our communities know. The fact that a former San Diego City Council candidate (a leader and public figure) felt “threatened by the police officers there” means that none of us are safe (Bermudez, October 26^th, 2007). If the Poor-Lice feel comfortable enough to intimidate him by taking his picture as well through their “erratic, immature, and physically offensive” behavior towards him through the entire incident, then this means that any of us can experience the very same thing, Amerikkkan citizen or not (Bermudez, October 26^th, 2007). Let’s not forget Katrina, where Hurricane victims who were black were portrayed as looters while Euro-Amerikkkans were called victims by the Euro-Amerikkkan media. The same thing is occurring now, in our community, as these fire evacuees are depicted as criminals by the very same Euro-Amerikkkan media. The Poor-Lice across this country never protect your rights, in fact they actively work to take away your rights. One of the officers involved in this incident actually told Mr. Bermudez that they were undercover although they were wearing uniforms. This leads one to wonder what type of undercover work a Poor-Lice officer can do while they’re wearing their uniforms and badges. The obvious conclusion is that they were actually at the Qualcomm Stadium to do exactly what they did, deport innocent families who are victims of the wildfires while at the same time scapegoating them as criminals.

What this translates to, for us as Mexican@’s/Xican@’s/Nican Tlacah, is that wildfire evacuees are afraid to seek help and resources. Whether they have legal status or not it has affected people by creating a climate of fear. San Diego journalist Leslie Berestein writes:

Since then, some [Mexican@/Xican@/Nican Tlacah] evacuees say they feel they are being eyed with suspicion, even when they ask for supplies. Joana Miss, a 27-year-old native of Mexico City who was evacuated from her Ramona home, said that Wednesday evening 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 (Berestein, October 25^th, 2007).

This incident further highlights the racism that we as a community, as well as black/yellow/red peoples, face under situations of catastrophe and pain. Why was the “Amerikkkan” (read Euro-American) womyn given a box while Joana, a Mexican womyn was not? This let’s us know that racism is not gone, that it is still very much alive and in practice even in times of tragedy. The fact that the Migra is deporting people, who were accused of stealing by the Poor-Lice, further highlights the situation our community is in. How can a Poor-Lice officer know whether someone is in this country legally? As this incident has shown us, one of the families was here ‘legally’ and were still rounded up with the rest of their extended family. Were they too brown? Now let’s put this into context, the people at the Qualcomm Stadium are wildfire evacuees. Their homes may have vanished in these wildfires along with any documentation such as birth certificates and social security cards. This means that anyone that is brown (or dark in general), speaks Spanish, and is unable to produce this documentation can potentially be deported if they’re caught in a bad situation with San Diego Poor-Lice and Migra.

It’s their unofficial policy, this is how they identify potential undocumented workers: through our culture. They can say what they like but their actions tell us their true intentions and policies towards our communities. By labeling wildfire evacuees as criminals they’re further scapegoating these victims. How can a wildfire evacuee steal aid that has been earmarked for the victims of this tragedy? This is a very clear example of how the Poor-Lice view us as a people and what the possible consequences are of such perceptions by law enforcement. What can we do as a community to combat this oppression on the part of law enforcement? Whenever a Poor-Lice or Migra officer asks you for documentation to prove your citizenship simply refuse their request. Only give them your full name, nothing less and nothing more. Whether your undocumented or not we must combat this together. The Migra and Poor-Lice don’t make distinctions when they see us, they only see brown, they only see someone speaking Spanish, they only see someone on the Raza side of town, they only see a criminal, they only see a “wetback.” Whenever you speak, your word is going to be used against you, so if you stay strong like Cuauhtémoc (the Conquistador Hernan Cortez burned his feet trying to find out where our treasure was, he didn’t mutter one word to them) they’ll have no proof of anything, and we’ll have documentation of their racist policies against our communities. We must stay strong and be united!