November 2, 2007
(Updated 11/5/2007)
Report Documents Human Rights Costs and Calls for Reforms to Make Sure
Mistakes Aren't Repeated
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: (212) 555-1212 or 2666; media@aclu.org
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- As the smoke cleared after twelve days of
ravaging fires, the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties,
Immigrant Rights Consortium, and Justice Overcoming Boundaries released
a report today revealing patterns of neglect and instances of abuse of
some of the area's most vulnerable populations — especially Latino
immigrants and the indigent — in the rescue and relief
efforts.
The report, "Firestorm: Treatment of Vulnerable Populations During the
San Diego Fires" recounts the positive and negative aspects of the fire
response and documents the experiences of scores of people who suffered
harassment, racial profiling and intimidation. The report recommends
specific reforms to avoid such problems in future disasters. The full report can be found at:
www.aclusandiego.org/news_item.php?article_id=000325.
"It is sad that, among all the good, some of the insensitivities,
biases, and politics that negatively affect marginalized people also
came out," said Mother Patricia Andrews-Callori, president of Justice
Overcoming Boundaries.
"We hope that, through an assessment of what went wrong, we can build
on what went right," said ACLU Executive Director Kevin
Keenan.
Last week, over 500,000 residents of San Diego became part of the
largest evacuation in the region's history. In many instances,
immigrants, poor members of the community, homeless people, and
detained populations were shut out of the relief effort. Several
journalists were harassed and denied entry to the aftermath of the
fires and unable to cover the relief efforts.
Examples of abuses detailed in the report include:
- In a revealing omission, the
reverse 911 calling system, which was widely heralded for its ability
to quickly notify people of evacuation orders, delivered messages only
in English, despite available technology that could have easily
accommodated other languages. As a result, San Diego County's 30
percent Latino population was not adequately notified of the evacuation.
- San Diego Police, in violation
of their own policy, detained and handed over to U.S. Border Patrol a
family they accused of looting and intending to sell relief supplies
when witness testimony from relief volunteers and the family strongly
discount those allegations. The Border Patrol deported seven
family members, including a 2-year-old U.S. citizen and children aged 8
and 13. The incident sparked fear in immigrant communities
and preceded a rash of misguided, aggressive enforcement by police and
Sheriff's deputies at evacuation centers. (p.5-6)
- The police conducted a sweep
of the Qualcomm evacuation center late Tuesday night, checking for IDs
and ejecting everyone without IDs showing they were from an affected
area. On Wednesday morning, the police instituted problematic
ID checks at the gate. (p.6)
- Second-guessing relief
volunteers who had piles of donated goods to share, San Diego Police
began harassing people leaving with "too many" goods, which, in every
case that we observed, involved people of color — mostly
Latinos, but also a Filipino 19 year old who had volunteered for three
days and was helping families bring goods to their cars and an
African-American woman who was bringing out diapers, wipes, and other
supplies for her sister's family who was also evacuated.
(p.6-9)
- At the Del Mar Fairgrounds
evacuation center, fifteen Sheriff's deputies entered and began to
harass evacuees until the American Red Cross intervened. A
group of deputies detained and interrogated a Latino evacuee, and
another group of deputies harassed a family gathering relief supplies
with Red Cross permission. (p.9-12)
- Although it appears many of
the prisons and detention facilities in the south of the County
prepared for emergency evacuations and took other precautions, the ACLU
received reports from detainees at the San Diego Correctional Facility
that they could smell smoke, ash and particulate matter inside the
facility, and at least two detainees were forced to seek medical
attention due to difficulty breathing. (p.18)
- The Superior Court of San
Diego County extended the length of detention prior to arraignment for
felony convictions from 48 hours to seven days until November 26, long
past the need created by the fires for such an emergency exception. The
ACLU has respectfully urged the Court to resume the 48-hour
rule. (p.19)
- San Diego Police ordered a
news cameraman to stop filming the aftermath of an arguably illegal
detention that resulted in the deportation of a family trying to take
relief supplies. The police officer threatened that if the
cameraman continued to film, it would ruin the local CBS affiliate's
relationship with the police department. (p.25)
- A Vice President of Blackwater
USA threatened an Alpine Sun reporter with legal action for taking
pictures and reporting on a fire while on Blackwater property in
Portrero. (p. 25)
The ACLU, IRC, and JOB issued recommendations for change, including the
following:
- Officials must be able to
guarantee that all victims – including immigrants –
can have access to vital aid without fear of apprehension, inspection
or unfair treatment.
- Officials must deploy properly
trained language interpreters.
- Officials must create a task
force across the civic spectrum to create clear policies about what is
reasonable and allowable during a crisis
