The U.S. government detained a U.S. citizen for 10 days on claims he was an undocumented immigrant, and then lied in their official account.
Jose Hermosillo is a 19-year-old New Mexico resident who visited his girlfriend’s family in Tucson, Arizona, earlier this month. After suffering from a seizure, he was transported to a hospital by ambulance, and did not have his state ID. After being released from the Tucson hospital, Hermosillo did not know how to get back to where he was staying, he told the Popular Information newsletter. He sought out a police officer for help.
That officer happened to work for Border Patrol, and asked Hermosillo where he was from and if he had papers. Hermosillo said “New Mexico,” to which the officer replied, “Don’t make me [out] like [I’m] stupid. I know you’re from Mexico.” Hermosillo was then arrested.
But the Department of Homeland Security’s account says something completely different. According to the DHS X account, “Hermosillo’s arrest and detention were a direct result of his own actions and statements.”
“Jose Hermosillo approached Border Patrol in Tucson Arizona stating he had ILLEGALLY entered the U.S. and identified himself as a Mexican citizen,” the account stated Monday. The DHS also released a supposed transcript of Hermosillo’s conversation with a Border Patrol agent signed “JOSE” in which Hermosillo said he was born in Mexico and illegally entered the U.S.
According to Hermosillo’s girlfriend, he has learning disabilities and is only able to write his own name. He told Popular Information that he did not graduate from high school, only finishing the 10th grade. According to the DHS report, Hermosillo “read” their document or had it read to him, but he says that never happened. On top of that, the documents contain inaccurate information, claiming that Hermosillo was detained “at or near Nogales, Arizona,” which is more than 70 miles away from Tucson.
Hermosillo was then held in a cell with 15 other men at Florence Correctional Center, a privately run immigration detention facility, for 10 days before being released on April 17. Two days into his detention, he told a judge that he was a U.S. citizen, but prosecutors then asked that his hearing be rescheduled, with Hermosillo remaining in detention until then. Seven days later, at the next hearing, his family provided the immigration court with his birth certificate.
While in detention, Hermosillo contracted the flu, but was not provided with any medicine after he requested it. His pleas to prison staff that he was a U.S. citizen were met with replies of “call your lawyer.”
Ultimately, while Hermosillo managed to secure his release, his account is a horror story of how quickly someone can be detained on the suspicion of being an undocumented immigrant, and how the government will even lie to keep someone in detention. The Trump administration is staunchly resisting any kind of legal safeguard to protect the rights of immigrants, or those mistakenly detained, blatantly denying people the right of due process.
The post U.S. Citizen Detained for 10 Days Says DHS Lied About Everything appeared first on New Republic.
