Andrew Friedman

Immigration Officials Get Cruel and Unusual

We should all be able to agree that immigration law enforcement should not include witholding medical attention, or jeopardizing the well-being of pregnant women and fetuses, right?

Tragically, immigration and customs officers last week did just that. After arresting Zhenxing Jiang, a Chinese woman who was pregnant with twins, the feds transported her to JFK Airport for deportation. Ms. Jiang felt severe stomach and back pain, and pleaded for medical attention. The feds ignored her pleas, though, and she lost her pregnancy.

Ms. Jiang appears to be an undocumented immigrant. She is a human being, too, and her treatment at the hands of law enforcement officers of the United States is an abomination.

Tomorrow, at 1:30pm, City Council Member John Liu will be joining leaders of the New York Immigration Coalition for a press conference in front of 26 Federal Plaza to express outrage at the negligence that lead to this tragic occurance. Advocates will call on the Department of Homeland Security to thoroughly investigate this incident and to discipline the immigration officers involved. Anything less would be to accept gross negligence and reckless endangerment of life as our new immigration policy.

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Posted at 11:46 AM, Feb 13, 2006 in Immigration
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