OAS Asked to Condemn U.S. Treatment of Illegal Migrants at Border

WASHINGTON — A human rights group Wednesday asked the Organization of American States to condemn alleged “violent and inhumane” enforcement tactics used by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to control the tide of illegal immigrants flowing across the U.S.-Mexican border.

The American Friends Service Committee, charging the INS and the Border Patrol with systematic shootings, beatings and verbal abuse of immigrants, also called on the OAS to ask the United States to implement new training programs and end the use of deadly force against immigrants.

The OAS is an association of the United States, Latin American and Caribbean nations, established in 1948 under the auspices of the United Nations. Among its goals are encouraging regional cooperation and a peaceful settlement of differences.

The petition to the OAS comes amid increased criticism of the Border Patrol, whose agents have been involved in a recent series of violent encounters with immigrants and U.S. citizens.

In early June, a truck carrying 12 illegal immigrants collided with a passenger car in Temecula, Calif., killing six people. The Border Patrol had chased the vehicle, and the accident prompted two congressional oversight hearings on the agency’s pursuit policy and charges of excessive force.

Agents in San Diego, Calexico, Calif., and Nogales, Ariz., have recently been indicted or convicted on charges of assault, murder and rape.

The committee’s petition focuses on six earlier incidents in which the Border Patrol is accused of shooting and beating immigrants. In one case, a pregnant woman and her fetus died after being apprehended by U.S. Customs agents.

The 8 1/2-months pregnant woman had difficulty breathing and lapsed into a brief period of unconsciousness while being interrogated by U.S. Customs officers. About 10 minutes later, an ambulance was called and she was taken to a hospital.

A doctor later testified that he believed the woman suffered a heart attack brought on by severe stress caused by the “coercive interrogation.”

The committee’s petition marks the first time that the OAS has been asked to look into charges of human rights abuses by immigration officers, said Peter A. Schey, an attorney for the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law in Los Angeles, which helped file the petition.

“These (victims) are poor peasants who come to America because of poverty and economic strife in their own countries,” Schey said. “They may or may not deserve visas, but they do not deserve to die.”

Duke Austin, a spokesman for the INS, said the charges represented “another shallow attempt (by the group) to gain credibility.”

The American Friends Service Committee was established 75 years ago by the Quakers to assist displaced people such as war refugees and migrant workers. In 1987, the group formed the Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project.

The OAS must now rule on the petition’s admissibility. If it passes that hurdle, a letter will go to the State Department for a response, followed by additional comment from the petitioners.

The Quaker group hopes for an OAS investigation of INS and Border Patrol practices. But, Schey conceded, the OAS has no enforcement power over U.S. policy.