Another Travesty Of Justice: Bella Maryanovsky Now Faces Deportation

We've seen travesties of justice large and small today, and one of them actually comes as a bit of a surprise. One story you probably already know about: our twice-unelected war-criminal president has commuted the sentence of a warmonger convicted of perjury in a scam involving obstruction of justice at the very highest level. You may not be familiar with the other story: a regular working woman, a legal tax-paying resident who has not even been charged with a crime, faces deportation to a dangerous country for no apparent reason.

I understand that Bella Maryanovsky is not alone, and that there are countless people who have been treated with incomprehensible cruelty by a thoroughly corrupt system, but I have been following her story and trying to support her cause, and this is heartbreaking news -- not only for Bella Maryanovsky and her family but for everyone who has been working on her behalf.

Larisa Alexandrovna tells the story:

Per my update yesterday, Bella's motion has been denied. She is to be deported unless we can make a case for political refugee status. She has been given 6 months to prepare her case. In the meantime, my father told me that although he is a citizen, he is afraid. My family and I lived under the Soviet regime and this situation is the first time since we escaped that oppressive national gulag that I have heard such things from my father. I have nothing else to add other than to say that my family gave up everything and risked everything to bring me to this country and it simply breaks my heart to hear my father tell me he is afraid.

It has long been my suspicion that "Operation Return To Sender", the immigration-control program designed to harrass, incarcerate and deport legal immigrants, is primarily designed to induce fear. In this role it appears to be succeeding.

I may be able to write something approximating analysis later, but not now. I'm feeling badly enough about this myself; I can't imagine how they feel.

Some days the bad news is a lot more personal than others.

My thoughts and prayers are with Larisa and Bella and their family.

Deportation Hearing Scheduled For Bella Maryanovsky

From Larisa Alexandrovna comes an update on the situation of her cousin, Bella Maryanovsky, who was arrested last September without cause and held for more than a month without charge, after walking into an immigration office in order to renew her Green Card papers.

Jennifer Van Burgen reported in September for Raw Story:

Questions are being raised about the arrest, detention, and treatment of a long-term Ukrainian legal resident alien in Florida.

Bella Maryanovsky, a thirty-year legal resident of the United States, was arrested last week on Tuesday, September 19, when she entered immigration offices for a routine update of her green card papers. It appears she was arrested under a new immigration program called "Operation Return to Sender."

According to Michael Chertoff in a June 2006 press release, "Operation Return to Sender is another example of a new and tough interior enforcement strategy that seeks to catch and deport criminal aliens, increase worksite enforcement, and crack down hard on the criminal infrastructure that perpetuates illegal immigration."

Sedikov claims he has left 70 messages on the Maryanovsky case in five days, and has received no return call from ICE officials. His current aim is to have her transferred to a location that would allow her to be brought before a judge.

Maryanovsky claims that she is currently being held in a jail cell with an accused murderer. Last week she was in a cell with five other people and only two beds, so she slept on a "urine-laden cement floor."

To make matters more disheartening, Maryanovsky takes medication for heart arrhythmia and high blood pressure. She confided to her family and friends that prison personnel mockingly refused to give her medication, telling her, "When you have a heart attack, then we will help you."

One friend, Lauren, who wished to keep her last name private, said that she has visited Maryanovsky twice, and her ankles and extremities are swelling. "[She] can go into heart failure," Lauren told RAW STORY. According to family members, her blood pressure hit 220/110, and the family obtained a doctor" letter to present to immigration authorities, but she was still apparently not being given her medication.

Maryanovsky is scheduled soon to be transferred to Krome Detention Center, outside Miami, according to Sedikov. Two years ago, Krome garnered much press attention when an 81-year old Haitian Baptist minister, Joseph Dantica, died while being detained there after seeking asylum. He fell ill during his hearing, after, like Maryanovsky, requesting medication for high blood pressure. Officials contend that he died of pancreatitis and deny responsibility for his death."

If you were reading this space back then, you may remember some of the other details; for those who are interested, the posts I wrote at the time are archived here.

Now for the news: Larisa says a deportation hearing for Bella was scheduled to be held this morning.

Bella Maryanovsky has been a legal, Green-Carded, tax-paying resident of the United States for 30 years, and -- despite spending a month in detention before being released on bail -- she has not been charged with any crime, nor accused of any other offense that would explain her incarceration. And now, for no apparent reason, she may be in danger of being deported.

Larisa fills in a bit more of the context:

Bella is by no means the only victim of Operation Return to Sender and some of the women with whom she was held are still locked up without being charged and without yet getting a day in court. One woman was being held while her kids were taken into foster care. Can you imagine? In a country where Constitutional rights are the law of the land, people are being grabbed off the street and held without representation and the public sees nothing and hears nothing.

My cousin was missing for two days before we found out where she was. She was grabbed in an office, arrested, chained face down to the floor of a van, and disappeared for two days before anyone knew what had happened to her. And it would be another month before we could get her out after paying bail for a no-crime arrest, and now nine months later watch her being dragged in front of a judge to determine if she has to go back to a country from which she was a political refugee over 30 years ago. By the way, did I mention that she is a legal, tax paying, resident of the United States? Remember too, that I am a Putin critic. Do we want to send my family member back anywhere near Putin? Anyway, tomorrow we will finally know. Tonight I am worried.

If you can spare a kind thought -- or a prayer -- for Bella and Larisa and their family, it will certainly be appreciated.

The Bella Maryanovsky Series

This post serves as a Table of Contents for articles about Bella Maryanovsky. Future news items and/or frozen posts (if any) on this topic will be linked to this page.

1) September 28, 2006: RAW STORY: 'Operation Return to Sender' stumbles

2) October 1, 2006: Think It Can't Happen Here? Think Again! It's Already Happening!!

3) October 2, 2006: 'Please Call Everyone, Before She Dies In That Hell Hole'

4) October 6, 2006: Hearing Scheduled For Bella Maryanovsky

5) October 10, 2006: Legal Residents, Illegally Detained, Need Help -- and You Can Help Them!!

6) October 11, 2006: Plucked! Now Nobody Even Knows Where Bella Maryanovsky Is

7) October 16, 2006: Bella Maryanovsky To Be Free On Bond; Others Not So Lucky

8) October 18, 2006: Home At Last! Bella Maryanovsky Is Free!

9) July 2, 2007: Deportation Hearing Scheduled For Bella Maryanovsky

10) July 3, 2007: Another Travesty Of Justice: Bella Maryanovsky Now Faces Deportation

Home At Last! Bella Maryanovsky Is Free!

Regular readers of this blog have been following the story of Bella Maryanovsky, who was arrested more than a month ago and held without being charged with any crime. Bella has been released on $5000 bond, pending a hearing at a still-unspecified date.

As you may remember, I reported on Monday that her hearing had gone quickly and smoothly, but until early Wednesday I was unable to confirm that she had actually been released and was back with her family. Now I can report that Bella Maryanovsky is free and safe at home.

I wish I could tell you that she's well. But the ordeal has taken a huge toll on her; I don't have any details and I don't know whether I could share them with you even if I did. If you can imagine being snatched out of your life and held in a criminal detention center for more than a month, for no reason at all ... I can't even imagine the stress this puts on the family, let alone the "detainee". So I can't say much at this point, except to extend my sympathies to Bella Maryanovsky and her family.

I hope my reporting on this story has helped her case, and I have been led to believe that it has done so. It's a humble pleasure to have accomplished something -- anything. But there are still many (hundreds, maybe thousands, maybe more) other legal immigrants who have been illegally arrested and who are now being held under the so-called Department of Homeland Security's so-called "Operation Return To Sender".

If you have been drawing the attention of politicians and media types to this issue, I thank you on behalf of Bella and her family. But I remind you of the others, who are not so fortunate as to be with their families yet, and I urge you to continue bringing pressure to bear on the news media (which owes it to America to start covering this story, among many others) and on our "elected" representatives. Believe it or not, they will get involved if enough of their constituents make enough noise.

For a few suggestions about who you can contact and how, and a full update on the twists and turns of the Bella Maryanovsky saga (so far), please refer to my previous post on this subject, "Bella Maryanovsky To Be Free On Bond -- Others Not So Lucky".

Bella Maryanovsky To Be Free On Bond; Others Not So Lucky

If you've been following the confusing story of Bella Maryanovsky, you will be pleased to know that her hearing went quickly and smoothly earlier today and she will be released on $5,000 bond.

Bella immigrated from Ukraine and has been a legal resident of the USA for 30 years, but her status suddenly became precarious when she was arrested more than a month ago, apparently for walking into an immigration office to renew her green card papers. Since then she has been detained without charge, without even so much as a hearing -- until today.

Being held indefinitely without charge used to be verboten in the American legal system, but unfortunately it's become too commonplace over the past five years, and now it's this far away from being made the law of the land. So these illegal detentions are even more frightening than they might otherwise be.

In a moment, the most recent news on this alarming story. But first, the background:

RAW STORY | September 28:
'Operation Return to Sender' stumbles

Operation supposedly designed to round up illegal aliens appears to be targeting legal residents.

September 29: One Day Forward, 900 Years Back : Democracy Murdered In Broad Daylight

The Senate approves a bill that takes the American legal system back to the Dark Ages. The House has already approved the same bill and it now it awaits presidential signature.

October 1: Think It Can't Happen Here? Think Again! It's Already Happening!!

Authorities threaten to move Bella Maryanovsky to Krome.

October 2: 'Please Call Everyone, Before She Dies In That Hell Hole'

But they dont! (This is a common tactic. Authorities threaten to move people and sometimes they do move them, apparently in order to keep the "detainees" off-guard.) Then, after citizens (like us!) apply a bit of pressure, authorities grant Bella a hearing.

October 6: Hearing Scheduled For Bella Maryanovsky

There are many more like Bella who also need our help.

October 10: Legal Residents, Illegally Detained, Need Help -- and You Can Help Them!!

Then the authorities announce they are moving Bella to an undisclosed location -- to effectively "disappear" her within the "New Amerikan Gulag".

October 11: Plucked! Now Nobody Even Knows Where Bella Maryanovsky Is

And now... here's a two-part update, from Larisa Alexandrovna (Bella's cousin and the Managing Editor of RAW STORY), as posted at Democratic Underground dot com [slightly edited and with links added]

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Okay, so at some point last night, the attorneys for all of the women being moved to Atlanta (it was Atlanta it turns out) this round, filed an emergency injunction/stay. Apparently members of Congress also joined in, but I cannot get any confirmation on who it was yet. The women were returned to Monroe. Ha!!!!!

They are having an emergency hearing, the lawyers as a group (if you can believe that) on Friday in front of a judge. They are demanding that ICE officials either charge their clients or release them.

I also found out that many women have already been transported out of state. I presume, although I do not know, that they are the ones who either don't have good attorneys or fell through the cracks. I don't know. According to Bella, there are women she is being held with who were never convicted of a crime, ever. They are simply legal residents.

Here is the kicker... ICE did not adequately prepare (because no one could have imagined) for facilities while rounding up all of these people, which they continue to do. The argument they are using to move the detainees is that there is overcrowding, which is true. But there is overcrowding because they are warehousing people in large numbers, some of whom committed a crime in the past, not even a felony, some of whom committed a felony in the past (like 40 years ago even), and some who committed no crime at all. But Bella tells me that there are no illegal aliens in her "program," which leads to ask the obvious, why not?

Anyway, these people being held, especially the women have had their children taken by the state. They have lost their jobs because they have either been detained far too long or because their employers did not want the controversy. When one loses a job, one loses the ability to pay bills, which then causes one to lose property. In other words, you have legal permanent residents being denied their freedom, their children, and their property.

I will have more on Friday, after the attorneys have their hearing. I am praying that the judge will release these women.

In fighting for Bella, we have helped those in her group because of the attention we have drawn to her. Members of Congress got involved in Bella's case, but I don't know the specifics yet because I would not be able to call them as a journalist on this case. But you see, dear citizens, we have the power to stop this nightmare without ever having to lift a weapon, by simply using our voices to demand justice and shame those abusing power into doing right by our fellow Americans.

Let's keep the pressure on for the women of "Company Bella" (my term) which includes the other women in her group. Let's demand to know who they are, where their children have been taken, why they are being held, and how we can help them. We have a small window between now and Friday to make it clear that we will not stand for people being disappeared, smuggled across state lines, warehoused like cattle in private detention facilities, and especially stand silent while children lose their mothers and their own freedom in essence.

Keep the pressure on the media!

Keep the pressure on local authorities!

Keep the pressure on ICE!

Keep the pressure on Congress (yes, your votes have real consequences, not just political gotcha tricks)!

And let us hope that in working to free Company Bella, others, in other states will work to stop "Operation Return To Sender"... let's call our efforts "Operation Return To The Constitution".

I will update on this on Friday or sooner, should something change. Thanks for all of your work on this. Keep it going.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Bella had her hearing today with an immigration judge. There was no debate. The prosecutor had nothing to say and no charges were presented. It was quick and to the point. Bella was released on a $5,000 bond. She will have to appear in court at some point later, but most everyone agrees that will be routine. So over a month, major legal bills and a $5k bond later, Bella is released from detention without ever having been charged. She is released after having been denied her heart medication, after having been moved in shackles face down on the floor of a van for several hours, after sleeping on a piss stained floor, and finally, after nearly being moved without reason to Atlanta, GA. She has lost nearly a month of salary. Mostly, she has been made to feel a target in this country for doing nothing.

My mother and her mother are on their way to Krome to pay the fee and then they have to drive to Monroe to get her. Sometime late this evening, Bella will be home.

She does not know the work that we all did on her behalf, but she will. In the end, it was our efforts in contacting local authorities, and members of Congress that put pressure on the immigration office to give her a hearing, even as others waited. It was our efforts and the efforts of Congressman Wexler and Congresswoman Deb Wasserman-Shultz that got Bella in front of a judge.

So my family and I thank you all for everything. I would like to thank all of you for your moral support as well. There were a few days I nearly lost my mind. I managed to work even with this going on, which was no easy task. But it was largely do to your moral support and kind words that gave me energy.

But, we are not done. Bella is free, but company Bella is not nor is any other person being held in America's latest fad of detention camps. "Operation Return to Sender" must be stopped, Habeas Corpus must be reinstated, and those detained must be either charged with a crime and allowed a speedy trial or let go. Until such point as this President declares the Constitution is formally null and void, his signing statements mean nothing. His Congressional fluffers and their bills are unconstitutional and must be challenged.

If we do not continue to fight for these people, then in the end, there will be no one to fight for us, because in the end, we will all suffer the consequences of a society that functions on the Stalinist doctrine.

We all have day jobs. We all have other responsibilities, but we must organize a grass roots effort to find out who these people are, men, women, and children... what their names are, why they are being held, and if they have legal representation. This is going on all over the country. I am alarmed that people have not noticed their neighbors disappear. I am alarmed that I have not noticed. But this is real and it is serious. Google "Operation Return To Sender" and after you have regained emotional footing, help stop what can only be described as un-American, 1930's Germany-like, illegal detainment of innocent people, most legal residents, and many who have never broken the law at all, not even to steal a ham sandwich.

Why am I telling you this? Because we need your help.

Can you spend a few minutes -- make a few phone calls, or send a few emails, on behalf of the people who are still in prison -- people just like Bella who aren't lucky enough to have a cousin running a prominent news service? According to RAW STORY, the officer who arrested Bella Maryanovsky told her attorney:

“We got orders to arrest everybody.”

And The Miami Herald reported that Krome is suddenly extremely crowded.

So please do this for all the legal US residents who are being illegally detained. If you won't speak up for them, who will speak up for you?

Who can you contact? Here are some good places to start. But don't be afraid to be creative.

(ICE) Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Find your local office and get in touch with them! Here's the Office of Detention and Removal

Contact Members of Congress, especially those in Florida (such as Robert Wexler and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, or find contact info for your Senator or Representative here.)

Put pressure on major media outlets: There's plenty of good contact information here. Get in touch with local media and ask them to cover this story.

Don't forget Human Rights Organizations, such as the ACLU. I imagine you can think of some others.

I thank you for your assistance. And I urge you to remember, always: If you take action on behalf of others, you'll feel better about yourself.

Plucked! Now Nobody Even Knows Where Bella Maryanovsky Is

Background

Chris Floyd, commenting on the recent Buzzflash editorial, "Torture, Murder, Bush, Kissinger and The Mothers of the Disappeared in Argentina: America on the Brink of Horror", writes:

The reappearance of Henry Kissinger as a top adviser in the White House dredges up horrors that have long been buried by time – but which are still fresh in the scarred hearts of millions of people. It reminds us of the complicity and cooperation of the American political elite in the South American mass murder campaign known as "Operation Condor." This earlier "war on terror" – which reached its apogee on that other September 11 terrorist attack, in 1973, with the American-backed murder of Salvador Allende, Chile's democratically elected president – also featured unrestrained "unitary executive power" claiming the right to imprison and torture and permanently detain anyone arbitrarily declared a "terrorist" or "enemy of the state" on the most specious – or nonexistent – grounds.

The savagery and tyranny that Kissinger and his cohorts in the Nixon White House – including Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and George H.W. Bush – helped visit upon South America is now coming home, brought to you by the same people, the same faction of rapacious, power-gaming, blood-spattered punks. As they have shown over and over and over again, for decades, from Vietnam to Argentina to Chile to Central America to Iraq, they know only one way to rule: by force, by fear, by lies, by loot, by lawlessness and death.

This same faction has contracted with Halliburton to build "emergency detention camps" set to hold tens of thousands of people. They have induced their bootlicking rubberstamps in Congress to vote its approval of unrestricted, arbitrary presidential power over the lives and liberties of every American – indeed, every person on earth. They have launched a war of aggression that has killed an estimated 250,000 innocent Iraqi civilians and more than 2,700 American soldiers as well.

Given everything they have already done, given the autocratic powers they have claimed for themselves and have had confirmed by Congress, given their until-now secret reliance on a war criminal directly complicit in the death of millions of people in Southeast Asia, where do you think this faction will draw the line in order to retain their power, their privilege, their dominance?

There is no line for them. There is no limit. History has proved this. And history is now circling back on the United States, preparing to visit upon us some of the same horrors that this same group has wrought upon other people.

Foreground

Here's the latest from Larisa Alexandrovna regarding her cousin, Bella Maryanovsky (click here for the background and some action ideas):

I am gonna write about this tonight.

They plucked her! ICE took her this evening.

They won't tell us where, they won't tell her where, they won't tell her attorney where.

She was allowed a call, she phoned her mother to say that she was being moved. She said she does not know when next she will speak with us.

I'll keep you posted.

Middle Ground

In the meantime, please read Buzzflash: Torture, Murder, Bush, Kissinger and The Mothers of the Disappeared in Argentina: America on the Brink of Horror and Kurt Nimmo: Gandhi as Terrorist. I'll tease you with a few paragraphs from each:

Buzzflash:

What happened during Operation Condor is so horrific – all done in the name of the safety and security of "the nation" – that it is barely speakable. The torture included one of the Bush Administration’s favorite techniques – waterboarding – and many other methods. Families were forced to watch or listen to their love[d] ones being mutilated. Friends were required to conduct torture on those that they knew. Pregnant women were allowed to stay alive until their babies were born, then they were murdered. Their children were given to military families who adopted them.

In a New Yorker article a few years back, a former member of the Argentinian military recalled flights over the Atlantic where drugged and bound Argentinians, whose interrogation was finished, were thrown alive into the ocean. Bodies of the already killed were dumped into the Rio de la Plata, which divides Argentina and Uruguay.

Many Americans will say that this horror cannot happen in the United States, but they are wrong. Legally, as a result of the legislation passed in September, it is now quite possible.

Nimmo:

Imagine Mahatma Gandhi arrested for engaging in satyagraha—the philosophy and action of nonviolent resistance—and disappeared to a torture dungeon. Under AETA, coupled with Bush’s detainee bill, all of this will not only be possible, it is more than likely a done deal, considering the long and sordid track record of the state.

In 1930, Gandhi initiated the Salt March to Dandi in opposition to the British salt tax. The British did not arrest Gandhi because he did not incite others to follow him. However, under the AETA, Gandhi would be considered a terrorist because his activity resulted in a “loss of profits” for the British Raj.

Well? Right. Me too. But I'm still going. How about you?

At the bottom of this post is a list of people you can call and/or write.

Above all, please encourage our masked media to cover this story!

Legal Residents, Illegally Detained, Need Help -- and You Can Help Them!!

I've been following a most disturbing story concerning the arrest and incarceration (without charge or trial, not even a hearing, so far) of Bella Maryanovsky, whose only offense against Truth, Justice and The American Way seems to have been walking into an Immigration office to renew her Green Card papers.

UPDATE: She's been plucked!

I kid you not; this is very sick and very serious. I know about it through Larisa Alexandrovna, former reporter/editor with RAW STORY and now their Managing Editor. Larisa has been a very good friend to this nearly frozen blogger over the years and it's difficult for me not to care what happens to her and her family. And Bella is Larisa's cousin.

So I have a semi-personal interest in this and it's tearing me up; I can't imagine what happens to close friends and family when something like this hits them. And I find myself wondering about all the other people who are in the same position as Bella, except of course for the unfortunate fact that they forgot to have a cousin who manages a major news gathering website.

Background

If you haven't been following the story these links will get you up to speed:

The RAW STORY report of Bella's arrest:

September 28:
'Operation Return to Sender' stumbles

Previous nearly frozen posts on this topic:

October 1:
Think It Can't Happen Here? Think Again! It's Already Happening!!

October 2:
'Please Call Everyone, Before She Dies In That Hell Hole'

October 6:
Hearing Scheduled For Bella Maryanovsky

And now for the news

I wish I could answer all your questions but I can only tell you what I know; and my knowledge consists of the following two messages from Larisa as posted at Democratic Underground.

From last Friday (October 6):

Hey all, first off, thanks for all of your support. The latest is worse than I thought and I need to correct an error. Apparently ICE told Bella and her family that they were moving her to Krome, but somewhere during transport they took her to the Monroe detention facility, which is worse, because it is not an immigration detention center, but a criminal detention center.

During transport, bella was shackled and forced to lay on the floor of the van. She was taunted by her drivers (wait till I get their names) who said things like "your lawyer fought hard for you, and then he dropped your case" and "the judge was going to let you go home today, but too bad" or something like that. I am getting this all second-hand, but that is roughly what was said to her. They knew her lawyers name and particulars, which leaves us to wonder how drivers got a hold of her file. In any case, sometime between them leaving for Krome and arriving for Monroe, they learned that Krome had become far too overcrowded because of recent raids.

They have now given her 1 of 4 medications, but not the other three. Her legs continue to swell as are her knees. She is in low spirits and crying a great deal. She is frightened.

Today, for Yom Kippur, the holiest of Jewish holidays they would not give her any prayer books or let her see a rabbi.

She is being held in a large cell with 50-80 women (i don't have the exact number), who are all convicted of various crimes, including murder.

That is the latest. But as bad as Krome was, at least she may have seen an immigration judge. At Monroe, she is simply locked up. Tomorrow will be three weeks since she was detained without charge. The family is getting desperate as her need for meds is getting much stronger.

Thank you for all of your support. I will keep you posted, if I don't go batty first.

And this from today:

She is still being held, over a month now, no charges. She is at Monroe, which is not an immigration detention facility. It is a criminal facility. She has still gotten only 1 of her 4 heart medications and is not doing well. The family spent the weekend near the facility in order to be able to visit her.

Per my last update, she finally got a hearing for Oct, 16. So we wait. That said, there is another new twist in this. It appears that ICE is thinking of moving her to Atlanta, GA (along with some other women), before her hearing. I don't know why, so I cannot explain this madness. But if they move her out of state, then she will have to get a new attorney and the family will either have to move near the area or visit her only once a month. And if they move her to Atlanta, there is no word on when she will be given another hearing. So the goal now is to stop the move by putting pressure on local elected officials and members of Congress, as well as ICE and the MSM to cover this.

She tells us that there are women in there who are being deported who have kids. One woman in particular, who as a legal resident was busted with pot when she was younger. It was roughly twenty years ago, but she was scooped up in this and is being deported to Costa Rica, while her kids have been put into foster homes. Perhaps this is a new version of the Handmaiden's tale, I simply don't know. But to take the children, as though they had a right, and deport a legal resident, seems a bit like selective adoption. I may just be tired, but I cannot make sense of this.

Please, I beg you, please fight for these detainees who are American residents, some spending their entire life in this country, who are being picked up without charge, detained without charge, denied medical treatment, tormented, and having their children stolen from them. And for all of this supposed deportation, where the hell are the records of people being actually deported? I mean are we just saying we are going to deport them, but are actually stuffing them in detention facilities?

We must fight for these people, for Bella, or all of them. If we do not, who will fight for us, should it ever come to our own future nightmare?

Please help those of us who are making noise on behalf of Bella and all the others.

If we don't stand up for people like Bella, who will stand up for people like us?

Some suggestions follow. But please be creative.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Office of the Chief Counsel
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
333 S. Miami Avenue, Suite 200
Miami, Florida 33130

Office of Detention and Removal
Field Office Director, Miami
7880 Biscayne Blvd.
Miami, FL 33138
Phone: 305-762-3622

Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Toll-free at (888) 671-4091 or (407) 872-7161.
Senator Nelson has special lines for life-threatening problems (and this is one!): 407-872-7161 or 888-671-4091

The Miami Herald
One Herald Plaza
Miami, FL 33132
Phone: 305-350-2111 or 1-800-HERALD5 (1-800-437-2535)
Or contact them through their web page.

The Sun Sentinel
Send an email to the Editor, Earl Mauker and ask him to cover this story, and/or contact The Help Team and ask for their assistance.

Contact Members of Congress, especially those in Florida (such as Robert Wexler and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, or find contact info for your Senator or Representative here.)

Human Rights Organizations, such as ACLU: Here's the ACLU Florida web page. And here are some ways that you can contact the people who might be able to help:

Executive Director: Howard Simon
4500 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 340
Miami, FL 33137
Phone: 786-363-2700
Fax: 305-576-1106
E-mail: aclufl@aclufl.org

Northwest Florida Office:
ACLU Northwest Florida
PO Box 12723
Pensacola, Florida 32591-2723
Phone: 850-429-9128

Legislative Office:
Larry Helm Spalding
Legislative Staff Counsel
ACLU 314 West Jefferson Street
Tallahassee, FL 32301-1608
Phone: 850-425-1050
Fax: 850-425-5097
E-mail: LarryACLU@aol.com

West Central Florida Office:
P.O. Box 18245
Tampa, FL 33679-8245
Phone: 813-254-0925

Major Media Outlets
There's plenty of good contact information here.

Hearing Scheduled For Bella Maryanovsky

Bella Maryanovsky, a legal US resident who was arrested September 19th, apparently for merely walking into an immigration office and attempting to renew her green card papers, has been granted a hearing, which is scheduled for October 16th.

This may not seem like much, but it's a huge step forward. Under the new so-called anti-terror law (which may as well be in effect already, even though it still awaits the signature of the so-called president), people can be held indefinitely without charge, and those who are not charged don't necessarily qualify for a hearing.

So, ironically, since Bella Maryanovsky has not been charged with a crime, she faced the danger of being held in a notorious prison forever -- no trial, no charge, no hearing, no evidence, no hope -- unless she could get a hearing.

Ugly stuff, this new so-called anti-terror legislation.

If you've been making noise on behalf of Bella Maryanovsky, then you've been part of the solution (so far) ... so please accept my humble thanks, and please keep doing it! If you're not part of the solution, of course, you're part of the problem, which is: Who will speak up for people like us if we don't speak up for people like Bella?

'Please Call Everyone, Before She Dies In That Hell Hole'

Yesterday morning, I wrote an item about Bella Maryanovsky, a legal resident of the USA for the past 30 years, who has been arrested and is being held without charge in a Florida prison, apparently for the grievous offense of walking into an immigration office to renew her green card papers.

Last night I found out that the story has taken a turn for the worse: I got a message from a friend (Bella's cousin), saying:

They moved her to Krome last night. Google "Krome". Please call everyone, before she dies in that hell hole.

What could I do but follow instructions? I did a bit of research, and it didn't take me long to find some really hellacious stuff. Here's a short sample:

The immigrant goes to the overcrowded and degrading ‘Krome Processing Centre’ ... some kind of “concentration camp” located behind treacherous snake-ridden swamps, alligator-infested moats, miles of barbed wire, under the watch of armed guards and countless security cameras ...

They say that places like Krome are not prisons. However, you get there with handcuffs, if you are lucky only your hands but I heard people who was brought there wearing one of those chains that bind you hands and feet together, which some call ‘shackles’, similar to those worn by African slaves brought to work on American plantations, generations ago.
...
In Krome, I was sharing a dormitory with a large number of other people from all over the world, a multi-toilets bathroom not separated by walls or doors, so while you are brushing your teeth, other people may be sitting on the toilets close to you, some more showering, and a long line of people waiting for the next available toilet or sink or shower, all in the same room. You better stop thinking about hygiene and privacy or you will drive yourself crazy. There are several cameras in the dormitory observing you 24 hours, and two officers every eight hours sitting there, and you only go out on recreation one hour or so a day under surveillance of a number of officers, and that’s if doesn’t rain. Still they tell you that you are lucky to be there and not in a “real” prison.
...
The temperature in Krome’s dormitories is kept to 68/70 degrees, the officers wear a jacket, the detainee a short sleeve “shirt” and he is prohibited to get into the bed for warmth during the day.

There's a lot more but surely this is enough to give you the idea.

Why am I telling you this? Because I need your help. Can you spend a few minutes -- make a few phone calls, or send a few emails, on behalf of my friend's cousin?

It's not just for her. Apparently she is far from alone. According to RAW STORY, the officer who arrested Bella Maryanovsky told her attorney:

“We got orders to arrest everybody.”

And last weekend The Miami Herald reported that Krome is suddenly extremely crowded.

So don't just do it for Bella Maryanovsky. Do it for all the legal US residents who are being illegally detained. After all, if you won't speak up for them, who will speak up for you?

Who can you contact? Here are some good places to start. But don't be afraid to be creative.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Office of the Chief Counsel
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
333 S. Miami Avenue, Suite 200
Miami, Florida 33130

Office of Detention and Removal
Field Office Director, Miami
7880 Biscayne Blvd.
Miami, FL 33138
Phone: 305-762-3622

Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Toll-free at (888) 671-4091 or (407) 872-7161.
Senator Nelson has special lines for life-threatening problems (and this is one!): 407-872-7161 or 888-671-4091

The Miami Herald
One Herald Plaza
Miami, FL 33132
Phone: 305-350-2111 or 1-800-HERALD5 (1-800-437-2535)
Or contact them through their web page.

The Sun Sentinel
Send an email to the Editor, Earl Mauker and ask him to cover this story, and/or contact The Help Team and ask for their assistance.

Contact Members of Congress, especially those in Florida (such as Robert Wexler and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, or find contact info for your Senator or Representative here.)

Human Rights Organizations, such as ACLU: Here's the ACLU Florida web page. And here are some ways that you can contact the people who might be able to help:

Executive Director: Howard Simon
4500 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 340
Miami, FL 33137
Phone: 786-363-2700
Fax: 305-576-1106
E-mail: aclufl@aclufl.org

Northwest Florida Office:
ACLU Northwest Florida
PO Box 12723
Pensacola, Florida 32591-2723
Phone: 850-429-9128

Legislative Office:
Larry Helm Spalding
Legislative Staff Counsel
ACLU 314 West Jefferson Street
Tallahassee, FL 32301-1608
Phone: 850-425-1050
Fax: 850-425-5097
E-mail: LarryACLU@aol.com

West Central Florida Office:
P.O. Box 18245
Tampa, FL 33679-8245
Phone: 813-254-0925

Major Media Outlets
There's plenty of good contact information here.

I thank you for your assistance. My friend and her cousin will thank you too.

And please remember: If you take action on behalf of others, you'll feel better about yourself.

Think It Can't Happen Here? Think Again! It's Already Happening!!

Bella Maryanovsky, a legal resident of the United States, has been arrested and is being held without charge in a Florida prison.

What did she do? She walked into an immigration office to renew her green card papers.

Her prognosis? Her attorney has been given no indication of whether (or when) (or with what) she may be charged, or whether (or when) she might be granted a bond hearing.

So, what's the deal?

It appears she was arrested under a new immigration program called “Operation Return to Sender.”

According to Michael Chertoff in a June 2006 press release, “Operation Return to Sender is another example of a new and tough interior enforcement strategy that seeks to catch and deport criminal aliens, increase worksite enforcement, and crack down hard on the criminal infrastructure that perpetuates illegal immigration.”

“The fugitives captured in this operation,” claimed Chertoff, “threatened public safety in hundreds of neighborhoods and communities around the country. This department has no tolerance for their criminal behavior.”

However, Maryanovsky, according to her family and friends, has long been an upstanding member of society. She is currently employed placing engineers in jobs nationwide with salaries ranging from $75,000 to $250,000.

Is her case unusual? Not at all, apparently. According to her attorney, the arresting officer told him:

“We got orders to arrest everybody.”

That officer, Keith Bradley, refused to confirm or deny anything about the case [...] saying “I still have a mortgage and bills to pay.”

Surely she can get out on bail, no? Not exactly. Her chance of getting a hearing soon looks slim.

[I]f the detainee is not held near an immigration court there is no mechanism by which they can be brought before an immigration judge to challenge their detention. The individual must simply wait until the right official in the right department of ICE decides it is time to bring them to court. Immigration courts do not have sheriffs who can bring detainees in, so judges will not entertain an attorney’s request for a bond hearing unless the detainee is accessible. Thus, an individual put into detention falls into a sort of black hole.

How is she doing? Not very well.

Maryanovsky takes medication for heart arrhythmia and high blood pressure. She confided to her family and friends that prison personnel mockingly refused to give her medication, telling her, “When you have a heart attack, then we’ll help you.”
...
One friend [...] said that she has visited Maryanovsky twice, and her ankles and extremities are swelling. “[She] can go into heart failure,” [the friend said]. According to family members, her blood pressure hit 220/110, and the family obtained a doctor’s letter to present to immigration authorities, but she was still apparently not being given her medication.

This is part of the war on terror, right? Not so fast!

Ray Del Papa of the South Florida Peace and Justice Network – a coalition that includes representatives from such groups as the Quakers, Pax Christi, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Jewish Arab Defense Association, Haiti Solidarity, and many others – [...] sees an incongruity in the arrest and detention of such persons as Maryanovsky [...] while known terrorists, such as Luis Posada Carriles, Orlando Bosch, and Virgilio Paz Romero, are allowed to remain free in the U.S., despite their criminal records.

What can we do about this?

First, read the article I've been quoting, from RAW STORY.

Then make as much noise as you can. But do it safely, please!