Complaint Filed with US and British Govts...

Ms. Gates Howarth-Gates-Carreon US Alien Number: 070349296 JosieG6@hotmail.com
C/O Geoffrey Heeren, Attorney at Law, LAFMC, 111 W. Jackson Blvd Suite 300 Chicago IL 60604

22 March 2009

To: Richard L. Skinner, Inspector General
Office of Inspector General
Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528

Mark Filip, Acting Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Robert S. Mueller, FBI Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
J. Edgar Hoover Building
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20535-0001

Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney
United States Attorney’s Office
Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division
219 S. Dearborn St., 5th Floor
Chicago, IL 60604

Michelle L. Jacobs Acting United States Attorney
Office of the United States Attorney
Eastern District of Wisconsin
517 E Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 530
Milwaukee, WI 53202-4580

Julie Madigan, Attorney General
State of Illinois
Chicago Main Office
100 West Randolph Street
Chicago, IL 60601

J.B. Van Hollen, Attorney General
State of Wisconsin
Wisconsin Department of Justice
P.O. Box 7857
Madison, WI 53707-7857

Patrick Quinn, Governor of Illinois
410 E. Jackson St.
Springfield, IL 62701

ATTN: Legal Department
McHenry County Jail
2200 N. Seminary Ave,
Woodstock, IL 60098

ATTN: Legal Department
Dodge County Jail
216 W. Center Street
Juneau, WI 53039

Cc: Mr. Nigel Sheinwald
British Ambassador to the United States
The British Embassy
3100 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20008

Cc: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
United States Senate
476 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honourable David Miliband
Secretary of State
British FCO
King Charles St.
London SW1 2AH

The Registrar
European Court of Human Rights
Council of Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex

RE: Howarth-Gates-Carreon, A70-349-296
Request for Investigation

To the above named individuals,

It is hereby requested that an investigation be conducted into the handling of the Immigration file, then the two arrests, ‘parole’, detainment, mistreatment and subsequent deportation of Ms. Joseen Julie Howarth-Gates-Carreon (“Ms. Gates”) (Alien No: A70-349-296), a former ‘Administrative’ detainee of 1) McHenry County Jail, IL, and 2) Dodge County Jail, WI.

Ms. Gates entered the US in 1989. She married George Gates, and he filed for her residency (green card). After making enquiries as to its progress, she was sent a deportation notice. At the Deportation hearing, the Judge told her that her green card file was lost, and offered voluntary departure, which Ms. Gates complied with leaving US by April 1992 per the order. Ms. Gates did not know at that time that she should never have been placed in Deportation, with receipts for a valid marriage petition still in her possession.

She was readmitted after customs and immigration inspection in 1996. She remarried in 2001, and her 2nd husband filed for her residency again. After a seven year delay, several FOIA requests, and the filing of a Writ of Mandamus, to effect some action by USCIS, Ms. Gates was denied adjustment of status to Green card holder, the reason given was that there was an outstanding deportation order in her name. Ms. Gates firmly believes that this Order of Voluntary Departure was then converted to a deportation order because she filed the Writ of Mandamus against USCIS. Ms. Gates’ then Attorney Geoff Brown even received an angry phone call from the Assistant US Attorney Ms. Sheila McNulty regarding Ms. Gates. To have the denial of adjustment of status reconsidered, Ms. Gates was then asked to produce proof that she left the country seventeen years before, to be allowed to stay with her family, husband, home in Chicago. The only proof she had is a letter from the Australian consulate, stating that that passport with that information had been lost by them in the US Mail in the intervening years. It was not possible to get records from seventeen years ago.

It is our contention that 1) having complied with Voluntary departure, the order of Voluntary Departure should never have been converted to a Deportation Order. 2) If this deportation order was valid and on file, for all of those years, why was she then re-admitted to the US in 1996 with no problem at all? She then married, filed paperwork and waited seven years, never hiding, always enquiring through Senator Durbin’s Office, as to the status of her case, while building a life, a home and a career in administration and tax services, in the US.

Please investigate this matter; Ms. Gates firmly believes the original order of deportation did not actually exist until resurrected due to the Writ of Mandamus; it was then enforced as a way to increase deportation statistics during Ms. Myers time as Head of ICE; as evidenced by Immigration jails full of senior citizens some of whom were US Citizens, arrested in their homes, not exactly ‘fugitive illegal aliens’. She also believes that the second deportation order was created to cover up this false arrest and detainment situation. Ms. Gates has the names and alien numbers of most of her fellow detainees.

We have since proved using USCIS’ own documents that if the original ‘Voluntary Departure converted to a Deportation Order’ can be upheld, Ms. Gates had still satisfied its time requirements, also evidenced subsequently by the Immigration Parole document she was given; which stated that because they had failed to deport her for seven years (during which time they had her true and permanent address, as she wrote to them requesting resolution of her case regularly over seven years) meaning there was absolutely no cause for her arrest on May 9, 08.

On May 9, 08 Ms. Gates was arrested and manhandled by ICE agents in her home. She went into shock, had a seizure and nearly died at the hands of the medically untrained ICE agents, but was saved by the intervention of paramedics. She was then forced to sign an Immigration Parole document while on oxygen and a drip in the emergency room. The Immigration Parole document stated that her first check in was on May 13, 2009.

On May 15, 08, she was rearrested outside her home, after Officer Navarro requested she return the parole document, and Ms. Gates said her lawyer had it.
She was processed and put in Immigration jail, where her detainee, civil and human rights were violated repeatedly, she was denied proper medical care, access to her attorney, and she was subjected to and witnessed the daily abuse and mistreatment of many detainees, some of whom were senior citizens, by the Jail Guards and ICE staff. She was then moved to a jail five hours away, housed with criminal inmates. Ms. Gates has now been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder directly related to this false arrest and detainment.

Ms. Gates was told that her immigration parole had been cancelled, because she had violated the terms, by not checking in, (first check-in in 2009?) and this made her a ‘flight risk’. Subsequently her detainment was continued on the same basis.

After Ms. Gates brought this situation to the attention of Ms. Julie Myers, Head of ICE, during a jail visit in June 08, a new deportation order was then created and backdated to cover the May 15, 08, arrest, and served on Ms. Gates attorney nearly 2 months later. Ms. Gates firmly believes this piece of paper was created as a cover up, to justify holding her and she was then rushed to deportation. Ms. Gates actually saw RUSH written in very large red letters on her file in the hands of Officer Bukstein at 101 W. Congress Parkway Chicago. When he saw her looking at it, he turned it over to hide the writing.

6/30 Ms. Gates was informed by her attorney that the British Consulate had told him that ICE had told them that the request for ‘stay of removal’ had been denied, yet we have confirmed that the Request for Stay was not received in ICE offices until 6/31/08.

Ms. Gates has now received confirmation that the FOIA request mailed from McHenry Jail in June 08 was never received by them; this is the first acknowledgement of any kind to her FOIA requests over the last 12 years.

Please investigate this situation fully and correct the errors in procedure which at present have falsely denied Ms. Gates the right to reside legally in the USA for the next 20 years. She was denied any opportunity to sell her home, collect her possessions or settle her affairs in any way. She is waiting in the UK to come home to Chicago.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Respectfully submitted,

___________________ _____________________

Joseen Howarth-Gates-Carreon
17 Westbourne Rd,
West Kirby Wirral
Merseyside, CH48 4DG

Also: 2411 W.Flournoy Unit B
Chicago IL 60612

Geoffrey Heeren,
Attorney at Law
LAFMC
111 W. Jackson Boulevard, Suite 300
Chicago IL 60604

Joseen Howarth-Gates-Carreon, Arrest, Detainment and Deportation 2008.

On May 9, 08 Ms. Gates was arrested in her home by Officers Youssif, Hatchett and Navarro. During the arrest, Ms. Gates went into shock. She informed the Officers she had a blood pressure condition, and then suffered a seizure; this was then prolonged by the arresting agents. As Ms. Gates came to, she was aware of Officer Youssif holding her head, lifting it up, and Officer Navarro leaning in over her body and was holding her leg (at that early hour she was wearing only a bathrobe.) Each time she came conscious, they lifted her head, which caused the blood to flow away from the brain, and so she seized again. When the paramedics arrived, they addressed her seizure properly and so she was able to recover consciousness fully. She was made to crawl up the stairs of her home to dress herself, the door held open by Officer Youssif as she went to the bathroom and then Officer Navarro asked the paramedics if they (ICE) could take her; the paramedics said no; her blood pressure was far too low and she could not walk. She was taken by ambulance to Cook County Hospital. While on oxygen to breathe an a drip, despite constantly asking to speak with her attorney, and being told she could talk to him later, Ms. Gates had all three agents leaning over her, screaming at her and they forced her to sign a parole document that stated she was given Immigration parole, and that her first check in was May 13, 2009.

The next day she realized that there was a large handprint on her inner thigh, as well as a long scratch which happened during the arrest on the staircase. A complaint was filed from McHenry Jail through the British Embassy.

May 15, 2008 she was rearrested outside her home by Agent Manuel Navarro, who wanted to know where that document he gave her was, he wanted the Immigration Parole document back. Ms. Gates said it was with her lawyer. When he asked where her passport was, she said it was behind them in the house, did he want to come with her to get it, but he said ‘cuff her and put her in the van’.

She was then taken to 101 W. Congress Chicago IL, where she was processed (again with Officer Navarro yelling at her) and sent to McHenry County Jail as an Immigration Administrative Detainee. During her time at McHenry, Ms. Gates suffered abuse and mistreatment by the staff, and witnessed the severe abuse and mistreatment of several elderly detainees. She was denied medical care, and her regular prescription medications for depression and stress.

The ‘Intake’ medical screening was not done until 5/28, and the Doctor would not listen to Ms. Gates medical history. Ms. Gates asked who has access to the information, she was then told that she was uncooperative, and the Doctor told the guard ‘we are done here’. Ms. Gates persisted to tell the Doctor she had seizures, also Vaso Vagal Syncope and she requested that he take her blood pressure, but she was then taken out of the room.

Ms. Gates broke out in a severe rash several days after arriving in McHenry Jail; it was ignored by medical staff despite many written requests for treatment. This rash persisted until Oct 2008, and has left disfiguring marks on Ms. Gates throat.

While in McHenry, Ms. Gates was given ‘fresh’ underwear that had body fluids and blood on it from other detainees. When she returned it immediately she was given more clothing from the same batch. All clothing provided in jail was not clean or sanitary, as evidenced by the smell alone.

Food trays very dirty, not sanitized. Food is barely edible; signs on the wall say expect to lose 15-20lb.

5/25 Ms. Gates locked down in her cell for no reason by Officer Huntsberry during the time to order commissary, so denied the opportunity to obtain writing materials.
Her phone access was always being disconnected; she had to make repeated requests to have it reconnected with her Alien number, to be able to make calls. The disconnection during the times that Legal Counsel was available by phone, effectively denied Ms. Gates access to her counsel or other outside assistance.

Despite daily written requests, Ms. Gates was allowed to use the law library only twice, for two hours total, in the seven weeks she was in McHenry Co. Jail. She was told by Officer Taylor told me that he knows that none of the ICE detainees get the 5 hours law library that they are supposed to. All female detainees were regularly denied usage of the gym, told it was in use or they were ‘short handed’ and were made to use the bathroom in front of the cameras. Food and sanitation was below the legal standards acceptable. Also all female detainees were made to share cells.

All detainees woke up with bloody snotty noses, every day; an orange dust is stuck to the walls blowing in through the vents, it is visible starting several feet up. Detainee Margaret Johnson stated that in the ten months she has been in McHenry, she has not seen any kind of official cleaning be done. Asbestos appears to be sticking out of the door frames in the cell block. Detainees were forced to clean their cells in the am and the common areas 3 times a day with chemicals. The label on the bottle states that if it comes into contact with your skin, wash with cold water for 20 minutes, and contact the poison control centre. No detainee was issued gloves to use these chemicals. Ms. Gates now has severely elevated liver enzymes, tested immediately after she was released from jail. The chemicals in the bottles were listed as .09 Benzyl Ammonium Chloride, 0.09 Dimethyl Ethybenzyl Ammonium Chloride but the bottles were refilled? so we do not know what chemicals Ms. Gates was exposed to in McHenry.

5/27 Ms. Gates requested in writing to see the Notary in the jail, this was ignored until Ms. Gates physically approached him as he entered the cell block on 6/3 when she was finally able to get her FOIA request signed so she could send it in. It was handed to an officer for mailing, but was never received by USCIS FOIA office, as confirmed by them on 1-28-09. Original from June 08 now resubmitted on February 2, 09.

5/31 given a second ‘TB’ shot against her will; Ms. Gates did not see this needle come out of clean package. She was told she had to submit to this because they failed to check the results of the first one administered on arrival at the jail. She does not know what she was exposed to with this needle.

Ms. Gates was denied access to legal counsel from 5/15 – 6/9. Geoff Heeren was told that the only time he could speak to Ms. Gates was on 6/3 at 1pm in the jail by phone. She was then woken at 2am on 6/3, kept awake and driven in shackles to 101 W. Congress, and kept awake a total of 40 hrs to prevent her from speaking with him. Only after Ms. Gates got the guard at 101 W. Congress to get someone, Officer Bukstein came to see Ms. Gates, he wanted her passport, she told him again that it was in her house, but that her husband had probably taken it, he said ‘we will just keep you in jail for another week’.

On 6/9 she was again awake from 6am, taken downstairs at 11pm, kept awake all night again, shackled, put in a bus with male prisoners in the female section, then taken to 101 W. Congress to fill out a passport application form. Ms. Gates and her counsel were not allowed to meet privately; Officer Salazar kept opening the door.
Ms. Gates was denied sleep until 9pm the next day, 39 hours.

6/17 A Dog Raid was conducted in the women’s section of the jail, all female detainees were made to lie face down on the concrete floor, as dogs and Officers with large automatic weapons marched over them. We were then searched by the female guards, Ms. Gates privates were touched unnecessarily.

6/18/08 early in the morning, Juan Cruz ICE representative was in putting up all the signage regarding Immigrant rights that is supposed to be posted in the women’s section.

6/18/08 JULIE MYERS VISIT with guests– 2pm. Although the guests stood back by the door, Ms. Myers tried to engage four Chinese non English speaking prisoners in a conversation. Ms. Gates requested that Ms. Myers look into her case, as there must be a mistake. Ms. Myers said to have Geoff Heeren contact Rafael Sanchez, her attorney.

(During this week, and specifically on June the 18th, the temperature in the cell block was so deliberately low, that most detainees were staying in their bunks, wearing all of their assigned clothing at once, under their blankets to try to stay warm.)

After Ms. Myers left, Ms. Gates was told to speak to Levon Temple, an executive with Nakamoto Group, who have the cleaning contract for the jail, about the ‘problems’ she had told Julie Myers about regarding sanitation, food etc. Ms. Gates requested Mr. Temple contact her attorney. levon.temple@nakamotogroup.com

6/20 and 6/22 Ms. Gates was threatened by an inmate with schizophrenia. Guards moved her to a cell 1/131, where they could watch her.
6/22 Ms. Gates became aware that when she flushed the toilet in her unit, the water level in the basin of the drinking water fountain increased. She brought this to the attention of Nakamoto representative that questioned her; he said it was no issue. It was the only drinking water supply for all detainees.

Torture – watching others suffer: Susamma Matthews – again, no criminal record, and no charges at all, she told me she was dragged from her home by 10-15 federal agents – along with her son – Susamma was 60 ish, Indian lady with high blood pressure and diabetes, so I watch as they wake her at 5am to record her blood pressure, it shows low, they take her blood sugar as soon as she has eaten, to show it is ok; the rest of the time because she is NOT OK she is either on the cold floor or on the bunk in her cell, unable to function. She has a urine infection they won’t treat, it progresses to a kidney infection, she is shaking and jolting with the pains inside her, and the guards will not do anything and punish me for asking for help for her. I made phone calls to the OIG hotline to get her help, telling them she would die if they did not do something. They wanted her to walk down the stairs, she couldn’t, (we were locked in our cells and I can see from my cell that they are laughing when she is throwing up and falling down off the toilet onto the floor headfirst) This suffering went on for her for about ten days in the regular cell block – with another inmate we walked in front and behind her so she did not fall down the stairs, we tried to carry her, the guard was annoyed, nobody told him he had to deal with this, he only carried her pillowcase. He called for a wheelchair. They took her up to medical where she said they gave her antibiotics; she had lost 10 pounds in 10 days. The day she walked back into the main cell, and she was woken at 4am and shoved on to the plane that night. She too had applied for her green card. Her file was marked RUSH too. She was told that her stay/appeal had been denied because they had already purchased her airline ticket.

Active TB – Detainee Pong Young, Detainee Number 80153, collapsed on her way to court approx 4/28/08. She was in North-western Hospital, her medical record from the hospital that day shows that she had possible active TB and an enlarged heart. Ms. Gates was detained in an open area with Ms. Young from 5/15/08 – 7/7/08.

Ms. Gates has a full list of her fellow detainees and their situations, and their mistreatment under ICE jails.

Geoff Heeren informed Ms. Gates that after he had contacted Rafael Sanchez/ Officer Sandra Salazar, to point out that there was no active deportation on file for May 9, 08, (it had been satisfied as already acknowledged in documentation from USCIS) and so no reason for arrest and detainment, a new Deportation Order then arrived at his office; it was created dated for the May 15, 08 and served on his office, nearly two months later.

6/30 Ms. Gates was informed by her attorney that the British Consulate Ms. Eileen Dunne, had told him that her ‘stay of removal’ had been denied, yet we have confirmed that the Request for Stay was not received in ICE offices until 6/31/08.

Officer Taylor told Ms. Gates that he knows nobody gets 5 hrs a week Law Library (their true entitlement) after she requested to see the ICE Detainee Detention Standards.
1st Week of July Ms. Gates was severely verbally harassed and physically intimidated by an officer of about 6ft 4in, in front of detainee Olivia Perham. Ms. Gates stated to the officer ‘I am feeling harassed’.

7/4 – Ms. Gates put in a written request to Officer Lusa/Sylvester and JC for a copy of IL Jail Standards, County Jail Standards and a list of the Detainees Rights documentation that all detainees are entitled to. Ms. Gates also put in a written request asking when was the AC in the jail last cleaned by a professional service.

7/7 at 2am, Ms. Gates was taken shackled to 101 W. Congress, then transported to Dodge county Jail. She was again kept awake, shackled hand and foot for 16 hrs. Officer Harkness announced ‘these illegals just come here to claim benefits’ Ms. Gates was only person in the van, the purpose of transporting her to a jail five hour further away was to further deny her access to any outside assistance.

7/18 denied medical care, requested her anxiety medication, and did not receive it.
7/21 – Ms. Gates taken to Dodge Co. Doctor Ramano, who prescribed Acyclovir for the rash.
7/26 – Ms. Gates is threatened by other criminal inmates. Officer Covington suggests Ms. Gates lock herself in her cell to be safe.
8/15 Harassment by Officer Bublitz; written up and locked in cell for 24 hrs, later told by Officer Zaingl that what Officer Bublitz did was ‘bullshit’.
8/19 – Still covered in Rash, Dr. Ramano gave Ms. Gates doxycycline.
8/22 – Charles Scoles Investigator from Julie Myers Office came to question Ms. Gates regarding her complaint to the British Embassy about the arrest procedure and assault. She requested her attorney be present. Mr. Scoles ended the interview.
8/22 Nurse Roxanne told Ms. Gates that prison will not do blood tests for the large lumpy red rash with yellow bursting heads, covering her body, possibly in violation of WI Administrative Code Doc 350-21 Communicable Disease Control.

8/23 Ms. Gates told by Officer Vukovich and Officer Rhode to ‘bond with these women’ (heroin dealers, addicts, alcoholics.) Verbal and emotional abuse from inmates and guards is constant.

8/24 11.45am Supervisor Mark Schwarz tried to intimidate Ms. Gates by reading back one of her phone calls to her. These officers read Ms. Gates legal mail straight off the printer before handing it to her.

8/27 – Put in her street clothes, taken to Fox Valley to be fingerprinted for my U Visa Application. She was in squad car cuffed with male offender also cuffed but able to reach her and touch her. On the return, she was in with 4 males, cuffed but able to reach me, criminal offenders; one was a double homicide, served 11 years, Juan Vasquez. She could not defend herself, it was terrifying. Very traumatic subjected to constant sexual harassment by criminal offenders for four hours. On return, Officer Donegan took all of her clothing, and then spent time looking at her totally naked, then shouted at her for putting menstrual pad in the toilet.
8/27 Officer Donegan read Ms. Gates outgoing legal mail.

9/2 woken at 2am, kept awake until 2am next day, was taken to Broadview processing; Ms. Gates was not told that she was being deported until she demanded to know. Her alien number again did not work for the phones at Broadview. Ms. Gate saw Charles Scoles in the background, and she was the only detainee being filmed from arrival all day by Officer Jankovic. At around 5pm she was taken to O’Hare, kept in a cell, then taken in a van across the tarmac with 3 agents, the Luggage mover from United crashed into the ICE vehicle on the tarmac, gave Ms. Gates whiplash; she was taken by ambulance to Resurrection Hospital where x-rays were taken, (she was admitted under Josmen Howath) and then taken to a cell with no blanket to spend the night in pain. She was woken at 6am to be taken back to Broadview, then at 3pm taken to be put in the van again. When Ms. Gates asked to count the money in the purse being taken from her again, and receive a receipt, she was given a receipt stating ‘Unknown amount’ She was then physically threatened ‘move’ (with the implied threat that if she did not move she would be dragged away) Again she was transported in the same side with male criminal offenders. She was told she could see the doctor when she arrived at Dodge Co, but was not taken to medical and denied pain medication when she needed it.

9/10 Repeat of Deportation, kept awake from 2am the night before, in transport to Broadview, again not told that she was being deported.
Her Gucci watch was missing from her personal possessions. Agent Valencia Amaro asked Ms. Gates to sign a document that stated that she was deportable for 20 years. Ms. Gates pointed out this was incorrect, Ms. Amaro made a phone call, acknowledged that this too was incorrect, but said that she had been told to get Ms. Gates to sign it anyway. Ms. Gates was flown to London Heathrow on Sept 10, 08.