5 Arizona Immigrant Women Tell of Terror, Civil Rights Violations

Five Arizona women painted a picture of abuse, terror, and civil rights violations during a special hearing Thursday before Congress about the impact of a state law that would make it a crime to be undocumented.

Fighting back tears, Celia Alejandra Alvarez, 30, described how she was detained in a workplace raid, physically abused, and incarcerated without medical care in February 2009.

“It’s true what’s happening in Arizona; we are discriminated against,” said Alvarez to a roomful of people. She said in an interview that her experience is an example of the climate that led to SB 1070 and the danger that this law poses to other families.

Alvarez, Silvia Rodríguez, Alma Mendoza, Silvia Herrera, and 10-year-old Katherine Figueroa were invited to testify at a special hearing on the impact of the new Arizona law SB 1070 by Congressman Raúl Grijalva (D-Arizona). During their visit they also met with members of the Obama administration’s labor department.

The delegation’s concerns were not limited to the potential impact of the law that will take effect July 29. The women’s testimony also underscored concerns about civil rights violations and abuse by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office that have been taking place in Arizona since the federal government signed a 287(g) agreement with that agency. The agreement, which has been limited since then, allowed the sheriff’s office to train 160 of its deputies to enforce immigration laws.

“I asked myself why did I suffer so much. I was only working. Each check I won was earned through my own sweat. My job was to clean highways and streets no matter if it was sunny or cold,” said Alvarez.

Alvarez filed a lawsuit in February against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office after being detained in a worksite raid at a landscaping company. She alleged that a deputy dislocated her jaw while trying to pull her out of her hiding place, and another one hit her with a clipboard for talking to other people who were being detained.

“I only have one question for President Obama and Congress: Aren’t we all human? My blood is red, and I imagine yours is too. And I ask myself, why do you ask us for papers to work and not to go to war?” said Alvarez.

“Many times one loses their life trying to find this dream, but the saddest is when one loses ones own dignity,” she said.

The mother of four spent three months in jail, where she said she was denied medical attention and was the victim of racial slurs and discrimination. What Alvarez regrets the most is the trauma her children suffered while she was incarcerated.

Kathy Figueroa, a 10-year-old who was separated from her parents during a raid last year, bore witness to the experience of children.

“It was very hard for me. Every time when I went to school I kept thinking that maybe I would see my parents when I came home,” she said addressing the congressman. “I would also have bad dreams, like the deputies were taking my family and me to jail.”

Figueroa has been known to the local Arizona media since she appeared in a YouTube video asking Obama, as the father of two daughters, to pass immigration reform and help her parents to be released. She also marched with other children to protest the actions of Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County.

“Not only are parents fighting back; their kids are doing the same thing to change the laws that are separating us from our parents,” she said.

“Please help us. Children don’t know what to do without their parents. I feel bad about the new law SB 1070. I can’t be with my family in my car because the police will take my family away to jail.”