Mentally Disabled American Deported To Mexico.

Mentally Disabled American Deported To Mexico
29-Year-Old Was Born In California

POSTED: 12:53 pm CDT June 12, 2007


LOS ANGELES -- The family of a mentally disabled man claims that the federal and local governments mistakenly had an American citizen deported and said U.S. officials should help find him in Mexico.

Relatives of Pedro Guzman, 29, are suing the Department of Homeland Security and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in Los Angeles federal court.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit this week over what the civil rights group contends was the wrongful deportation of a developmentally disabled man.


Pedro Guzman was serving time in Los Angeles County's Men's Central Jail for misdemeanor trespassing when he was deported to Tijuana on May 10 or May 11, according to the ACLU.

The family said they've been looking for their loved one in Tijuana for a month. Michael Guzman said his worst fear is that his brother is "no longer living."

He said Michael can't read, gets lost and often can't remember the family phone number.

The suit said Pedro Guzman was sentenced in April to 120 days in jail for a misdemeanor trespassing violation. The suit said that sometime after that the Sheriff's Department identified him as a non-citizen, obtained his signature for voluntary removal from the United States and turned him over to federal authorities for deportation.

Guzman, who knows no one in Tijuana, was last heard from on May 11, when he phoned his brother and sister-in-law's home to say he had been deported to that city, but the call was interrupted before he could say exactly where he was, according to the ACLU.

Guzman's mother, brother and sister-in-law traveled to Tijuana and searched shelters, jails, churches, hospitals and morgues, but have not found him and fear for his safety, ACLU officials said.

"This is a recurring nightmare for every person of color of immigrant roots," Mark Rosenbaum, the legal director of the ACLU's Southern California branch, said in a statement.

There are no circumstances under which a U.S. citizen can legally be deported.

According to the ACLU, Guzman -- who authorities also refer to by the last name of Guzman Carbajal -- declared at his booking that he was born in California. The civil liberties group also contends that jail and Department of Homeland Security officials failed to identify Guzman's disability and improperly obtained his signature for deportation from the United States.

Guzman is unable to remember his family's telephone number, and has difficulty reading and writing, according to the ACLU. He is also "unusually prone to the suggestions of others, due to his diminished mental abilities," according to the lawsuit.

Under a cooperative program by state and local law enforcement, sheriff's deputies trained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel conduct immigration checks at Los Angeles County jails. The ACLU and immigrant rights groups opposed the program.

"The deputies who interviewed Mr. Guzman are poorly versed in the complexities of immigration law and were bound to make this tragic error," the suit states. "Additionally, the deputies are pressured to process inmates through the (jail system's) Inmate Reception Center as quickly as possible with little regard for his rights, because there are so many inmates to process."

ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said in a statement that the agency partners with the county jail "to ensure that criminals, who are identified as aliens, are screened for removal from the U.S."

"ICE only processes persons for removal when all available credible evidence suggests the person is an alien. That process was followed here, and ICE has no reason to believe that it improperly removed Pedro Guzman Carbajal," she said.

ICE "carries out its mission judiciously, fairly and appropriately," her statement adds.

Steve Whitmore of the sheriff's department said the deputies are "trained by ICE and we're doing (screening) to the highest standard available. We never try to rush anybody through."

Whitmore added that the department simply passes information on immigration status to ICE, which makes the determination regarding deportation.

The family is seeking to force the government to locate Guzman and return him to the United States. So far, federal officials have refused requests by family members and a private lawyer for help in the search, according to the ACLU.

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