[nukkad] Fwd: DIARY OF AN UNKNOWN INDIAN: Chronicling a tale of humiliation

[Ashish.SHAH@orange.co.uk]

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Subject:  Fwd: DIARY OF AN UNKNOWN INDIAN: Chronicling a tale of humiliation







>  Pathetic isn't it.
> And what is worse we will just swallow it and go back for more.
>
> I wonder when will we learn to respect ourselves and learn to walk tall.
>
> Please pass this on.
>
> > <http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jan29/wash.htm>
> >
> >In the deccan herald....
> > page attached below.
> DECCAN HERALD Saturday, January 29, 2000
>   _____
>
>
> DIARY OF AN UNKNOWN INDIAN
>
> Chronicling a tale of humiliation
>
> From Shyam Bhatia
> DH News Service
> WASHINGTON, Jan 28
>
> One of the Indian computer professionals who was arrested last week by
> agents of the US Immigration and Naturalisation Service kept a record of
> what happened and forwarded it to Deccan Herald.
>
> The following is an edited excerpt from the diary of an Unknown Indian:
>
> ''I come from a respectable family from India and have no criminal record.
>
> Finished Bachelors of Engineering in India before coming to America for
> higher studies.
>
> Graduated from an American university with Masters in Computer Science
> before taking up a job on practical training.
>
> Well aware of the immigration laws in US during F1 student status. Never
> been out of status during F1 Status.
>
> No criminal record in America either. Hired by a company in Houston during
> practical training program. Changed status to H1B before practical
> training expires.
>
> Hired by another consulting company in Houston, Texas. Started working for
> that company immediately after transferring H1B. So no out of status here
> either.
>
> As a part of consulting career, got assignment at Randolph Air Force Base
> in San Antonio, Texas, and moved to San Antonio.
>
> I started working for the Military Modernisation project which is a
> prestigious project for the whole United States Air Force community
> because it deals with their day to day activity as well as their family
> history. What not, it deals with every Air Force personnel life time
> history.
>
> Proud to be part of such a project. Been working happily for 2 1/2 years.
>
> Then there was an INS raid exactly a year ago, they picked up some
> personnel for questioning in a decent manner. Found a guy with some
> discrepancies with paper work. Didn`t care much because I`ve never been
> out of status and having all the valid documents.
>
> Nothing happened for another year.
>
> There comes another INS raid at US Air Force Base.
>
> THE DAY OF THE INS RAID:
>
> Started working at 7:30 am as usual. Around 9:30 am or so, there comes our
> Lt Col asking us to come forward and move to a common area for an INS
> questioning.
>
> Being un-aware of the things, picked up the documents that shows my
> legality in this country and moved to the area where all my colleagues
> already present. Observed by that time the all the US citizens were out of
> thearea. They are forcing all the people look like Indians into the common
> area. You could be an Indian American a.k.a. US citizen, but by the looks,
> you are not alone to be detained.
>
> I was confident that just by looking at my documents, any INS agent would
> let me go free. I was wrong. They said they are picking up Indians working
> for two companies for questioning at INS local office.
>
> There was a guy from an American neighbouring country working on the same
> project. When INS asked that particular person for the documents, he said
> he don`t have it right now, and don`t know whether they are at home or in
> his car. Strange thing happened, INS agents let him go. No questioning.
>
> Nothing. Quite different case for Indians. They preached us that all
> foreign nationals in the US need to carry the passport and all other valid
> documents at all times.
>
> The agent put a handcuff on me. He didn`t say anything. He didn`t read my
> rights. He didn`t tell me why he is putting handcuffs on me.
>
> Then they paraded me along with my teammates outside the building where
> there was a van which is already jampacked with other Indians working at
> the same building including women. We waited for another van to come and
> pick us in a bitter cold weather. When we asked them about waiting inside
> the building until new van comes up because none of us had time to pick up
> our jackets, the agents started making fun of us saying that we were
> shivering because we are illegals.
>
> They treated us like common criminals.
>
> There comes a new van... loaded us, let me say again they loaded us
> literally into the van and followed a convoy of about three vans and five
> cars.
>
> At the beginning they don`t know whom to follow. So they stopped in
> between on the road, started talking with others in the operation on
> radio. So they decided to go the nearby apartment complex where most of
> the Indians are staying to pick up the passports and all the immigration
> documents. Poor Indians (including me), thought, they will leave us after
> they see the docs. Nope.
>
> They grabbed whatever they can at the apartments. If you have a housewife,
> they didn`t spare. Asked whoever stayed at the apartments to get on to the
> convoy with the handcuffs.
>
> When somebody asked for bathroom they asked us to wait until we go to INS
> building which was half-an hour away from the base.
>
> AT THE INS BUILDING:
>
> They unloaded us, let me say again unloaded like common criminals at
> theINS office. They moved us into the building during that time I saw a
> bathroom up there, and asked the agent to let me go. He said you will have
> a special bathroom upstairs. I didn`t understand what did he mean until
> they pushed us into a small room filled with about 50 people inside and a
> toilet at a corner in that small room.
>
> Then they started calling people one by one for questioning. If you are
> lucky, you get a good agent who will make you let go.
>
> It seemed that the agents didn`t prepare much for what to do after we
> came. They started hurriedly trying to open up the appropriate forms to
> fill up on the computer. Some agents started enquiring from other agents
> which form to fill. Some even looked asking how to print it, how to save
> it, what template to use, like that. I don`t blame them for that. But to
> fill up a questionnaire of 20 questions my agent took two hours as I was
> lucky. Some of other Indians waited for 4-6 hours for the same process.
>
> It looked like their main intention was to put as many people into the
> jail for the night. Because they very well know that the bond office
> downstairs closes at 4 pm, and if we can`t get the bond paper work by that
> time, we will be spending the night in the jail. So they successfully made
> 19 guys and 4 girls to miss the 4 pm deadline to pay for the bond, and
> sent us to the jail.
>
> The agent asked me whether I need an attorney. I still believed that I
> will be free after couple of questions. So I said I don`t need anybody,
> and told him that I will answer whatever he wants. I`m pretty much
> confident that I`m not illegal.
>
> After couple of questions, I asked him what`s going on.
>
> Then he said its not your fault, its happening because of my employer. I
> didn`t understand what he meant, if it is not my fault what the heck I`m
> doing here. Then he said, I`m supposed to work in Houston, instead I`m
> working in San Antonio.
>
> I am totally unaware of this law point. In fact, 99 per cent of the
> consulting people in this land of immigrants un-aware of this. Because,
> when my H1 approved, all I got from my employer is the approval notice and
> nothing else. How am I supposed to know what is my work address if at all
> there is a law prohibiting H1 people to work in other cities. H1 approval
> notice doesn`t say anything about this and the employer has no reason to
> give all the paper work to the employee. So consulting people never know
> which address they are authorised to work.
>
> Consulting business runs on this principle. Work assignments are scattered
> around the country. So people like me never will be knowing that there is
> a law prohibiting H1 people to work in other cities than the city they
> authorised to work.
>
> I told him the same.
>
> Then he said if a consulting company wants to send employees to different
> cities the company need to send them an itinerary of the employee. Any
> body want to laugh at this moment, So finally I realized that I am in
> trouble because my employer didn`t send the INS agent my itinerary and
> didn`t update the paper work. I didn`t understand one thing at this
> juncture. If the agent knows very well that I didn`t do anything wrong,
> then why the hell he is harassing me. I ain`t no criminal, I got no
> criminal record, I have no reason to run away from INS agents.
>
> Instead, they can go and question the employer for his so called wrong
> doing.
>
> Any way I started believing that moment about the stories I heard about
> INS. So he took my finger prints and all the regular stuff, and told me
> that I am under arrest.
>
> Thats when the first time I heard a word about arrest.
>
> After that it is all procedural, they sent us downstairs into a much
> smaller room, and then into the van. The van took us about 80 miles from
> INS office into some correctional facility.
>
> Excerpts from my fellow victims experience in this raid: ''You, INDIANS,
> move here.`` ''You make more money than me.`` ''If I don`t put handcuffs,
> you may grab a pen and kill me.`` ''I can`t even afford to buy the kind of
> jacket you are wearing.`` ''You people make lot of easy money. Why did you
> come to US? Learn ''...`` language if you want to live in Texas.``
> ''Offered BEEF burritos knowingly that Indians don`t eat beef. Promised to
> bring vegetarian food and gave with meat in it without telling about it.``
>
> ''Didn`t care much about pregnant women who are on H4.``
>
> ''Made derogatory comments about India.``
>
> ''Made fun of Indian customs.``







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