These men were held even though their testimony. as I say and repeat. was not necessary. after plea bargains had elicited stipulations regarding the very evidence that they were being held to deliver. and even though no court trial was contemplated. Why would you hold a prisoner for the purposes of being a witness at a trial you know is not going to be held? When they were released. they were entitled to be released. they were given the card evidencing the fact that they were entitled to be released. but only under those circumstances to the custody of a border patrol officer. gun on his hip. who then took him to this particular employer 90 miles over. and then rearrested when they protested conditions. If any one of these injustices had been done to an American traveling abroad. every one of us would be up and protesting and making sure that our Government did something about it. What can we do any less when this happens in our own land? It would be easy to say that we should not worry about this business. The attitude of the border patrol in this case was that the men were law violators any way because they were in here illegally to begin with. But in our country it has been long established that even this type of violation has certain procedural and judicial rights established of due process. Moreover. the policy of Congress is for prompt deportation. not indefinite jailing. As Justice OConnor has written. and I am going to quote from her opinion: We should be careful not to permit needless human suffering or needless burdens on the Federal Government. But in this case we have both.
Identified stereotypes
The border patrol views the men as law violators because they were in the country illegally.