Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recently took on the case of Martn Mndez Pineda, a Mexican

journalist who has been detained in El Paso, Texas since February 5. Mndez is seeking asylum
in the United States because of the dangers to which he was exposed in his home country as a
result of his journalism.
In RSFs opinion, Mndez should be immediately released as he has committed no crime and is
currently undergoing deplorable treatment in detention.
Below is a letter that Mndez wrote from his detention center. It details not only his own
situation but also that of many other Mexicans currently held at the U.S. border.
Mndez is being represented by the law office of Carlos Spector. For more information, please
call (915) 544-0441.

By Martn Mndez Pineda on April 13 2017

A Journalists Harrowing Quest for Asylum
Although I have submitted all of the necessary legal documents and although I passed a credible
fear interview on March 1, showing that I face real danger in my home country, the United
States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities continue to keep me detained.
Sixty-six days have passed since I turned myself over to the immigration authorities on February
5 in El Paso, Texas with the purpose of seeking political asylum. My quest for safety is a result
of the constant death threats I was receiving from federal officers in Mexico due to articles I
wrote in Acapulco, where I began my career as a journalist for Novedades Acapulco.
When I decided to come to the United States and seek refuge, I believed that I would be
welcomed after presenting all of the necessary documents required by law. But when I arrived in
the U.S. I found that this is not true and that only bureaucracy reigns. It is indeed more
complicated than it seems, and it is true that all immigrants here are treated like criminals or drug
traffickers. Sadly now I too am experiencing it.
It is one thing to have heard of this and another to be living it. It has been said that immigration
officers use intimidation tactics and harassment to discourage many of the detained so that they
will finally decide to request their own deportation. I know now firsthand that this happens.
They have tried using this tactic with me in different ways since March 28, when they denied my
release under parole despite all of the evidence I submitted. The only argument they have been
using against me is that I do not have ties to the community.
When I received news of the parole denial I personally contacted at least three ICE officers to
request an explanation. They only told me that 99.9% of the people that qualify for parole are
denied and are deported, and that it is necessary for a child, mother or father to be dying or in
serious condition in order to be released under parole. This is clearly a tactic to discourage me
and the others detained here, designed to make us choose deportation.
Sadly, deportation is not so easy. ICE calls this a detention facility and not a prison and tells
us that at any moment we can decide to be sent back to our country of origin. But this is not the
case, it is worse because the instant that someone asks to be voluntarily deported, their request
is denied and they are detained for as long as six months before they are released, causing them
psychological damage and emotional stress as they continue to be detained against their will.
I have come to see that this is a joke at immigrants expense. Many of those who are detained
chose to come to this country and followed the rules by turning themselves over to the
immigration authorities, while others have been detained along the border during their crossing
and have only asked for asylum after their capture because of their fear of returning to their
country.
People who turn themselves in at a U.S. port of entry are said to qualify for parole as long as they
pass the credible fear interview, while those who were detained while crossing can only obtain
release under a bond.
The saddest and most ironic part of all this is that you cant win either way. In the end, parole is
denied for illogical reasons although strong evidence and documents have been submitted, while
those that get their bond set are required to pay more than $50,000 and when they dont have that
money, they are deported.
The main issue for the immigrants here is the way in which the process is carried out. Some have
been waiting for an answer on their case for more than 10 or 11 months. Their detention is
prolonged with the clear intention of getting them deported.
One of the most effective tactics by the ICE officers is to separate families. For at least 30% of
the families, after turning themselves over to the authorities, the mother and children are released
while the father continues to be detained and, in the end, deported without being able to do a
thing for his family. As a result, this separation forces the family settled inside the US to return
home because their already vulnerable economic situation has worsened in the absence of the
father who regularly provides half their income. So in the end they are forced out of the country
one way or another.
I have seen discrimination, abuse and humiliation from the very first day I set foot in this place.
They transferred me to a detention center called West Texas Detention Facility located in the city
of Sierra Blanca, Texas. In this place, I experienced the worst days of my life. It is known by the
detainees as el gallinero (the henhouse) since the barracks resemble a stable for livestock or
chickens, designed for approximately 60 people but currently housing more than 100 individuals,
who are exposed to all kinds of diseases and who dont have access to adequate medical
attention.
The henhouse of Sierra Blanca is small, with metal bunks, worn-out rubber mattresses,
wooden floors, bathrooms with the walls covered in green and yellow mold, weeds everywhere
and snakes and rats that come in the night. The guards look at the detainees with disgust on their
faces and everything you say to them is ignored. There is very little food and all they tell you is
that it is enough to survive. It is martyrdom to land in this place. Honestly, it is hell.
Almost at once, I fell ill there. I knew this was bound to happen. To my surprise, they didnt
attend to me or try to get any help. They punished me for getting sick, which is the worst of all
punishments. They detained me in a place known as el pozo or la hielera (the pit or the
freezer). Just remembering it frightens me. I spent all night crying and feeling bitter. It is a space
no more than two meters wide with a small worn bed and a dirty metal toilet beside it covered in
fungus. It is even more unpleasant than the henhouse. I can assure you that the people there
are afraid to get sick, not because of the consequences this may have on their body and health,
but because of the doctors usual reaction: to enclose you in this room so that you dont decide
to get sick. I never told anyone again that I was sick despite getting daily nosebleeds, so that I
would not have to return to that room. It wasnt just me who lied about my health, but also
almost all of the 100 other immigrants detained in that barracks.
According to page 23, point 33 of the ICE Detention and Removal Operations manual that was
published in April 2016, medical visits are available to all detainees, from their admission until
their release, so that they can receive medical assistance. But this is a lie. They do not give us the
medical care we need. This is the case with Roberto D., a native of Brazil who is paralyzed in
half of his body as a result of the concerns, stress and anguish he has suffered while detained
there. He says he has not been given proper care attention and runs the risk of losing his leg or
dying there. He was set to be deported on March 22 and was already at the airport ready to leave
for his country, when he was returned to the detention center because of a supposed mistake.
Since then he has had two more convulsions.
After I had been in Sierra Blanca for a week, one Sunday at around 10 pm, they transferred me to
another detention center called Cibola County Correctional Center, in Milan, New Mexico. The
transfer was the worst torture. They had us chained by our feet, with our hips and hands pressed
against our chest, without being able to move for more than 26 hours, as if we were dangerous
criminals.
We remained chained as they drove around in circles for 26 hours, as if they were lost, without
giving us any food or water. In response to our requests for food and liquid, the officer driving
the bus screamed: Stay quiet, nobody told you to come! Let this teach you to not want to return!
Next time bear in mind that you will be detained in a federal prison for two years! Minutes later
this officer parked at a gasoline station, bought himself a large soda and began drinking it in
front of all of us, while we continued to suffer from extreme thirst. Sad but true.
When I arrived at this detention center, I had the impression that it was very secure. Days later I
found out that it had been a federal prison before becoming an ICE detention center. For a few
days everything seemed fine, but the officers were unkind and treated us with disgust. One
officer denied me medical assistance when I dislocated my left shoulder and I was in a lot of
pain. There was a great deal of swelling and a bone was almost protruding through the skin. But
he told me: It is not an emergency unless you are bleeding or your life is at risk. He also told
me to write a letter if I wanted to receive medical care in a couple of days. I was unable to sleep
due to the pain and became desperate. They finally examined me after a week but they only gave
me ibuprofen for the pain.
I was in Cibola for one month and eight days until, once again, I was removed to another
detention center. It was the same transfer procedure with chains on our feet, hands and chest but
this time they did give us food and water: a sandwich, an apple and a small bottle of water for the
15-hour trip.
We arrived at the El Paso Processing Center in which I am currently located, in El Paso, Texas.
They told us that they would give us a response or our freedom within a couple of days, but I
have now been here a month and my hopes of being released are dwindling.
One of the things that got my attention was that, according to page 5 of the same detention
manual, all detainees are given a color classification on arrival that indicates their threat level.
There is blue, level 1 (low), for non-violent people with no criminal history; orange, level 2
(medium), for those who have prior arrests and have told officers they have had a prior
deportation; and red, level 3 (highest security), for those who are considered very dangerous and
require maximum security.
I am in the low threat category, color blue, level 1. My documents and record indicate that I do
not have any criminal ties. But when I arrived at this detention center, they tried to intimidate me
by placing me in the orange classification group, indicating that I could have a criminal record or
that I had been deported previously. This was not just a mistake, it was done deliberately to
intimidate me. After three days they placed me in the correct classification level: blue.
I know that all the suffering I am enduring is not in vain. Every day I am living the sad truth of
mistreatment and discrimination towards Hispanics in these detention centers. But I know that
this distress could have a positive effect, that it could help to push for more dignified treatment
of immigrants in the future, including for reporters from Mexico and other countries. After all of
the agony I have experienced, I hope that, when other journalists feel threatened as a result of
their work and decide to seek political asylum, they will not have to fear being detained for
several months and being separated from their families, and that all journalists in danger will
receive refuge. This is a historic moment in which I speak not only for myself but also for all the
others. My freedom is in danger but my hope for other journalists seeking refuge in this country
will continue to grow.
I ask the American people to give me their support because being detained here is truly a torture.
I am a good person and I would never wish for anyone to be held in this place. I also want to
give a message to the authorities who say that I am a flight risk and that I wont show up to court
proceedings. I want to tell them that I would be truly thankful and appreciative if I were to be
released, since it would mean my life was saved, and that I would never betray their trust.