The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Colombian national Lesli Vaca Díaz, who is seven months pregnant, was arrested by Border Patrol agents July 2 after crossing the border near Douglas. One of the agents struck her so hard in the back that the wind was knocked out of her, according to Vaca Díaz, pictured above earlier this year in Colorado. She was helicoptered to Banner University Medical Center Tucson, after medics told her she could lose her baby. Hospital staff and border agents prevented Vaca Díaz, 29, from calling her family or a lawyer, until someone finally allowed her to call attorney Luis Campos July 4, she said. She's now detained at Eloy Detention Center.
We are a group of local organizations and concerned citizens. Our group is alarmed by the recent case of a pregnant Colombian woman held in Border Patrol custody while at Banner University Medical Center Tucson, and we are also familiar with similar cases at other Tucson area hospitals. The purpose of this letter is to better understand your hospital’s position concerning Department of Homeland Security operations on hospital property. We are aware that the Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection, and perhaps Immigration and Customs Enforcement may be operating at your facility in varied ways, including:
● Undertaking immigration enforcement operations: conducting investigations and/or arrests;
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● Parking in your car lots (or otherwise having a similar presence at your facility) to surveil patients and other patrons;
● Standing guard in patient rooms with sidearms and ensuring noncitizen patients are kept incommunicado, removing telephones from rooms and denying access to attorney and family visits;
● Freely moving about hospital property, including in non-public areas of your facilities;
● Coordinating enforcement efforts with hospital security staff.
We remind you that immigration law is civil administrative law and not criminal law. Accordingly, simply being undocumented is not a crime. Given DHS’s proclivity to engage in physically aggressive and often legally questionable tactics, we would like to know your position, policies, and protocols governing immigration enforcement on hospital property (as distinguished from your policies and protocols related to criminal law enforcement). We are confident that healthcare facilities are committed to serving patient needs in a safe, risk-free, and non-threatening environment. And such purpose is not served when hospitals actively support or acquiesce to immigration enforcement on hospital property.
We invite a genuine and meaningful response addressing our concerns. The Pima County community awaits your reply.
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Two pregnant detainees hospitalized in Arizona; one claims border agent struck her