Lost in Tijuana: A mother searches for her deported son *

Like many others, when I first heard about the case of Pedro Guzman, an American wrongfully deported to Tijuana, I chuckled. Then I sought out his mother Maria Carbajal and began spending time with her in TJ as she searched the streets for signs of Pedro. Previous news updates on the story are here and here. From my piece this week, already online:

As she searches for her son, questions swirl around her: Why was Pedro singled out to be screened by immigration? Why would he lie about his status? Why hasn’t he called us back? Did he find work? Did he go farther south?

"Only he knows how to answer that, when he is present," Carbajal says. Lawyers fighting for the government and for the ACLU have a lot of questions too: Is Guzman mentally disabled? Was he coerced or convinced at some point during his time in county jail to sign a voluntary deportation order? Could it be possible that he wanted to be deported?

It is late June, six weeks since Pedro entered Mexico at San Ysidro, the southernmost district of San Diego. He hasn’t been heard from since his initial phone call home. Carbajal left her job on the night shift of a Jack in the Box to stay behind and keep up the search. It took some time, she says, to get used to daylight again.

"I don’t have a schedule. I find someone who says they saw him, or saw someone who looks like him. I’ll go meet them, it doesn’t matter what time it is," Carbajal says. "But nothing, no one has given me anything."

Check back here and at LAWeekly.com for updates on the link. See also the blog States Without Nations, which has been monitering the case. Also check out the ACLU's Jails Project, and this piece from the Weekly archives by Jeff Anderson about the Kafka-esque hell of immigrant detention centers. * Photo of the Tijuana River by borderlinejohnnie.

* SHOUT-OUT: I want to thank the students in Mr. Ben Gertner's journalism class at Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights. Mr. Gertner asked me to visit last week and the group had some very good questions and thoughts about a lot of subjects, like transportation in L.A., gentrification, and media. Thank you again.

** ON PEDRO GUZMAN: If you have any questions or comments, I invite readers to post them below. This is a free space for discussion.

Comments

[Diego]

It's people like you and Jesus Blancornelas that got me interested in journalism. If I had known, I would have told me high school journalism adviser to contact you and try to get you to come to South Gate High School and advise us.

[Ramon Cardona]

Gracias Daniel por tu importante y detallado reportaje sobre esta historia.
Si fueras tan amable de contactar a la Sra. Carbajal y preguntarle si esta dispuesta a dar una entrevista radial en el area de San Francisco, CA. La radio es la KIQI 1010 y el programa es "Entre Mujeres".
Gracias mil y espero tu contestacion.
Ramon Cardona
510-776-8020

[Sasha]

Hi Daniel,

I read your article y me encabrono. One can only but imagine what that poor Mother is going through constantly searching for her son. The not knowing is the worst part. I've been in a similar position and I know how cruel it can be. It can tear you apart from within.

I find it amazing how the people who did this to Pedro have no concept of remorse to actually get off their asses and do something to help this woman.

Daniel, do you know if she is affiliated with any kind of organization that is actively protesting the Sheriff's office? Who can we send emails and letters of dissaproval to?

Thanks,
Sasha M. Marquez

[Daniel H.]

Dear Sasha, Thank you for your comment. I don't believe Ms. Carbajal is affiliated with anyone else other than the ACLU, which is suing the Sheriff's Department on Pedro's behalf. I don't know exactly who you should contact to protest but I imagine Sheriff Lee Baca is used to receiving angry letters.

[Daniel H.]

Sr. Cardona, Lo que te recomiendo es que te pongas en contacto con el ACLU del Sur de California. La organizacion esta trabajando el caso de Pedro Guzman y te puede poner en contacto con su familia. Saludos, Daniel H.

[Sarasud]

I've re-posted your story on my blog...the article is amazing and important, and also quite beautiful--the writing is just lovely. But most of all, I'm so happy you're writing about this because there's a massive, ugly and fairly well-coordinated "disappearance" system happening in this country, and for the time being it's both highly effective and nearly invisible.

I've been working in Tucson/Tohono O'odham on issues of domestic violence and human trafficking--now in Los Angeles--and increasingly come across many, many stories of this "dope and drop." It happened all the time in the shelters I worked at on the border, and here in LA too -- I work at a local poverty law/legal aid nonprofit, and just last week we had a case of a peruvian woman who was kept as a slave in the house of a CSU professor here in LA (for two years)...when we were about to get the woman into a shelter, the professor drugged her and dropped her unconscious somewhere in TJ without identification, money, passport, etc. The FBI isn't pushing for criminal charges because the case is "too small," and the $100K settlement the professor paid to the peruvian woman was largely paid by her HOMEOWNER'S INSURANCE POLICY.

Keep it up.