HispanicVista Columnists
Manuel Baltazar – The Sequel
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By
Sal Osio, JD - From the Publisher's Corner
- February 15, 2008
- Manuel Baltazar – The Sequel
- By Sal Osio, JD
- A main objective, as a public service, of Hispanic Vista is to be an advocate of Hispanic human rights, to express the grievances of our fellowmen and to seek redress and justice. Hopefully, we have achieved a modicum of success in the case of Manuel Baltazar. But, collectively, we have a long journey ahead of us.
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- Sal Osio, JD is the publisher and CEO of HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com). Contact at: SPosio@aol.com
- “Manuel Baltazar: A US-Mexico Scapegoat”
Manuel Baltazar has been released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff from his unjust incarceration at the Pitchess Detention Center. Was this due to our commentary of last month (see link below)? To the hundreds of letters written by our readers, church groups and government leaders, both domestically and from Mexico? Was it the result of God’s Providence recognizing the injustice and in answer to our collective prayers? Or, was it all of the above?
Possibly we will never know. At this juncture, what matters is that Manuel has been released from jail. But where is he? Was he transferred to an INS detention facility such as Mira Loma? Was he expelled to Mexico? Or, was he simply released on the street, as is the practice with other inmates? I tried to locate him by calling the Los Angles County Sheriff’s Office and by calling the Mira Loma INS detention facility in Lancaster, Los Angeles County, California. I tried to locate him online by visiting the official public information Web sites. I got nowhere. I can’t locate him. I don’t know where he is or in what condition he is in.
Like all of you who cared, I pray and hope that he is free and in good health and in the company of friends and relatives. I pray and hope that he enjoys a better and more productive future and that he overcomes the injustice that he suffered.
What is so disturbing, however, is that Manuel is only one of thousands of undocumented immigrants whose human rights have and are being violated with reckless abandon, who are detained without due process of law, who are forced to perform hard labor and who are effectively denied access to their family, friends and local consulates - all in violation of our Constitutional guarantees, including prohibition against involuntary servitude and slavery.
What is to become of the Manuel’s in our society? And, who will stand up for them? How can we turn our cheek and ignore this injustice to our Christian brothers and sisters?