Article in the local paper today.

Nightmare on the Border

Liz Larios deported to drug-riddled town in Mexico
By Rick Coates

For all practical purposes Liz Larios considers herself an American.
She graduated from Traverse City Central High School and has lived in
the United States for the past 18 years since the age of six. Since
high school, she has been holding down two jobs to pay her bills and
planned on marrying her boyfriend of six years, Russell Horn, sometime
next year. There was just one problem, the 24-year-old Traverse City
resident was born in Mexico.

On Tuesday November 9, Liz Larios was out in her yard with her dog
when a large black SUV pulled up, two man dressed in black suits
approached her asked for her name, handcuffed her and took her away.
The men were agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE
-- the principal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland
Security). Her arrest was part of a sweep through Northern Michigan
that led to the arrest of 17 individuals believed to be illegal
immigrants.

"I came home from work and new something was up; we only have one car
and she was not home," said Russell Horn. "We were getting along great
and besides some money issues we were living a fairytale life, so I
knew she hadn't left me. I called her sister and she told me that the
ICE agents had been to her house and had taken her parents as well."
Horn learned the fate of his fiance two days later when she was
finally permitted to call.

"I was mortified. They didn't even identify themselves and they
wouldn't let her change her clothes, she was in her pajamas. Then they
drove to her parent's house arrested them and then headed off to
McDonald's where the agents went in and had lunch while all the people
they arrested waited in the vehicles handcuffed," said Horn. "After
lunch they proceeded to a detention facility in the Soo. Well, Liz
was crying hysterically as she didn't know what was happening to her
or her family. The one agent kept yelling at her to quit her crying
and repeatedly told her to 'shut the f*ck up.' Well, he got fed up
with her and radioed to the vehicle ahead to pull over. He got out
and dragged Liz's mother back to vehicle with Liz in hopes that would
shut Liz up."

FEARFUL DESTINATION

For Horn, the whole ordeal has been a nightmare and what worries him
most is he feels that Liz will only survive a few weeks back in
Mexico.

"She speaks broken Spanish. Her cousin was murdered just a few months
ago," said Horn. "These border towns are run by the drug cartels where
murders and rapes run rampant daily."

Larios' parents left Mexico 18 years ago to seek a better life in the
United States as the drug cartels were taking over (even their home
was overtaken by the drug cartel). When they left Mexico they had work
visas and started as migrant workers before her father Ignatius landed
a job working for an insulation contractor, a job he has had for 10
years. Her mother worked an office job for seven years before being
laid off; she recently worked for a local dry cleaners. Her brother
was the first detained and his return trip a few years ago back to
Mexico did not end well.

"This is what has me worried. He went back because he violated his
visa by fishing without a license. Well, he and his wife went back to
the family farm and the drug cartel showed up and demanded money and
drugs. Right in front of him they blew his wife's head off. They
pistol whipped him, but he survived," said Horn. "He escaped back to
the U.S. but was caught and deported back. Well, he had nowhere to go
but back to the family home. The drug cartel caught him, tortured him
and hung him to death. Now Liz's Uncle was the chief of police. He
started investigating the murder and a week later was murdered."
Since being arrested on November 9, Larios had been moved to four
detention centers around Michigan before being deported to Mexico on
November 23. Russell Horn has been selling off everything he and Liz
own, taking pennies on the dollar to raise money to rescue his fiance.
He started "Operation Save Liz" and via Facebook has marketed his
belongings by offering to be available 24/7 for interested buyers.

DRIVING TO MEXICO

"I am just waiting on my passport to arrive," said Horn. "I have quit
my job and right now I have $600 raised. As soon as that passport gets
here I am driving to Mexico with whatever cash I have.
My mom is going to keep the sale going after I leave. I also have
opened an account at Members Credit Union where people can send
donations to help."

What's the plan when he gets to Mexico?

"I am going to find Liz and her parents and head to Cancun. She worked
in housekeeping here for the past three years," said Horn. "She has a
high school diploma, which is like having a college degree down there,
so I think she could get a job at one of the resorts. I know this --
that if the drug cartel gets her first I will never see her again. She
will be raped and murdered. You do what they tell you and when you
don't cooperate or they no longer need you they kill you."
So does Horn hope to return back to the United States with Liz?

"That is the plan. It is not going to be an easy one though. We will
get married as soon as possible in Mexico. I will return here and
submit the necessary paperwork and we will have to go through an
interview process to prove that we didn't get married just for her to
return to the U.S.," said Horn. "Then once I get approval from the
U.S. I have to get approval from the Mexican government and that will
cost about $10,000."

Horn doesn't know where the money will come from but right now his
only concern is keeping Liz alive, even if that means risking his own
life.

"Her father told me to tan, start growing a beard, wear a hat and not
look at anyone," said Horn. "The cartels will shake down Americans in
these border towns when they are traveling alone."

THE 'I DO' OPTION

For Liz Larios, saying "I Do" is something that she wishes she might
have done three years ago.

"When she learned her visa had expired during a hearing in Detroit
four years ago I asked the attorney what I could do. The attorney said
I would need to marry Liz before the end of the day," said Horn. "I
asked Liz but she didn't want to get married under those pretenses. We
were young and we certainly didn't understand the ramifications of our
decision at that time. We figured we would return home and save the
$10,000 needed to head to a border town and get her visa renewed."
Horn expects to leave this week for Mexico. At press time, Larios had
been flown to the border town of Laredo, Texas and escorted in the
pajamas she was wearing when arrested to the Mexican line and
released. Horn had shipped clothes to Larios' grandmother in hopes
that she and her parents would be able to make their way there.
These were Liz's last words to her fiance before being deported: "This
will be the last time I talk to you, until I'm in Mexico," said
Larios. "Don't cry babe, I'll be okay. My dad is with us again. I'll
get a cell when I get there so that I can call you. You just wait up
there for your passport and drive safe."

http://www.northernexpress.com/editorial/features.asp?id=5040

how many other stories like this?(...might use it with a student of mine...)

The last figure ICE admitted to was 800,000. That was a couple of years ago. Multiply this story times 800,000.

Her ordeal, as horrific as it is, is relatively mild compared to so many others. She was allowed a phone call. Many are not.

Her brother was "caught fishing without a license" and is now dead as a result.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2eO65BqxBE

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9694312

up to 9 recs in so many minutes...

Notice that first comment - "the GOP fails to see the real human stories here." The raids have gotten much worse under the Democrats.

What purpose do these raids serve other than terrorism? There is absolutely no economic or security issue that is served by ripping people out of this country and into total danger and possible death. (Not that it would matter if there was one, but usually these disgusting actions come with some kind of "cover" as justification.)

I fear that people reading about these last two stories (the first news coverage ever here on this) will get the impression that these are unusual and rare cases. There are hundreds of such cases here, and that is in a population of just 20,000 or so, and this county is typical of hundreds of other counties in the state, and this is happening in many states. Also, do people understand that everyone is afraid to speak out about it at all for fear (justified) of being targeted? Do they understand what it is like to be under continual surveillance? To have the game wardens, sheriff departments, local cops, state police, FDA all deputized to stage random raids and tear places apart and hold people at gunpoint?

is being fostered across the board... 500,000 muslims have been arraigned since 2001, 10,000 jailed, most for little more than supporting a humanitarian group, anti-war and solidarity activists are just beginning to be...

This is not to take away from the horrendous state these poor workers live in...and the numbers, and the success of the propaganda against these folks, that is so obvious when talking to people, like 17 year old students...

I told you about the conversation here involving the movie and the meeting.

If you speak out, you run the very real risk of what happened to this young woman happening to someone else near you. Yet if no one talks, there is no way to fight back.

Moral courage is needed in very large supply...and wisdom...

Just thinking out loud.

Does not moral courage and wisdom imply taking individualistic stances and actions?

I don't think that the people who have been wrestling with this around the county the last two weeks lack moral courage or wisdom necessarily.

I have been thinking about this a lot after the flap over Chlamor's individual action and the discussion here about who are we and what are we doing.

Seems to me that the solution has to be talking about what is, rather than what people "are," or believe or feel. People are acting individually - or not - because there is no alternative at the same time that the questions who are we and what are we doing are coming up, along with an urgency.

"I don't think that the people who have been wrestling with this around the county the last two weeks lack moral courage or wisdom necessarily."

Of course not! I wasn't referring to the people who are going through any of this, I was referring to those of us who are not. We are the ones who have to find the courage and wisdom. Not because "When they came for me..." but because it is right and necessary for the future. We have to stop this somehow, and it will take moral courage to do so...

Letters 12/6/10

Gestapo tactics

After reading the Express article "Nightmare on the Border," I found
myself wondering if I'm living in the United States or Nazi Germany.
The methods and treatment in "rounding up" illegals is akin to the
tactics practiced by the Gestapo against the Jews.

Are the Mexicans the Jews of America? As an American I'm embarrassed
by the treatment that Liz Larios received. Nazi Germany can never
happen here, or can it?

Don Strzynski • TC

Speak up for Liz Larios

The night after I read about Liz Larios in the Northern Express I woke
up and couldn't get back to sleep. I could not get the vision out of
my head of this beautiful young woman who was pictured in the N.E.
with her fiance, being grabbed up in her own front yard, in her
pajamas, not being allowed to get dressed, dragged to multiple
detention centers before being dumped, still in her pajamas, across
the border.

Can this be happening in our country? Has it come to this? Liz came
here as a child; lived her life here; this is her home. Her crime? She
was born in Mexico. Her parents' crime? They sought a better life some
18 years ago when crossing into the U.S. was what people did, trying
to escape hunger, poverty and few economic options. Wouldn't I do the
same thing to try to provide for my family?

Those of us who don't think this is an acceptable policy - to drag
away people who are working and living their lives - need to speak up.
Our democracy -- as broken as it is -- is all we have. We need to
contact those in power and demand that this gestapo-type behavior
stop. We must figure out a coherent, just immigration policy so that
the millions of people living in limbo can get on with their lives. In
the meantime, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency
(ICE) must be forced to stop its inhumane treatment of undocumented
people.

Recently, it was reported that Homeland Security Secretary Janet
Napolitano said her agency should spend its resources tracking down
"criminal aliens" — threats to public safety and national security.
"What doesn't make as much sense is the idea of spending our
enforcement resources to prosecute young people who have no criminal
records, who were brought here through no fault of their own, so they
have no individual culpability, and who now want to go to college or
serve in our armed forces," she said. The ICE agency is not in
compliance with these guidelines.

There is a local group forming to address this issue. If you want to
get involved, contact Father Wayne Dziekan at 231-409-1387 or
wdziekan@dioceseofgaylord.org.

Sally Van Vleck
Neahtawanta Center


(The Express will be following up on Liz Larios' story and that of
other border sweeps in upcoming issues, including the double standard
Mexican nationals face in becoming U.S. citizens. -- ed.)