To the editor:

For the past week controversy has been raging over the hurried, night time flight to deport dozens of migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador, in spite of a court order to stop it and turn the plane around. The men that were targeted were allegedly members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua. The word “alleged” is of central importance here, since ICE has made no attempt to prove their claim, and there was no opportunity for the detainees to deny the charges, no due process. Yes, the number of migrants crossing into the U.S. has been excessive, and yes, migrants convicted of serious crimes should be imprisoned or deported, but is this dismissal of due process and human rights what we wanted?

This unprecedented event again raises the issue of what happened to the nine employees of the Tupper Lake Pine Mill, who were detained by ICE in Tupper Lake on February 18 of this year. As reported in this paper on March 25 (Tupper mill owner: Nine employees to be deported”), over a month later there has been no explanation of their offenses since their employer says they had papers giving them a legal right to work here, nor any information about where they are being held. Do they have family that have been notified? Have they been allowed a lawyer? No response from ICE except to declare that they will be deported. Where? To whom? To a prison in El Salvador?

There is a term that has become familiar in certain South American dictatorships such as Chile under Pinochet, where people who are deemed threats to the ruling party go missing and are never heard from again. These people are called “los Desaparecidos” or “the Disappeared.” In this context, the term “Disappearance” is defined as “the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the state, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the person.”

If anyone had told me a year ago that this practice could be happening in my country, the United States of America, a country I have been proud to believe was a champion of human rights, I would have laughed. I’m not laughing now.

Rosalie Fontana

Bloomingdale