US officials urged: Probe rude immigration officers

MANILA, Philippines - United States officials should look into reports that a 63-year-old Filipina was treated inhumanely by immigration officers at the Seattle International Airport, a party-list group said yesterday.

Carina Grande was sent back to Manila despite holding valid documents, including a 10-year tourist visa. She was apparently suspected of intending to work in the US. She was allegedly held for six hours for questioning without water and food.

Akbayan said US officials should “hold the immigration officers involved accountable.”

The US government “has long been castigated by the international community for its demeaning and coercive treatment of suspected terrorists. It is alarming that the same abhorrent treatment is now also applied to foreign nationals and tourists who have passed the initial scrutiny of US immigration processes and have complete documentation to show for it,” the group said.

Akbayan said human rights and respect for human dignity “should never be compromised in the effort to plug the leaks of the US immigration system.”

The group urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to bring Grande’s case to the attention of US authorities to prevent similar incidents in the future. The DFA has said it would act if it receives a formal complaint.

Akbayan said the US immigration officers were apparently engaged in “racial or demographic profiling” of certain visitors who are “pressured into a confession so they may be subjected to the corresponding sanctions.”

“We can only guess that other Filipinos have suffered similar or even worse treatment by US immigration officers, but have chosen not to speak up. It is thus incumbent upon the DFA to intervene,” it said.  

According to Grande, she went to the US to attend her daughter’s wedding. After six hours of interrogation, she said she was given the choice of going to jail or being sent back home. She chose the second option, which is equivalent to deportation. Her 10-year visa was cancelled and she was promptly sent home.

A deported person is barred from entering the US for at least five years. Despite the ban and the inhumane treatment she suffered, Grande reportedly wants to apply for a new visa and go back to the US.