Border Officer-Thugs Have Doctor Medically Rape Girl; Hospital Then Bills Her Parents $575 For It
The non-consensual anal and vaginal cavity searches that were done on this girl -- Ashley Cervantes, a U.S. citizen who was returning from having breakfast over the border in Nogales -- were an absolutely horrible physical violation and a violation of numerous constitutional rights.
And -- disgustingly -- her story is not the only one like this.
Cyrus Farivar writes at Ars Technica that Cervantes just filed a civil complaint in federal court, seeking damages from the government, Customs and Border thugs, the specific Customs and Border Patrol agent who spearheaded the search, and the doctor who medically raped her (my term for it).
The court filing describes 18-year-old Ashley Cervantes' harrowing experience over the course of seven hours in October 2014. She had just returned from Nogales, Sonora (Mexico) back into Nogales, Arizona--she had come back from eating breakfast at one of her favorite spots.According to the complaint, after presenting her identity documents, an unidentified CBP agent accused Cervantes of possessing illegal drugs, which she denied. She was ordered to proceed to a detention room, where she was handcuffed to a chair. There, she was sniffed by a dog (in violation of CBP policy) and was taken to another room where she was ordered to squat so that female officers could visually inspect her.
Unsatisfied that they had not found the drugs, the agents escalated their search. CBP Agent Shameka Leggett then filled out an Immigration Health Services' form, known as a Treatment Authorization Request (TAR), describing Cervantes as being "diagnosed" as an apparent "potential internal carrier of foreign substance." The agent recommended that she be X-rayed at a hospital.
Cervantes was then transported in custody from the border to Holy Cross Hospital.
There, as the complaint notes:
Dr. Martinez "forcefully and digitally probed her vagina and anus."
For which her parents were sent a bill for $575.
No drugs were found. And there was no probable cause to search her. Howard Fischer writes at the AZ Cap Times link just above:
Ashley Cervantes says in her lawsuit that she had crossed into Mexico on foot on a Saturday morning in October 2014 to have breakfast at a restaurant where she often eats. On returning, she presented border officials with her birth certificate and state identification card.Attorney Brian Marchetti said they accused the woman, 18 at the time, of possessing drugs. When she denied that was true, they took her into a detention room where, during the next several hours, she was handcuffed to a chair, had several dogs sniff her, and eventually taken into a separate room where she was patted down and asked to squat so female investigators could visually inspect her.
All that, said Marchetti, occurred without her consent or a warrant. In fact, he said, a request to call her mother was denied.
It was what happened next that Marchetti charges clearly violated his client's rights.
He said an agent of Customs and Border Protection signed a "Treatment Authorization Request" to have her taken to a medical facility as an alleged "potential internal carrier of foreign substance." That form, he said, requested an X-ray.Instead, Marchetti said Cervantes was taken in handcuffs to Holy Cross Hospital where the doctor probed her anus and vagina.
"Ashley had never before been to a gynecologist and, for the remainder of her life, will always remember that her first pelvic and rectal exams where under the most inhumane circumstances imaginable to a U.S. citizen at a hospital on U.S. soil," Marchetti charges in his lawsuit.
When government "routinely" violates citizens' rights -- and often in horrible ways like this -- it is a sign that government has gotten out of hand and needs to be rolled back.
The problem is, once you give some person or entity power, it's kind of impossible to get it all back in the bag.
The TSA circus is a perfect example. They aren't catching terrorists. Even trained FBI agents are letting terrorists slip by -- like Omar Mateen, who just shot up the nightclub in Miami for Allah:
Twice during his adult life, Mateen's actions prompted probes by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Agents concluded he didn't pose an immediate threat.
So why do we still have the TSA? Well, all that money and power, of course -- to lobbyists, makers of the machines the repurposed mall workers stare dully into as 95 percent of the test bombs and weapons sail through, and the workers themselves, who make the unemployment figures look a little better by having those gubbermint jobs.
Plus, how fun to be able to tell some CEO to bend over so you can give his balls a whacking -- uh, that is, check his testicles for a bomb.
Well as the Democratic Congressman said "It's the due process that's killing us here." so get ready for HRC's term.
Bob in Texas at June 17, 2016 5:21 AM
I'd suggest just killing the government officials involved in such actions were it not illegal to do so
lujlp at June 17, 2016 7:57 AM
"as the Democratic Congressman said"
Given the horror of the TSA and other outrages the Republicans have foisted on this country, don't you think it's time to drop the false Dem/Rep narrative?
Bush wants NAFTA, Clinton signs NAFTA. Bush II starts TSA, Obama continues TSA. Rinse and repeat ad nauseum.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at June 17, 2016 8:05 AM
Scummy, but legal:
http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2013/11/when-can-police-conduct-a-body-cavity-search.html
Best of luck with the suit, maybe she'll make more head way...
I R A Darth Aggie at June 17, 2016 9:53 AM
Will Obamacare cover that?
Canvasback at June 17, 2016 10:05 AM
That story reminds me of the ChiComs who used to bill the victim's families for the cost of their bullets after they shot someone with a firing squad.
dervish at June 17, 2016 11:19 AM
Well Gog he was dumb enough to say it and the media was stupid enough to go that's right.
Defend against all enemies foreign and domestic. Might as well start saying it.
Bob in Texas at June 17, 2016 11:25 AM
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