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Jury Rejects Death Penalty for Moussaoui in Major Defeat
for Bush Administration
Two Immigrants Who Followed the Path to Citizenship Tell
Stories of Detention and Deportation
A Look Inside U.S. Immigration Prisons
Jury Rejects Death Penalty for Moussaoui in Major
Defeat for Bush Administration
Zacarias Moussaoui - the only person charged in this country
in connection to the 9/11 attacks - has been sentenced to
life in jail without parole. The verdict marked a major blow
the Bush administration who were seeking the death penalty.
We play an excerpt of an interview with Moussaoui's mother,
Aicha, in the months after his arrest and we talk to Phyllis
Rodriguez, who lost her son on Sept. 11th in the World Trade
Center. [includes rush
transcript]
Zacarias Moussaoui -- the only person charged in this country
in connection to the 9/11 attacks - was sentenced to life
in prison without parole.
Government prosecutors had attempted to convince the 12-person
jury that Zacarias Moussaoui deserved to die for his connection
to the Sept. 11th attacks even though he was already in jail
at the time of the hijackings.
Moussaoui had been arrested in Minnesota in August 2001 after
his flight school instructor reported him to the FBI. He was
originally detained for immigration violations.
During the trial, federal prosecutors argued that he deserved
to be executed because he did not tell investigators at the
time of his arrest about the impending attack.
However the government failed to convince the jury even though
Moussaoui proudly admitted he was a member of Al Qaeda and
that he defended the Sept. 11th attacks.
Three jurors concluded Moussaoui had only limited knowledge
of the Sept. 11th plot, and three described his role in the
attacks as minor, if he had any role at all.
- Carie Lemack, co-founder of the group Families
of Sept. 11th. Her mother -- Judy Larocque - was a passenger
on American Airlines Flight 11. She speaks outside the courthouse
about the jury's verdict.
- Phyllis Rodriguez, her 31-year-old son, Gregory Rodriguez,
died in the Sept. 11th attacks. He worked on the 103rd floor
of the World Trade Center. She recently met with Zacarias
Moussaoui's mother, Aicha El Wafi. She joins us on the line
from Westchester, New York.
- Aicha El Wafi, Zacarias Moussaoui's mother, interviewed
November 2002.
- Coleen Rowley, former FBI Special Agent turned whistleblower.
She has accused FBI officials of hampering the investigation
of Zacarias Moussaoui and ignoring critical warnings before
the 9/11 attacks. She joins us on the line from Minnesota.
Two Immigrants Who Followed the Path to Citizenship
Tell Stories of Detention and Deportation
As mass immigrant rights demonstrations rock the country,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been conducting widespread
deportation raids and immigration roundups. We speak with
two young immigrant women who tried to follow the path to
citizenship and were subsequently jailed. One of them was
deported and has been separated from her three year-old son.
[includes rush
transcript]
The issue of immigration has exploded into the national consciousness
over the last month with millions of people taking part in
marches, protests, rallies and even an economic boycott that
took place this past Monday on May Day. That day was dubbed
"A Day without Immigrants" and it is being called
the largest day of protest in U.S. history with an estimated
1.5 million people participating. But amid the widespread
mobilization that took place, newspapers throughout the country
reported widespread fear of deportation raids and immigration
roundups by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Rumors of impending raids came on the heels of the highly
publicized raids of April 19th where more than 1200 undocumented
workers from 26 different states were rounded up and detained.
More raids followed - last week ICE announced the arrests
of 106 undocumented immigrants throughout the Midwest and
almost 200 arrests in Florida alone. In fact, undocumented
immigrants are one of the largest growing populations being
detained by the U.S government.
Today, we look at the issue of immigration detention with
a number of guests. We will look at the treatment of immigrant
detainees, the trend towards privatization of detention centers
and the policies behind it all. But first we go to a video
clip of a detainee who was held in a Virginia detention center.
Her name is Carolina and she is 23 years old. Carolina entered
the U.S without papers at the age 4. In January, Carolina
was arrested while filing for legal status with her husband,
who is a U.S. citizen. She was arrested was for ignoring a
deportation order issued when she was only 12. Carolina's
father is a U.S citizen and she has no criminal record of
any kind.
- Carolina Fulecio Hernandez, immigrated from Guatamala
to the United States at the age of four speaking at a Virginia
detention center.
Carolina was recently deported and she is now living in Guatemala
City. Her son is still here in the US and will turn three
this month.
- Carolina Fulecio Hernandez, on the line from Guatemala
City.
Who also look at the case of Sharon Nyantekyi. She recently
spent several days in a detention center in Elizabeth, New
Jersey. She was taken into custody after she applied for a
green card application and it was discovered that she had
been brought to this country as a child under a fraudulent
visa. Sharon is originally from Ghana.
- Sharon Nyantekyi, immigrant from Ghana and Rutgers University
student who was detained for 10 days in March. She is currently
awaiting a deportation hearing scheduled for May 9.
A Look Inside U.S. Immigration Prisons
Undocumented immigrants are one of the largest growing populations
being detained by the U.S government. We look at the issue
of immigration detention, focusing on the treatment of immigrant
detainees, the trend towards privatization of detention centers
and the policies behind it all. [includes rush
transcript]
- Judy Greene, justice policy analyst for Justice
Strategies, an organization which conducts research
and policy analysis on immigrant detention issues and policies
and other issues relating to the criminal justice system.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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