Lawyers and advocates continues to call for a halt to the deportation of Mory Keita, witness to the police brutality in Butler County Jail that is the subject of a civil rights lawsuit.
Last night, a group of organizers with IJPC-YES (Youth Organizing Society); IJPC (Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center); the Ohio branch of Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio); Interreligious Task Force on Central America and Colombia (IRTF); and others lead a solidarity vigil outside of the jail. Watch the livestream here.
The story has been covered so far by Law360; EFE news wire; Cincinnati CityBeat; and La Mega Nota. Read a rushed translation of the La Mega article, in English, below.
Protest against abuses at Butler County Jail
By Claudia Longo (originally published in Spanish by La Mega Nota)
HAMILTON, Ohio — The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) is moving quickly to deport a key witness in a civil rights lawsuit before he can testify in court.
Mory Keita, a Columbus resident, was detained by ICE in Butler County Jail until December 8th, when he was abruptly transferred to Louisiana, warning him that he would be deported on December 14th.
The transfer took place on the same day that attorneys John C. Camillus and Amy Norris filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, reporting abuses at Butler Jail. Keita is a key witness in the case.
On the same day, one of the victims of the reported assault – Bayong Brown – were transferred to Franklin County Jail. Prior to that Ahmed Adem, the other victim, was moved to a detention center in Michigan.
Deportation “express”
Lynn Tramonte, director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, confirmed the news of the transfers and commented that she found it “suspicious that the men were sent to different prisons, on the same day.”
Tramonte – outraged by the case – said she is concerned about the sudden acceleration of the process for Keita’s deportation: “There’s no reason to rush Mory’s deportation unless ICE has something to hide.” Mory Keita, who came to the United States when he was three years old with his mother, escaping violence in his country, would be deported to Guinea.
If he leaves the United States, it would be almost impossible to locate him to testify.
“Mory spoke courageously about the violence he has witnessed in Butler County Jail, and for his bravery he is being punished with a rushed deportation to a country he does not know. That’s wrong and his deportation must be stopped,” Tramonte said.
“This country is finally waking up to the fact that ‘black lives matter,’ but in immigration detention centers under the Trump Administration, that’s clearly not the case,” she concluded.
The basis of the demand
The lawsuit details repeated acts of violence, slander and anti-Muslim bias against Bayong Brown, a refugee from Cameroon, and Ahmed Adem, a refugee from Somalia, who is a Muslim. They’re both from Columbus and have family in Ohio.
The lawsuit asks the court to grant damages and other remedies “the Court deems appropriate and just.”
Lawyers – who first learned of the abuse when they received a letter dated September 16th, 2020 – are taking precautionary measures to protect the safety of individuals.
That letter was headed: “To anyone who would listen to us” and was signed by more than 50 men detained at Butler in Hamilton, Ohio.
They describe how a corrections officer (CO) pushed Bayong Brown as he walked down the stairs, falling head-on on the concrete.
“Mr. Bayong Brown had been imploring officers not to rush him, as he was a confirmed COVID-19 patient and had excessive swelling in his feet that limited his mobility,” the letter notes. “There are several witnesses to this brutal event,” it states, including Mory Keita.
Protests and other actions
Activists believe that Keita’s transfers and rushed deportation could be due to a reaction by ICE and the Butler Jail to the lawsuit.
Ohio Immigrant Alliance urges people to call their representatives in Ohio and demand that they intervene to stop the deportation of key witnesses in this case.
On 10 December, following a call from the Inter-Community Centre for Justice and Peace (IJPC), Youth Educating Society (YES), dozens of people gathered outside the prison to show solidarity with Bayong, Adem, and other detained immigrants.
Sandra Ramirez of YES shared the heartbreaking story of when her own brother was arrested and deported.
“Detention centers take the people we love, they take innocent people,” but unfortunately, she added, “My story is one in millions.”
Maryam Abidi of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Ohio (CAIR-Ohio), after reading letters from detainees, stated:
“If we cannot understand that Islamophobia and sentiment against people of color exist in our immigration system and the police, we will not be able to help the Bayong’s and Ahmed’s of today or tomorrow.”