ACLU Seeks to Stop Drugging of Deportees
By GILLIAN FLACCUS – 15 hours ago

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Indonesian immigrant Raymond Soeoth says he was awaiting deportation when four officers stormed into his holding cell, wrestled his pants off and pinned him down for an injection of anti-psychotic drugs.

Soeoth, an assistant pastor and cabdriver with no history of psychological problems, suffered extreme dizziness, paranoia and sleeplessness for two days before the medication wore off, he says.

Attorneys for Soeoth (pronounced sow-UTH') and another immigrant filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Tuesday urging a federal judge to stop the forced sedation after learning of a third deportee who was reportedly injected with anti-psychotic drugs at a Santa Ana facility two weeks ago.

The motion is part of an earlier lawsuit that alleges the practice may constitute torture and violates both the Bill of Rights and federal law regarding the medical treatment of detainees. The suit seeks class-action status.

"Before, I just heard the rumors that people can be deported and they give them an injection, but now it's come to myself. I cannot believe it, but they did it to me," Soeoth said in a telephone interview as he waited for fares at Los Angeles International Airport. "They treated me like a criminal. I just count on my friends in the church and we keep praying for them, so that they don't do that to other people."

Immigration officials have said Soeoth told them he would commit suicide if he was deported, something Soeoth denies. Soeoth fled Indonesia in 1999 and sought political asylum; his request was rejected in 2004 but is being appealed.

The new court filing comes after Senate testimony last month revealed that 56 deportees were given psychotropic drugs between Oct. 1, 2006, and April 30, 2007. Thirty-three had no history of psychological problems but were given the medicine because of "combative behavior," said Julie Myers, assistant secretary of homeland security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Drugs are used during deportation only during extreme emergencies, Myers said. In non-emergencies, agency policy prohibits medicating deportees against their will without a court order, she said.

Soeoth's medical records show he received an injection of Haldol and Cogentin, a medicine given with the anti-psychotic drug to reduce the facial spasms it can cause, said his attorney, Ahilan Arulanantham of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"He has no history of violence of any kind, no disciplinary problems at all. He didn't resist in any way whatsoever," said Arulanantham, adding that the ACLU has been unable to learn the identities of other deportees who may have been forcibly sedated. "It's very, very dangerous what they did."

"We look at medical sedation as an act of last resort, and it's rarely used," Lori Haley, an ICE spokeswoman, said Wednesday.

The 39-year-old immigrant, who now lives in Fontana, east of Los Angeles, said he cooperated with detention officials and asked only to call his wife to tell her that he was being deported. The immigration officer preparing him for the trip said no, he said.

"He said, 'Do you need medication, Raymond?' And I said, 'No, I'm OK, I'm fine,'" Soeoth said. "I begged them to please don't do it."

After the injection, Soeoth was driven to Los Angeles International Airport but was returned to the detention center for reasons that remain unclear, Arulanantham said. He was released in February 2006 after 2 1/2 years in detention, and a judge has since stayed his removal while he awaits an appeals court decision.

The second plaintiff in the lawsuit, Amadou Lamine Diouf, alleges he was forcibly injected with psychotropic drugs in the aisle of a plane at the Los Angeles airport that was to return him to his native Senegal. Diouf says the ICE agents escorting him gave him the injection after he asked to speak with the plane's pilot to tell him that he had a judge's order temporarily staying his deportation.

The pilot ordered Diouf and the agents off the plane after they struggled in the aisles. Diouf became sleepy and dizzy and had numbness in his legs that prevented walking, according to court papers.

Diouf had been ordered deported for overstaying a student visa.

Arulanantham estimated, based on Myers' testimony, that at least five deportees are involuntarily drugged each month, leading to hundreds of potential cases.

Arulanantham said he filed Tuesday's motion after learning from another detainee about a Sri Lankan man who was drugged against his will at the ICE's Santa Ana facility.

Immigration officers stopped by the witness' cell after the Sri Lankan had been taken away and told him he would be next because wasn't being cooperative, according to court papers.

"He said that since I was now refusing for the second time, the third would mean an injection, and I better just cooperate and make it easy on myself," Afeworki Barhane Tekle, an Eritrean immigrant, said in a sworn declaration.

"I am fearful of what will happen to me."
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