Thread: WOW! Family protests Arlington man's jailing in Mexico

Story also posted at:
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-143668-.html

I have had it with Mexico. Dont go there period. Deport ALL ILLEGAL MEXICANS. Get all Mexican consulates off American land. Stop all immigration to and from Mexico until all illegal aliens either go home on their own or are all deported. THE ENTIRE COUNTRY OF MEXICO IS CORRUPT. Mexico is our country's biggest threat.

She said they were held there for two days and had nothing to eat and no place to use the bathroom. On the third day, she said, a charitable organization brought them food, blankets and an old mattress to sleep on and that her brother asked the man delivering the items to contact his family.

Why isn't the Catholic Church screaming about mexico's inhumane treatment of Americans in mexican jails? They don't seem to have a problem calling our jails inhumane, do they? Where are the "human rights" activists? Why aren't they protesting this inhumane treatment?

Oh right, they're in the US screaming whenever an illegal alien gets put in OUR jails! They consider 3 hots and a cot "inhumane" for mexican illegals.

More proof that Americans should not go to mexico and not spend our money in mexico! It's extremely bad for your health!

Mexico meddles with bush regarding Ramos and Compean case
The mexican govt didnt want them released


Mexico's assistant foreign minister for North American affairs, Carlos Rico, said the commutations set a bad precedent. Border Patrol agents need to know they aren't above the law "regardless of the things that (Aldrete) did," Rico said in Mexico City. The White House declined to comment on the commutations.

Before you folks get all huffy, please take a look at this quote from the Yuma sun story:

"According to Mexicali municipal police, they arrested the pair Jan. 8 after Gary Crisman Jr. allegedly offered to pay two girls about $20 to be photographed nude."

like it or not this behavior is against the law in Mexico.

On the jail conditions: they are remarking about the conditions of the jail. These conditions are the norm in many parts of the country where family members are expected to bring blankets, clothes, food and water to prisoners. I'm not saying this is right or wrong but this is custom for this country. Why should prisoners just because they are foreigners get special treatment. Also when one travels to another country it is wise to know what is and is not against the law. This is the argument made by many in this forum, now it would be wise not to blame an entire country for something that may have happened in violation of the law.

edit to add this-
don't blame Mexico for the US government tolerance of their meddling in policies in the USA. They continue to do so because the US government lets them get away with it. Mexico is smart for not tolerating meddling from other foreign countries. Maybe its time for the US government to follow suit.

"According to Mexicali municipal police, they arrested the pair Jan. 8 after Gary Crisman Jr. allegedly offered to pay two girls about $20 to be photographed nude."

like it or not this behavior is against the law in Mexico.

It's not a question of liking it or not....it's against the law here as well....but the behavior and the constant cries that "it's our culture" to claim it's normal when we raise concerns, doesn't ring true with the behavior many of us see here. According to an incident recently it's legal to sell your 14 yr old I think into marraige in parts of Mexico. Not to mention.....who can believe what the Mexican Police said? Lets just get real technicial then......if the action happened, it was the grandson who did it......what's the 88 yr.old doing in jail?

Then the jail treatment....Mexico is known world wide as one of the worst h-holes to ever be in......and your criminals here live here better than our poor law abiding citizens do and Mexico's always screaming about inhumane treatment. We provide that and more........no waiting on family members to be humane, we do it all.

Why should prisoners just because they are foreigners get special treatment. Also when one travels to another country it is wise to know what is and is not against the law

Ya, you'd think so wouldn't you? So why is it inhuman and cruel to send Mexicans home for breaking the law....and believe me they do know they are breaking the law......and we're the worlds evil people. That's what we say.....you know it's law, you know it's illegal, and still we're mean brutal, racist people who just want our laws enforced. Foreigners shouldn't get special treatment, foreigners get the same as we do and it's alot better than that. Murders get treated better than that. So why are we expected to do so? OK everyone else go to jail but if your Mexican we'll ignore it. In fact our jails are so humane that there's a problem keeping some out. Sometimes life is alot easier in jail than it is out in the streets. Maybe that's why it doesn't deter them from multiple crimes and deportations.....it's not inhumane enough. The cruelest is probably Sheriffs Joes and it's not inhumane....just hope you like pink. Company ain't grand but for most it's meals and cots and and tv and weight rooms and medical care. Not the Hilton, but nothing like what these men are enduring. I just find it so hypcritical that the Mexican government demands from us what they don't do even for their own or even have the guts to come here and see for themselves what is true and what is not.

Even those that are just in holding for deportation have it better than
many law abiding citizens do. All I know is here it doesn't seem to matter to Mexico what our laws are.....they don't want any of their precious criminals to endure anything. Freedom means they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, legal or not. Tell them no and we're racist, cruel and any other name in the book.

Here's another news article on this story:

http://heraldnet.com/article/2009012...iled.in.Mexico

Sen. Cantwell takes up case of men jailed in Mexico

By Debra Smith
Herald Writer
and Aileen Charleston
La Raza del Noroeste

ARLINGTON -- Officials with Sen. Maria Cantwell's office have started looking into the case of an 88-year-old Arlington man who has been held in a Mexican prison for two weeks.

Meanwhile, the family of Edward Chrisman continues to get nowhere with officials in Mexicali, where he is being held.

Chrisman and his grandson, Gary Chrisman Jr., were arrested Jan. 8 by Mexican police who say the pair tried to pay young girls to pose nude for photos.

Cantwell's staff will be taking up the matter today, said Ciaran Clayton, a Cantwell spokeswoman.

The Chrisman family maintains the men are innocent and Mexican authorities want to shake the men down for cash. They're worried Edward Chrisman, a World War II veteran and a devout member of the Arlington Assembly of God Church, won't survive the ordeal.

A police reporter for La Voz de la Frontera newspaper on Tuesday said he'd been told the men were released. When he heard that they were still in prison, reporter Juan Galvan said the Chrismans' situation could be getting worse every day.

"What is most likely here is that we are dealing with an act of corruption," he said in Spanish. "If the police see a way of getting some money out of the situation, this is what they will do."

Galvan said he was told the men had been freed because Mexican police "didn't have any proof of the pictures taken in their cameras."

On Tuesday, a woman in the community affairs office at the Mexican Secretary of Public Security in Baja California, the organization that runs the courts, refused to transfer a reporter's call to a spokesman and hung up. The phone rang unanswered on subsequent calls.

Chrisman's family in Yuma has called everyone from Sen. John McCain to the White House looking for help.

"We're going in circles," said Shannon Perkins by cell phone as she stood outside the prison in Mexicali on Tuesday. She and her father, Gary Chrisman Sr. -- Edward Chrisman's son and also the father of Gary Chrisman Jr. -- have crossed the border every day to work on getting the men released.

So far, the family has paid $3,000 to attorneys and others in the Mexican justice system, all of whom offered resolution in the case.

Edward Chrisman was spending his winter in Yuma, Ariz., when his grandson, Gary Chrisman Jr., invited him along on a trip to get inexpensive dental treatment. Mexican police arrested the men after Gary Chrisman took a photo of two fully clothed young women in a convenience store in Algodones, Mexico.

Edward Chrisman never even went into the store, the family said.

Perkins, who visited her grandfather in prison Saturday, said he's dehydrated and disoriented. The family fears the tainted water in Mexico may sicken him.

"He collapsed in our arms," she said. "I don't think he can handle this at his age."

According to a Mexican police news Web site that focuses on crimes in the Mexicali area, Mexican police said the men offered young girls 200 pesos to take nude photos.

The site reported that a 47-year-old mother complained to police that the Americans asked her 13-year-old to pose naked. The agents confiscated the camera and took the case to the Public Ministry on charges of child pornography, according to the site.

Galvan said it isn't unusual for Americans to be arrested and charged with sex crimes in Mexicali, where prostitution is common. Under Mexican law, people are presumed guilty until they can prove their innocence.

"Unfortunately, the law here is not so fair," he said.

If the police said the Chrismans were released but haven't actually released them, the pair could be at risk for kidnapping, he said.

An Arlington resident for most of his life, Edward Chrisman is described by family as a religious man who has attended the Assembly of God in Arlington for decades. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He worked as a civil service machinist for the Navy before retiring years ago.

"My grandfather is just a country man," said Tracy Short of Mukilteo. "He doesn't usually go very far. This is going to take a toll."

Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com.

Maybe its time for the US government to follow suit.

I 100% agree and so do the majority of the people here. Nice hasn't worked.

The site reported that a 47-year-old mother complained to police that the Americans asked her 13-year-old to pose naked. The agents confiscated the camera and took the case to the Public Ministry on charges of child pornography, according to the site.

Thought they were much older.....and the story still changes. Sorry but when it comes from Mexico....you can't believe anything.

Seriously, just stay out of Mexico and by all means don't take pictures.