Thread: Polish girl claims CBP tried using her to bait IA brother

12-year-old Polish girl claims Newark customs officers used her to capture illegal immigrant brother
BY Corky Siemaszko
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, August 11th 2010, 11:47 AM

<img src=http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/hs275.snc3/23253_100000463456187_6549_q.jpg>
The family of Ewelina Krzywda (above) claims Newark customs officials used her as bait to catch her brother, an illegal immigrant.
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Do you think customs officers acted reasonably in the case of 12-year-old Polish girl Ewelina Krzywda?

*Yes, they were just following 'kids flying solo' rules.

*No, it's outrageous that they held on to her for 10 hours.

*I'm not really sure.

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Customs officers at Newark Airport used a 12-year-old Polish girl as bait to capture her illegal immigrant brother, her family claimed Wednesday.

Ewelina Krzywda was held 10 hours by officers who threatened to send her to a juvenile jail in Chicago and a foster family in Texas if her brother didn't collect her in person, relatives charge.

"When they called me, I told them, 'I'm no fool'," the 28-year-old brother, Marcin Krzywda, told the Daily News. "Then I called the \[Polish\] consulate to tell them what was going on."

Now the government of Poland - a staunch ally of the U.S. - has filed a formal protest with Washington on behalf of the family, demanding an investigation.

"We respect the right of the U.S. to execute immigration laws but detaining minors like this is unacceptable," Marek Skulimowski, the deputy Polish consul in New York who eventually got Ewelina sprung, told the News.

John Saleh, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the agency is aware of the accusation and is preparing an official response.

"We don't use children as bait," a customs officer at Newark Airport insisted. "That's not the way we do things."

Ewelina's ordeal - first reported by the Polish-language newspaper Nowy Dziennik in Manhattan - began July 28 when she landed in New Jersey.

She was bound for a Polish-American summer camp in the Poconos and a camp worker was waiting at the airport to collect her, her father said.

"I sent her there so she could improve her English," Krzysztof Krzywda told the News by telephone from his home in Klodzko, Poland.

"She had a valid visa and she was escorted on the flight by a family friend."

Immigration officials, however, discovered a problem with the escort's visa and sent him back to Poland, the dad said.

"And I made the mistake of not putting in writing that the camp worker had permission to collect my daughter," he said.

Marcin Krzywda, who lives with family friends in Pennsylvania, said he got the first of many calls from CBP officers a short time after Ewelina was detained.

"The first call I got was from somebody named Michelle who assured me they wouldn't arrest me if I came to pick up Ewelina," he said. "I asked her why they didn't just turn her over to the lady from the summer camp and she insisted only a relative could claim Ewelina."

Marcin Krzywda said he gave the officer his dad's number.

"They called me three or four more times after that and threatened to send Ewelina to a juvenile detention facility in Chicago if I didn't come get her," he said.

"They also threatened to send her to Texas and hand her over to a foster family. I kept telling them that they should call my father if they won't let the lady from the camp take her, but they kept saying only I can pick Ewelina up."

The final call was from "a Polish-speaking person who asked me to vouch that Ewelina had a reservation at the summer camp," Marcin Krzywda said. "I did and suddenly Ewelina was allowed to go to the camp."

Ewelina was treated well by the CBP officers while in custody, her family said.

"All this was unnecessary," Ewelina's dad said. "They could have called me right away and everything would have been straightened out. Instead they held her."

"They wanted to use her to catch me," added Marcin Krzywda, who admits he overstayed his visa and said he's applying for a Green Card.

"I don't want to be illegal, but the whole process is very complicated," he said. "I want to live here, work here, pay taxes. I love America."

csiemaszko@nydailynews.com



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/201 ... z0waknHdOO

Her father Krysztof helped finance the entry of her brother Marcin who overstayed and became illegal. Why should the CBP automatically trust them and think that she will not do the same thing.

"And I made the mistake of not putting in writing that the camp worker had permission to collect my daughter," he said.

If something terrible had happened they would have sued also! Personally I think they erred on the side of caution, knowing the brother is here illegally what were they supposed to do?

When we had problems at the Port Huron border they separated us form our teenage daughter who they questioned alone. As we were doing nothing illegal we did not care. They were doing their job.

They don't seem to be a diligent with the Mexicans on the southern border - I'm just sayin...