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Upon arrival in Mexico, Carlos, who is HIV-positive, said Mexican health officials
told him it would be a year before he could get the medications he needed. He
knew he would not survive without these drugs, so he immediately returned
without permission to the United States. Soon afterward, he met Mark O’Brien, a
US citizen, and although it was difficult for him to get the kind of work he was
used to without a permanent resident card, Carlos and Mark began planning a life
together in San Diego. Then, in April 2011, Carlos was biking home from Mark’s
apartment when he was stopped by the police, perhaps because he was biking in
the wrong lane. The police referred Carlos to immigration authorities and he was
eventually charged with felony illegal reentry.
Carlos received a sentence of one-and-a-half years; his attorney told him he could
have received five years. Carlos and Mark had agreed that if Carlos was
sentenced to more than one year, they would end their relationship, but Mark
continued to visit him in prison. Carlos was first held in the federal detention
center in downtown San Diego and then sent to a private facility run by the
Corrections Corporation of America at Otay Mesa. Mark was angered by the way
Carlos was treated at the facility in Otay Mesa: “Why are you housing him with drug
dealers and gang members? This guy’s only form of a weapon is a piece of paper—
that’s it—illegal documentation.” Mark reported that Carlos was beaten up by other
inmates, forced to sleep on the floor because there was not enough space, and
denied food and other privileges on an arbitrary basis. Mark was particularly
distraught that Carlos’ imprisonment was just a precursor to his deportation: “Save
us all some money, deport him, so we can get on with our lives.”
He could not understand why the US government chose to treat Carlos this way.
“Why can’t we have a process that looks at individuals to allow him to come
back? He can’t even get a visa.… What did he do wrong to be closed completely
out of ever coming back to the United States, to his mom, his dad, his sister, his
sister’s husband, his nephews, everybody here that he knows?... Was it worth it
for us to do this to him? I’ve never been so disheartened with my country.” 234
234 Human Rights Watch interviews with Carlos Santana, Tijuana, Mexico, October 23, 2012; and with Mark O’Brien, San
Diego, California, October 22, 2012. A call to the prosecutor for comment on this case was not returned.
81 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2013