Patrick Brown
Country of Origin: Jamaica
Currently LIving In: Brooklyn NY
Excerpted from the FFF Amicus Brief to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights:
Patrick Brown has endured immense suffering as a result of his four years served in U.S. immigration detention, where he was severely abused and then deported to Jamaica. The physical and emotional damage have left Patrick a changed man. His family has stood by Patrick while he has attempted to defend his rights, but the years of separation and pain have caused irreparable harm in their relationship. Deportation turned Patrick’s wife Angela into a single mother, and his children Patrina and Shem have suffered from their father’s absence through the formative years of their lives. The impact of the detention and deportation on their family has left them no choice but to pick up the pieces and move on as best they can.
Patrick was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2001, subject to mandatory deportation for two petty larceny convictions that were deemed to involve “moral turpitude.” Patrick spent four years in detention fighting his deportation, but had no opportunity for discretionary relief. He was held in a detention facility in Louisiana, where his family could not afford to visit him.
In March 2003, while Patrick was in detention, detention officers entered Patrick’s cell, slapped his face for smoking a cigarette and then proceeded to repeatedly punch and kick Patrick. They dragged him out of his cell, handcuffed him, and pepper sprayed him in the eyes. Before the incident, Patrick was in extremely good physical shape, but now the intense and continuing pain causes him to walk with a severe limp. Patrick continued to be detained even after the serious beating he suffered; he was treated for depression and given only mild medication for his injuries that was inadequate to alleviate his intense pain. Patrick’s family was neither able to see or console him. Patrick was not alone in being mistreated by detention officers, and he put himself at risk by speaking out against officer misconduct. Patrick was a target of retaliation by detention officers and was put in solitary confinement after helping to expose the custodial death of a detainee, Richard Rust, who died of a heart attack while waiting for detention staff to provide him with medical treatment.
In 2004 Patrick Brown sued the U.S. government to recover for his mistreatment in detention, but was deported to Jamaica in 2006 while the case was still pending. Emotionally and physically, Patrick never recovered from these incidents. With his ongoing physical limitations, it is difficult for Patrick to get work to support himself in Jamaica. Hobbled and separated from his family, he continues to suffer from severe depression.
Patrick’s detention and deportation has placed enormous stress on Angela to lend support to him while caring for the needs of her growing children. His daughter Patrina was only 10 years old and his son Shem 5 the day immigration officers took him from jail. Patrick has never forgotten his children’s birthdays, writes them long letters, and speaks to them regularly on the phone; but Patrina is angry that she has been forced to grow up without her father. Patrina has been caring for Shem since they were young. After school, they would make sandwiches together for dinner, awaiting their mother to return from work at 9pm. Patrina says that life without a father has been emotionally traumatizing for her and for a long time she would lie to her friends about what was happening to him. She has not adjusted or performed well in school and has transferred several times. At a new school this semester, Patrina has found a counselor with whom she feels comfortable discussing her anger that her father has not been there for her and that the U.S. government is to blame. Angela is hopeful that with the support and outlet of the counselor Patrina will be able to succeed at her new school. Shem often tells Angela he wishes his father was around but is too young to articulate clearly his feelings about the situation. Angela notices the ways he acts out in school and hopes that she can help him deal with his feelings so he does not end up experiencing the emotional troubles that Patrina has gone through.
Angela has stood by her husband throughout the years, providing financial support, assisting with his medical needs, and fostering communication between her children and their father. Angela is a devout Christian and explains that her faith has allowed her to hold onto hope for so long. But she is afraid that now she has no choice left but to move on. Angela sees no possibility of reuniting with Patrick. It is hard for her to even look back and discuss the stressful times that she has endured, but she wants to fight to change deportation policies so that other families will not be hurt this way. Meeting other families, through Families for Freedom, who are struggling through similar obstacles has inspired Angela to continue working on these issues despite deciding it is time to move forward with her own family.