Gitmo to the south of me, drug cops to the north, here I am…
By Thoreau
DEA agents gave some Cuban immigrants a reason to feel homesick:
“I asked them why they came to my house, they said a neighbor or somebody called and said I had a hydroponics lab in my house,” Llorente said. “Then I asked them if a marijuana plant could grow inside my underwear drawer.”
The Llorentes said they don’t speak much English – they’re immigrants from Cuba. They said one of the reasons they came to the U.S. was to escape oppression from the Cuban police.
Isabel Llorente said she never thought this could happen here.”Never, because they criticize Cuba so much,” she said. “I’ve never gone through anything like this.”
She said what made it especially traumatic was not knowing if the agents were really police or imposters. She said she tried to call 911, but they wouldn’t let her.
As much as I complain about the stuff done in the name of “fighting terrorism”, Fatherland Security is not the final form of the Destructor. It’s an intermediate form, used to test the limits of the law. The form in which the Destructor is and will be visited upon the American people is the War on Drugs.
But, hey, the DEA agents were just following orders.
Hat tip to Radley Balko.
Comment by abb1 —
May 3, 2008 @ 1:56 pm
Immigrants from communist countries always say that, whenever they have a problem with the police. Any problem – drunk driving, domestic violence, anything. Rhetorical value of this is not very high.
Comment by kishnevi —
May 3, 2008 @ 5:15 pm
abb1–OTOH, they know first hand what life in a police state is like. You and I are fortunate enough not to.
According to the Miami Herald, the police never showed a warrant or indicated an informant or witness was nearby, or give any sort of explanation, except a police spokesperson who said they intended to raid the Llorente house, and it was not a mistake in the address.
(full link at my blog if you want to read the Herald article)
Comment by abb1 —
May 3, 2008 @ 6:05 pm
I’m sure a vast majority of Cubans don’t get raided by cops either. Down there you get raided if you’re suspected of involvement in anti-government politics, up here if you’re suspected of being involved with drugs, that’s all.
A lot of people are involved with drugs. Very few people are involved in politics, most Cuban immigrants come to the US for purely economic reasons. Not that anything’s wrong with that, but they are not exactly victims of oppression.