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Dr. Reis was accused of trafficking in women, and Pereira says
that although the two separately confirmed each other's stories
of having first met at the airport, the government agents treated
her in a humiliating manner with verbal and psychological aggression.
Pereira attributes her treatment in part to the fact that she
is mulatto (and that characteristic was apparently sufficient
to suspect prostitution). She was sent back to Brazil.
Dr. Reis had a more harrowing experience. She was not allowed
to telephone anyone at Woods Hole nor in Brazil. Her accusers
refused to look at the letter of invitation that she carried from
Woods Hole, laughing and yelling at her. They refused to believe
that she was a scientist, since, they said, she was involved with
trafficking women. They indicated that the Brazilian police told
them of her criminal involvement (obviously not true) and they
threatened to send her to a prison in Pennsylvania where she would
be incarcerated for six months before her case would be heard.
She was held incommunicado for twelve hours, despite the fact
that the Brazilian consulate and Woods Hole had made contact with
her American accusers. The INS presented her with a document,
which she was not allowed to read, for her voluntary return to
Brazil. Her failure to sign, they said, would result in her being
handcuffed, deported and turned over to Brazilian federal police.
After twelve hours of psychological battering, and with the promise
(also false, as it turned out) that her visa would remain valid,
she signed and was put on a plane to return to Brazil.
The American Consul General has apologized to the Woods Hole
Center, but the Brazilian scientific community is revolted by
Dr. Reis' treatment. They are threatening that the INS violation
of her basic rights will damage cooperative projects between the
countries. One important Brazilian scientist who works on environmental
issues in the Amazon region said that his country has given more
than 200 visas to American scientists to do field work here, and
it is only reasonable to expect reciprocity. The American embassy
here, it says, is investigating.
It may be that the young Halana Pereira did not have appropriate
grounds to enter the U.S. in search of employment, but to accuse
her, apparently on the basis of racial characteristics, of being
a prostitute, is simply outrageous, as was her humiliating treatment.
Obviously the treatment received by Dr. Reis is also indefensible.
The INS agents' ability to do what they did in the expectation
that there would be no reprisals demands a response from all of
us in mission. I appeal to you to write to your government representatives
and insist on a thorough investigation, which, if it confirms
the stories of the two women, results in the punishment of the
INS agents and, perhaps most important, mandates a change in INS
operating procedures to prevent such unconscionable behavior in
the future.
Peace, Shalom, and Salaam in 2003,
Linnis
The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, page
258
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