Cop charged in immigrant's killing

Last April 28, René Javier Pérez, stricken by stomach pains, dialed 911 from a Mount Kisco, N.Y., laundromat. That was his last phone call.

Police officers George Bubaris, Edward Dwyer and Lt. Edward Dunnigan responded to Pérez’s call. One hour later, a passing carload of food industry workers found Pérez unconscious and near death six miles away on Byram Lake Road, an isolated dirt road in nearby Bedford. He died a few hours later at Westchester Medical Center

The county medical examiner, after performing an autopsy, ruled that Pérez’s death was a homicide, caused by severe internal abdominal injuries. (New York Times, Sept. 9)

Anival Javier Pérez immediately demanded an investigation into his brother’s death and to know who was responsible. He vowed, “What I want is justice, because he had a family. ... He was a person.” (The White Plains, N.Y., Journal News May 10)

After four months of pressure by Pérez’s family and Latin@ leaders, on Sept. 6 Westchester County Court announced that a grand jury had indicted and charged George Bubaris, a Mount Kisco police officer and former member of the New York City Police Department, with second-degree manslaughter, unlawful imprisonment and other charges in Pérez’s death. The two other officers were not charged.

Immigrant communities and their supporters throughout the U.S. were outraged and remain so.

‘A racist attack’

“The Latino community sees this as a racist attack on a Latino worker. The police should have brought René Javier Pérez to the hospital and called an ambulance. They had no right to beat him and kill him. They had no respect for his rights,” said Walter Sinche, a leader of the May 1st Immigrant Rights Coalition in New York City.

“People come here from poor South American countries to work. Many live where Pérez did. If they’re homeless, they’re considered criminals. If they’re undocumented, they often are sent back to their countries.

“Here, justice has only been served halfway. Other murders in that town should be investigated. We hope it’ll be an example and stop the racist attacks there. We demand total justice for Pérez.”

Anival Javier Pérez has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking damages against Mount Kisco, Bedford and George Bubaris for violating his brother’s civil rights because he was Latino. He charges that both villages had a practice of “dumping” Latin@ immigrants into the other’s district.

This lawsuit, filed by attorney Jonathan Lovett, says in part, “Border dumping, as routinely practiced by Bedford and Mount Kisco by means of its police officers, intentionally targets male Hispanics of Guatemalan national origin who members of the police departments in both jurisdictions believe should not be permitted to enter into and/or remain within their respective municipalities,” (Journal News, May 25)

Anival Javier Pérez, who has taken a courageous stand, now fears retaliation.

Mount Kisco is touted as an idyllic “family town” of 10,000 residents with luxurious houses, schools and lawns. It is viewed as the “commercial hub” of northern Westchester, rife with professionals and farm owners reeking of wealth.

But Mount Kisco is actually two cities. The reality for one-fourth of the population who are Latin@s, many immigrants from Guatemala, is of another city entirely, of struggling families, of day laborers trying to get work, of the daily threat of immigration authorities, police repression, racist harassment and abuse.

This village has a long, sordid history of anti-immigrant discrimination. A slew of lawsuits have been brought in recent years opposing biased housing codes and harassment of day laborers who are seeking employment. These have won some legal protections.

But despite the legal rulings, day laborers still face regular harassment by racist police. They are routinely picked up by cops and dropped off in remote areas, so they get lost. They have little, if any, legal recourse against abuse by state or city officials or employers. They are financially exploited, are paid very low wages and have difficulty obtaining housing and medical care.

Mysterious deaths of Guatemalan immigrants

There have also been other mysterious deaths of Guatemalan immigrants, four since 2000: José Manuel Soto, age 20; Carlos Rodríguez, age 36; Santos Bojorguez, age 33 and Robert Martínez, 42. Two of the deaths were labeled homicides. All are unsolved, despite requests by Latin@ activists to investigate and find those responsible.

Manuel Ochoa, who knew Pérez and is a day laborer in Mount Kisco, told The Journal News that “so many people from our country, from Guatemala die, and it’s just forgotten about.” (Sept. 7)

The strong arms of the Bush administration and its anti-immigrant agencies have reached deeply into Mount Kisco with their racist program, and in the process given the police even more of a green light to terrorize and abuse Latin@ workers.

In March, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), together with the Mount Kisco Police Department, raided two apartment buildings housing immigrant families. They arrested 20 workers, detained them in ICE facilities and charged them with breaking immigration laws. Eleven face deportation. (nylegalblog.com)

René Javier Pérez emigrated to the U.S., along with thousands of other Guatemalans, from the Chiquimula region. They came in the last two decades, forced to leave their homeland by extreme poverty and the difficulty of supporting their families. Their aim has always been to find jobs so that they can send financial aid back home to their loved ones.

One million Guatemalan people have emigrated to the U.S. to work. In just the last year, they have sent $3.6 billion in remittances to their relatives at home.

But the earning of those crucial funds necessitates huge sacrifices by those who come here, the first of which is leaving their loved ones, maybe never to see their families or homeland again. Then they face dangers in crossing the border, only to live with the constant fear of immigration authorities, detention and deportation once they succeed in crossing.

The jobs open to them are often backbreaking, dangerous and seasonal. Many must face racist harassment and the danger of physical abuse by police and other right-wingers. Many risk their very lives.

It takes great courage and determination to help their families living this tough and perilous life.

René Javier Pérez left his wife and baby 15 years ago to find work in New York State to help them survive. His life in Mount Kisco was very difficult, marked by poverty, homelessness and constant police harassment.

Yet by working as a day laborer, he always sent money back to his family up until his death. His now-15-year-old daughter had never met her father, although he sent her money for a cell phone so she could call him. Now she will never know him.

René Javier Pérez, though, will not be forgotten by the millions of immigrant workers in this country and their supporters, who will stand up and loudly demand justice for him.