Woman Forced to Give Labor While Shackled by the Police
A woman screams out in pain as she goes into labor. She begs the sheriff to release one hand from the shackles but he coldly refuses. This could only happen in a third-world country oppressed dictatorship, right? Wrong! This happens to a number of women right here in The United States.
Their crime: being undocumented illegal immigrants:
Undocumented Women Forced To Give Birth While Shackled And In Police Custody
“When I was in bed, I was begging the sheriff, ‘Please let me free — at least one hand,’ and he said, no, he didn’t want to,” Juana Villegas said in an interview with a local Nashville television station. She was describing the experience of being shackled to her hospital bed as she went into labor. Villegas gave birth in the sheriff’s custody, after she was stopped by local police while driving without a valid license.
To me this isn’t an immigration question at all; it is a question of basic human rights. She wasn’t a violent criminal. she wasn’t a threat to flee. All she was asking for was to be treated like a human. But the police, the upholders of the law, could not bring themselves to such a level of humanity. If this is not “cruel and unusual punishment” then please tell me what is?
