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Congratulations New Times winners! You deserve to win all those awards for your outstanding contribution and courage to inform the public of the truth and corruption in this state. You are our voice!

CONGRATULATIONS to one and all at the New Times.

Thank you for being an honest voice for all of us that live in Arizona !

Dear New Times ,

This is a story that needs to be told because it shows the total injustice that happens on the Mexican side of the boarder.

I am an American citizen and live in Peoria Arizona. On Thursday night, April 18th 2008, my wife received a phone call that her only sister, who is 14 years younger than her, had received the sad news that the twins she was expecting had been dead for a month and she was already five months pregnant. The Seguro Social in Mexico was not able to detect the death even when my sister-in-law kept saying she felt something was wrong every time she went to see the doctor. Not feeling well, she was finally able to go and see a private doctor on her fifth month only to learn that she was right, something was truly wrong. Her babies where no longer living inside her. My sister in-law and her family are not well off financially so when we heard the heart breaking news my wife and I knew we needed to go down to Mexico and help.

That same night, we headed down to Nogales, Mexico with $500.00 in cash to help with doctor expenses. Knowing I needed to be back the next morning to go directly to work, I left the replacement small parts, I work with, in my car. I thought I could take my wife down to Mexico to be with her sister and I could be back the next morning in time for work but as soon as my wife and I crossed the boarder, into Mexico, I got the red light telling me I needed to stop and have my car inspected. I never would have guessed that small copier parts would be considered illegal. According to them, illegal because they were not declared. I always figured weapons, alcohol and things like that were the items that needed declaring. The boarder agents immediately made me feel as if I had committed a horrible crime. As soon as I parked my car they made us get out of the car and they just started throwing all parts out of the car on to their inspection table. My wife heard them say through a radio “we’ve good one” to someone. I never got a chance to offer bribe money (since I have heard this is what is to be done in cases as this), because of the abusive treatment they showed me from the start. It didn’t take long for the threats to begin and get worse. They began by saying “You will pay for all that the Americans do to Mexicans”, “If Mexicans cross the boarder with a tiny piece of pork, how do we get treated…? Well, that’s just how we will now treat you now!” I tried to explain to them over and over the reason why we where there, but they went on to say “If you don’t shut up, we will simply disappear you”, I am guessing they meant they would kill us…

By this time I felt more and more confused, I could only think that what they wanted from me was just to get as much money as they could. I pleaded to just let us go so we could go and help my wife’s sister with her medical emergency, but they said they “didn’t care” about that and we better “obey” and “shut up” or suffer the consequences. They threatened to drive my wife and I separately, but would not why or where they would take us. My wife insisted that if where going to be taken anywhere to please let us stay together. She convinced them by saying she was the only one who could translate for me if they needed to talk to me and finally accepted to take us together.

After deciding to take me to the main office, they carelessly started to throwing all the parts back into my car and forced me and my wife to get inside it. Then, they started to head to the outskirts of the city, driving through the streets of Nogales speeding and running every red light there was! We were followed by an official pick up truck with the lights and sirens blaring as if we were some kind of terrible criminals! At that point I felt we were going to be beaten up until they killed us or we gave them what they wanted - money. My wife had her Bible with her because she was going to use it to pray at her sister’s, so as they where driving us she took it out and started to pray. A little after that, it came to mind to try out my cell phone and see if it would work to get a call through to her father’s so there would be someone who would know what was happening to us. She told her dad how the boarder officials had detained us for no real reason and how they where taking us outside the city limits without them telling us what they were going to do to us nor where they where taking us and she made it clear that if we didn’t show up again it meant they had us or had killed us. The official driving the car then realized my wife was making the call and immediately started to call the other officials through a radio with code words my wife would not understand. We kept insisting to please let us know where we were being taken, since she was still with her father on the cell phone and then he finally said we were being taken to their main office.

It was there, that they brought in a young man named Carlos, into the rat infested room they had us in, according to them, he was there to figure out the value of the parts and car. He told us he would need $2900.00 dlls. for the fines and said if we gave him the money everything would be forgotten and they would let us go. But when we couldn’t come up with that money fast enough, they threatened to make it official and then we would have to pay even more to get my car and parts back. I told them over and over that “why couldn’t they have a heart and just let us go because all we were doing there is helping someone in great need”! They responded in Spanish to my wife, “Tell you husband to be quite or we will put him in jail and disappear him!” The person making those comments went by the name of Hector Rodriguez. They also said that if only I had bribed them when they first stopped us they may have let us go. When we first got to the main office, I offered the $500.00 dlls. I had in cash as a bribe but my wife overheard them say in Spanish, “that it wouldn’t be much after splitting it between all of them”! So, the answer was no! It was soon after that, the offer to get the parts and car was lost and the only choice I had would be pay the $2000.00 dlls. fine for the car.

I decided that paying a fine for a car that was only worth $2000.00 dlls. would be stupid, so after a whole night and most of the next day they finally forced us to sign documents that stated that I used that car to bring illegal copier parts into Mexico and that would give them “rights” to my car and parts! Well, I know in this country, the USA, that a forced signature is not valid! So, I feel the car and parts were literally stolen from me.

That Friday afternoon I even went to the American consulate, in Nogales but they were of no help. So that is what I need now, help. Help to tell my story, help to let the American people & Government know how great the abuse is that can happen just across the boarder. My wife is now traumatized along with both our families. This was a total outrage and these things, shouldn’t happen, in a civilized world!

Thank you,
Mark Comer
Markandana@cox.net
(623) 376-2626