LOS ANGELES—Government court documents released Monday question whether a man who allegedly was wrongly deported to Mexico is mentally disabled.Often, disability seems to be considered an all or nothing condition: Either the man is competent or he's not. Either he could communicate with perfect clarity or he was completely incapable of advocating for himself.
The documents also assert that that man, missing since being sent to Tijuana, had visited Mexico several times.
Pedro Guzman, 29, was jailed on a misdemeanor trespassing violation and then deported to Mexico on May 11 after telling immigration and sheriff's officials that he was an illegal immigrant, according to the agencies.
Guzman's relatives sued the Department of Homeland Security and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department last week in federal court, claiming Guzman was a U.S. citizen and had been wrongfully deported and demanding that U.S. authorities help find him. The family also claimed Guzman had told sheriff's officials he was born in California.
In the lawsuit, filed June 11, the family said Guzman was mentally disabled, and was unable to read or write. But in documents filed Monday, a U.S. State Department official claimed Guzman's mother said he had no mental impediments.
"During the conversation on June 12, Mr. Guzman's mother told a Consular Assistant that Mr. Guzman is not mentally impaired in any way," Mark Leoni, chief of American Citizen Services in Tijuana, said in court filings Monday.
Guzman's brother, Michael Guzman, said he couldn't confirm or comment on the conversation his mother had with the consular officer because he had no knowledge of it. The mother was not immediately available because she was searching for her son in Tijuana.
Michael Guzman said his brother appeared normal, had a driver's license and worked in construction, but had severe processing problems.
"To the point that he's retarded? No, he's not like that," said Guzman. "But he doesn't remember things, he can't record things well in his mind."
A spokesman for American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, which filed the case on behalf of the family, said the government assertion didn't make sense.
"Why would someone in the process of being released on house arrest agree to voluntary deportation unless he was confused about what he was signing?" said ACLU spokesman Michael Soller.
In a court filing dated June 13 but released Monday, a U.S. Immigration and Customs officer asserts the family said Pedro Guzman had been to Ensenada, Mexico, for several weekend trips and had no problems. Michael Guzman said the family had visited Mexico, but not since Pedro Guzman was 10 or 11 years old.
"But again, he doesn't remember anything, so he wouldn't know what to do," said Guzman.
My own experiences mirror this perception of Guzman, though from a physically disabled perspective. The legal definition of disability under the ADA declares that a person qualifies as disabled if she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; has a record of such an impairment; or is regarded as having such an impairment. But the practical aspects of applying for disability financial assistance, noting you might have special needs as a juror when you receive a summons, or applying for a driver's license can require a disabled person to basically swear they are incompetent. Incapable.
It's a paradox created, in part, by the social realities of disability. Give a guy in a wheelchair the appropriate environment -- ramps, elevators, lowered countertop for cooking dinner -- and he may not behave as if impaired in any way. He may in fact not be hindered, in the same way that a higher countertop would allow a very tall person to make dinner without getting a backache. Yet the tall person would simply be considered tall and the guy in the wheelchair is thought of as disabled.
To qualify for financial aid as a disabled person, you pretty much have to say you're unable to work, when the reality for so many of us is that we are unable to get hired. Or unable to work the increasingly demanding American work hours that strain so many people's health and stamina. Or perhaps, employers are unable to afford hiring us so long as health care is inextricably linked to employment.
It's not clear exactly what happened with Pedro Guzman and the police or what his cognitive impairments might be. But it's understandable to me that he might truly be unable to have advocated for himself and avoid being deported, and still be employed and have a driver's license. He may have visited Mexico in the past and still be capable of getting very lost when dropped resourceless into that country. He may be unable to read and write and not have any "mental impediments". He may appear normal and have "severe processing problems".
If Guzman were to turn up and prove he does not have any cognitive difficulties whatsoever, it would still be a bit of a red herring as far as wrongdoing by government officials. They deported a U.S. citizen. And his mother did not help clear up confusion with her reported statement that he does not have any mental impairments of any kind. But disability is like that, not black-and-white, not either-or.
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