{"id":8052,"date":"2009-06-22T14:00:31","date_gmt":"2009-06-22T21:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=8052"},"modified":"2009-06-22T14:00:31","modified_gmt":"2009-06-22T21:00:31","slug":"baby-taken-away-from-mother-because-mother-doesnt-speak-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=8052","title":{"rendered":"Baby taken away from mother because mother doesn't speak English"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Mississippi’s Clarion Ledger<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Immigration advocates are incensed over a Mexican woman’s fight to keep custody of her child after she was reported as an unfit mother two days after giving birth in a Pascagoula hospital.<\/p>\n

An e-mail news release sent last week by the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance accuses Singing River Hospital and the Mississippi Department of Human Services of “stealing immigrants’ babies.” The accusation involves Cirila Baltazar Cruz, who gave birth to her daughter, Ruby, Nov. 16 at the hospital.<\/p>\n

According to documents obtained by The Clarion-Ledger, staff at the hospital filed a report two days later listing Ruby as a neglected child.<\/p>\n

The report says Cruz “was exchanging living arrangements for sex” and planned to adopt out the child before returning to Mexico. The report also noted Cruz “is an illegal immigrant.”<\/p>\n

Court records obtained by The Clarion-Ledger indicate Cruz is charged with neglecting her child, in part, because “she has failed to learn the English language” and “was unable to call for assistance for transportation to the hospital” to give birth. Her inability to speak English “placed her unborn child in danger and will place the baby in danger in the future,” according to the document.<\/p>\n

In its release, MIRA disputes the accusations leveled against Cruz and says Cruz speaks an indigenous Mexican language, Chatino, spoken by fewer than 50,000 people, and speaks “very little Spanish and no English.” The hospital provided only a Spanish-language interpreter, the release says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So they somehow determined that she “exchanged living arrangements for sex” and intended to have the baby adopted — even though they didn’t have an interpreter who actually spoke Ms. Cruz’s language? That seems dubious. If you can’t speak her language, then you can’t be certain what her intentions are.<\/p>\n

(And by the way, I hate the assumption that if a parent does “exchange living arrangements for sex,” the proper response is for the government to take that parent’s child away. Nor does it make sense to take away a child because their parent is considering adoption.)<\/p>\n

Since MIRA was able to find a translator, obviously finding a translator is not, in fact, impossible. Nothing should have been done in this case prior to finding a translator; and to take away a child because the parent(s) doesn’t speak English is disgusting.<\/p>\n

Vivirlatino <\/a>has an interesting post about this case and how the immigration debate is framed.<\/p>\n

MIRA’s call to action is below the fold. <\/p>\n

Via Flip Flopping Joy<\/a> and Questioning Transphobia<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Request for Action from the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance (MIRA):<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cirila Baltazar Cruz gave birth to her baby girl in November of 2008 at Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula, MS. She speaks very little Spanish and no English, as her native language is Chatino, an Indigenous language from Oaxaca, Mexico that is spoken by some 50,000 people.<\/p>\n

The hospital provided her with an \u201cinterpreter\u201d who is from Puerto Rico and does not speak Chatino, the language of the mother. Because of the language barrier and the misunderstanding by the hospital\u2019s interpreter who only spoke Spanish and English, a social worker was called in.<\/p>\n

The hospital\u2019s social worker reported \u201cevidence\u201d of abuse and neglect based on the following:<\/p>\n

* The \u201cbaby was born to an illegal [sic] immigrant;\u201d
\n * The \u201cmother had not purchased a crib, clothes, food or formula.\u201d (Most Latina mothers breast feed their babies).
\n * \u201cShe does not speak English which puts baby in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Baltazar Cruz\u2019s baby was snatched from her after birth at the hospital and given to an affluent attorney couple from the posh Ocean Springs who cannot have children.<\/p>\n

The authorities made no effort to locate an interpreter in her native tongue. MIRA located an interpreter who is fluent in Chatino in Los Angeles CA and has interviewed the mother extensively with the interpreters help. The mother has been accused of being poor and not being able to provide for this child. No one has asked the mother to provide evidence of support. She owns a home in Mexico and a store which provides both secure shelter and financial support, not counting the nurturing of a loving family of two other siblings, a grandmother, aunts, uncles and other extended family.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, there is word in the Gulf Coast community that the \u201cparents to be,\u201d have already had a baby shower celebrating the \u201cblessed arrival\u201d of this STOLEN child!<\/p>\n

PLEASE MAKE CALLS & WRITE LETTERS DEMANDING THE SAFE RETURN OF BABY & REUNITE WITH HER MOTHER<\/p>\n

If you believe this is unjust and outrageous and goes against all moral and religious beliefs and values, please call or write to the presiding Judge and the MS Department of Human Services to STOP this ILLEGAL ADOPTION! Stealing US born babies from immigrant parents is a growing epidemic in the United States. Many Latino parents have lost their children this way!<\/p>\n

Honorable Judge Sharon Sigalas
\n Youth Justice Court of Jackson County
\n 4903 Telephone Rd.
\n Pascagoula, MS 39567
\n (228)762-7370<\/p>\n

Children\u2019s Justice Act Program
\n MS Dept. of Human Services
\n 750 North State Street
\n Jackson, MS 39202
\n Call (601)359-4499 and ask for Barbara Proctor<\/p>\n

For more information please call MIRA at: (601) 968-5182<\/p>\n

MIRA Organizing Coordinator
\n Victoria Cintra at (228) 234-1697 or Organizer Socorro Leos at(228) 731-0831<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Mississippi’s Clarion Ledger: Immigration advocates are incensed over a Mexican woman’s fight to keep custody of her child after she was reported as an unfit mother two days after giving birth in a Pascagoula hospital. An e-mail news release … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-immigration-migrant-rights-etc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8052\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}