America, the Shame

Immigrants who arrive in the United States of America face many hardships and even more barriers to become citizens of our country. They are desperate to get here and will do anything not to be shipped back to the terrible circumstances they came from.

Unfortunately, here in the USA we take advantage of them and many immigrants who enter are then used for cheap labor and low-paying unrespectable jobs such as housekeeping and fieldwork. The worst part is once they arrive and find work, they'll never make enough money for themselves or their families.

That alone is degrading enough.

Imagine then if you can, you're an immigrant who's trying to get your green card to work in the United States or travel back home to your family but before you can get this green card-someone demands you give them sex.

This disgusting deed is exactly what happened. As reported in the New York Times, an immigrant who has risked their life just to get into this country, was forced to degrade themselves in an unspeakable manner to a despicable man, Isaac R. Baichu, a man who until his arrest worked in our immigration government office for $50,000 a year. Baichu was also an immigrant himself but managed to get a position granting green cards to other immigrants.

He abused this power, to the horror of his victim, a young Columbian woman who recently married a U.S. citizen but whose family were still not citizens. She needed the green card to go back to her home in Columbia to mourn the members of her family who were recently killed. Without her card she wouldn't be allowed back into the U.S..

Baichu knew this immigrant woman's background, including her past brush in with the law when she unknowingly helped in a money-laundering job. Baichu took shameful advantage of this knowledge and met with the young woman privately and then demanded sex from her before he would give her a green card. If she refused, he would deny her the green card and even deport her family back to Columbia.

As seen on the Hispanic TV network, Telemundo, in a recorded conversation from the young woman's cell phone with Isaac R. Baichu, he is heard demanding sex from her. She refuses him with disgust on the recording but it is all too horrible to realize how desperately she needs the green card and by now she is in fear for her life and the life of her family. What happens after this terrifying encounter makes headline news in the New York Times and is seen on every Hispanic broadcast TV network.

After this incident the young woman brought the recorded conversation to the New York Times and alerted the district attorney's office. They then followed her to her next meeting with Baichu in a restaurant parking lot off Queen's Boulevard. He was arrested shortly after but denied he did anything wrong. He was suspended from his job with paid leave.

Unfortunately, this is not the only sexual assault case to happen that involves immigrants. As read in the New York Times article by Nina Bernstein, sexual assault seems to be a common occurrence in the immigration field because these perpetrators, hired by our tax money by the government, know that many immigrant women have no rights when it comes to protecting themselves and they often come in the U.S. alone and scared.

These crimes committed against immigrant women have lasting effects, not only do they have to deal with the shame of being abused but in most cases they have no one to turn to and even if they do manage to get some justice, as this young Columbian woman did by bravely submitting the recorded conversation, it ends badly for the victims.

The young Columbian woman who was sexually assaulted by Isaac R. Baichu still does not have her green card and her husband, upon hearing what had happened, has left her. Although Baichu was arrested, it does no justice to the victim and others who still may not have any rights or means of defending themselves in a case like this. These assaults on immigrants have happened before and there is little evidence to say this will not happen again or that future immigrants are safe from these disgusting abuses of power.

What message as a nation are we sending when something like this happens? To belong in our country, a free country were it's supposed to be safe-you must first submit yourself in a filthy sexual manner? It sends a dangerous message and threatens our very rights as human beings in this nation of Liberty and Justice.

We as a nation and free people should be ashamed that this has happened and should do everything in our power to prevent such monstrosities to happen ever again.