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AKA Liss ([info]inalasahl) wrote in [info]unfunnybusiness,
@ 2009-11-10 14:26:00


Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Two-Week-Old dies after being detained by U.S. Customs
Apparently, this happened over a year ago, but this is the first I've heard of it. The lack of a media outrage storm sickens me.

In February 2008, a baby brought from American Samoa to Honolulu by his mother for medical treatment died when they were held up at the airport by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The baby's mother, Luaipou Futi, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Honolulu against the United States government, alleging wrongful death. A settlement conference held Tuesday did not succeed, and the case is set for trial on April 13.

According to the lawsuit, Futi and her 2-week-old son, Michael Tony Futi, traveled to Honolulu with a nurse from Pago Pago, American Samoa, on February 8, 2008. The baby was born with a heart defect, and received approval from U.S. Customs for an emergency visa waiver for his mother and a nurse to bring him to Honolulu for medical treatment.

The trio were the first passengers off the plane at Honolulu Airport, and a car was waiting to take them to Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children. Instead, they were detained in a locked room by U.S. Customs officials who had concerns over the mother's paperwork. The nurse asked if she and the baby could be released to the hospital but was turned down.

During the flight, the nurse checked Michael's oxygen levels every 15 minutes and administered oxygen as needed. The baby developed breathing problems while locked in the airport room, and his nurse pounded on the door, frantically pleading with officials to call 911, but was apparently told to be quiet.

The infant was later taken by ambulance to Kaiser Permanente Moanalua Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The Honolulu medical examiner concluded that Michael Futi died because he failed to receive required oxygen. It's heartbreaking and infuriating, and someone needs to answer for this.


ETA: This article from last year has a bit more info, including that the mother was born in Western Samoa.


(Post a new comment)


[info]queencallipygos
2009-11-10 11:30 pm UTC (link)
What in the hell was the Border guard getting involved for? American Samoa is an AMERICAN TERRITORY!

(Reply to this)(Thread)


[info]snarkhunter
2009-11-11 12:12 am UTC (link)
That's what I'm confused about. I thought people from American Samoa were, y'know, AMERICAN.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]sizer
2009-11-11 12:44 am UTC (link)
Sort of. They're American nationals, not American citizens, which means that they should be given free and unhindered entry to the U.S. Mainland (and other territories, I believe?).

AAM's summary and the original article confused me, but an older Star Bulletin article provides more information: Both the mother and the nurse were U.S. nationals and were flying on U.S. passports, the mother also had approval to travel to Honolulu (?! why does she need approval as a U.S. national?), but there was "a problem" (in the eyes of the U.S.'s obviously stellar border police) with the waiver form from federal customs officials (?!), which is why they obviously thought it perfectly reasonable to lock a woman with a sick baby in a poorly-ventilated room and not respond to her calls that the baby was dying. ugh.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]inalasahl
2009-11-11 01:09 am UTC (link)
Thanks for the link! That article mentions that the mom was born in Western Samoa, which is a different country. So I'm guessing that was the source of the "problem," none of which excuses the officials subsequent actions.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]sizer
2009-11-11 10:09 am UTC (link)
Ah, I missed that she wasn't born in American Samoa. :) Still, if the mother and nurse both had U.S. passports, they were both U.S. nationals; the baby certainly was also a U.S. national given that he was born in American Samoa. odd, odd.

The more that I think of this, the more that I think that it's somewhat like the situation with Hong Kong/Macao and the PRC Mainland. Technically we are part of the PRC, but HK/MO Chinese citizens hold HK/MO passports and, whilst technically they are Chinese are free to go into the PRC Mainland whenever they want, so long as they have with them their "return to the motherland card" (which is very easy to get and does not need to be returned to the government after issue). (Similarly, Mainland Chinese residents get PRC passports and need special cards/permits to enter HK/MO. These are not so easy to get and are quite restricted.) Needless to say, some people have their cards taken away from them and are therefore not permitted to enter their own country (one which recognizes them as citizens, albeit from special administrative regions). (And this doesn't even begin to cover the situation with the Taiwanese.)

But that's China, not the U.S. As with many things, one expects better from the U.S. (and is therefore constantly disappointed).

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]inalasahl
2009-11-12 05:33 pm UTC (link)
As with many things, one expects better from the U.S. (and is therefore constantly disappointed).
Yep.

(Reply to this)(Parent)


[info]snarkhunter
2009-11-11 01:10 am UTC (link)
My guess on the "problem"?

OMG BROWN PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO ENTER OUR COUNTRY! BROWN PEOPLE = ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AND TERRORISTS AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH LOOK THEY EVEN BROUGHT AN ANCHOR BABY!!!!! (Yes, I know that's not what an anchor baby is.)

(In my version of events, the guards heads then exploded, like the Gentlemen in "Hush," and the baby and his mother were taken to the hospital, which repaired his heart and saved him. Damn it, I should rule the world.)

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]rodo
2009-11-11 01:37 am UTC (link)
Considering what I've heard about the hoops people have to jump through even if they're blond, blue-eyed and white, generally harmless looking tiny females from a country without much of a terrorism threat: everyone without an American passport is an illegal immigrant and a terrorist for the customs officials.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]dana
2009-11-11 01:41 am UTC (link)
Yep, I got pulled out of every airport line while travelling within the United States, they just took one look at my Australian passport and that was it, fun physical examiniation and questioning woohoo. And at the time I was white and blonde.

But around the same time while I was in England and Europe, not a single problem, and the Europeans have been dealing with terrorism far longer...

It was tiresome.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]dana, 2009-11-11 01:41 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]bride_of_lister, 2009-11-11 03:03 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]dana, 2009-11-11 03:08 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]bolboreta, 2009-11-11 03:50 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]dana, 2009-11-11 04:04 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]rodo, 2009-11-11 03:11 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]dana, 2009-11-11 03:14 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]rodo, 2009-11-11 03:19 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]dana, 2009-11-11 03:21 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]bobafeis, 2009-11-11 04:14 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]silrana, 2009-11-11 01:50 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]sparkysrevenge, 2009-11-11 06:43 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]chibikaijuu, 2009-11-12 11:22 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]silrana, 2009-11-12 12:31 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]chibikaijuu, 2009-11-12 12:47 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]darlas_mom, 2009-11-14 08:02 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]evilsqueakers, 2009-11-11 06:35 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]sparkysrevenge, 2009-11-11 06:36 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]mareen, 2009-11-11 06:27 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]adevyish, 2009-11-11 12:33 pm UTC

[info]snarkhunter
2009-11-11 04:05 am UTC (link)
I've heard much the same from tiny Englishwomen, but in this case, they were traveling with US passports.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]rodo, 2009-11-11 04:18 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]snarkhunter, 2009-11-11 04:27 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]dana, 2009-11-11 04:31 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]snarkhunter, 2009-11-11 04:32 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]dana, 2009-11-11 04:35 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]snarkhunter, 2009-11-11 02:29 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]plazmah, 2009-11-11 05:59 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]mareen, 2009-11-11 06:31 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]dana, 2009-11-11 06:37 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]mary_mac, 2009-11-11 02:03 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]rodo, 2009-11-11 06:40 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]dana, 2009-11-11 06:41 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]rodo, 2009-11-11 04:40 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]lil_miss_stfu, 2009-11-11 12:13 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]mydemand, 2009-11-11 02:46 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]snarkhunter, 2009-11-11 04:31 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]rodo, 2009-11-11 04:44 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]evilsqueakers, 2009-11-11 06:39 am UTC

[info]jujubee
2009-11-11 07:18 am UTC (link)
I have a friend whose sister and mother both get detained nearly every time they fly. They are both blonde, white and carry American passports. They just put off very nervous vibes or something, I guess.

And my brother, who looks like Osama bin Laden (seriously, he shaved his beard in late 2001 because he was tired of being stopped by security everywhere he went), once traveled into the States on a one way ticket, with only a backpack. (He travels light. And had terrible personal hygiene at the time, so only needed like one change of clothes.) That was a fun interrogation. He, too, has an American passport.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

(no subject) - [info]sheep, 2009-11-11 08:04 pm UTC

[info]lady_ganesh
2009-11-12 02:50 am UTC (link)
Pretty much what I figure, yeah.

(Reply to this)(Parent)


[info]hallidae
2009-11-11 12:43 am UTC (link)
It's even in the goddamn NAME.

(Reply to this)(Parent)


ariadne484
2009-11-11 12:51 am UTC (link)
This is absolutely hideous. Absolutely.

(Reply to this)


[info]cereta
2009-11-11 01:17 am UTC (link)
I did actually hear about it at the time, although I'm not 100% sure where. It made news, but was not the firestorm it deserved to be.

(Reply to this)(Thread)


[info]inalasahl
2009-11-11 01:22 am UTC (link)
At a minimum, something like this should get at least as much attention as the balloon boy hoax, you know?

(Reply to this)(Parent)


[info]sevendeadlyfun
2009-11-11 01:17 am UTC (link)
Even after reading the comments, I'm utterly confused. How the fuck do American citizens (nationals? whatevs) need VISAS to enter? THEY ARE AMERICANS! I don't need a visa to go to American Samoa (or Puerto Rico or Guam or any of the other American territories or possessions). Why should the residents of those places need visas to come here?

And even if (IF) they weren't Americans, why the fuck does some form matter more than a sick person's well-being? Hold the mom if you're so goddamned concerned about I don't even know what, her form or whatever, but let the sick baby get to the hospital.

UGH.

(Reply to this)(Thread)


[info]silrana
2009-11-11 02:03 pm UTC (link)
*sigh* I can almost guarantee that what those guys were thinking was, "Dying baby. Yeah, right. Sure." I know a number of people who work in law enforcement, and they have told me one of the biggest mental hurdles is to be careful not to assume everybody is lying to them. Because they deal every day with people who will look them in the eye and tell the most bald-faced lies and the most weepy fake sob stories to try to get out of whatever situation they're in, and it's easy to fall into thinking that all sob stories are lies.

But don't think I'm excusing their actions. They screwed up big time, and should pay for it. I'm just offering a possible 'how could they do that?'

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]snarkhunter
2009-11-11 02:27 pm UTC (link)
While there is that possibility, in this *particular* case, it would be an egregious failure of their observational skills if they didn't believe the baby was sick.

-they traveled to Honolulu for medical reasons, which would be in their papers
-there was a car waiting for them, sent by the hospital--a simple phone call to the hospital would confirm this
-there was a nurse traveling with them
-THE BABY WAS ACTUALLY DYING AND IF THEY WOULD HAVE LOOKED AT HIM THEY WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT.

Even if you think that all sob stories are lies, this is more of a case of looking at someone dripping blood from the stump where their arm used to be, and insisting that the arm is still there.

(Reply to this)(Parent)


[info]sarracenia
2009-11-11 01:35 am UTC (link)
I would like to punch every single person responsible very hard as they are fired and banned from any position of any responsibility whatesoever for the rest of their lives.

(Reply to this)(Thread)


[info]lady_ganesh
2009-11-12 02:51 am UTC (link)
Me too.

(Reply to this)(Parent)


[info]jujubee
2009-11-11 07:20 am UTC (link)
I can't believe this. Wait, yes I can. But I don't want to. :(:(:(:(

(Reply to this)


[info]sheep
2009-11-11 08:06 pm UTC (link)
D:

(Reply to this)


[info]nostariel
2009-11-11 11:51 pm UTC (link)
FFFFFFUUUUU- I hate Customs and the TSA, they both seem filled to the brim with assholes and idiots.

(Reply to this)


[info]brennalarose
2009-11-12 03:02 am UTC (link)
"Barbaric" is the best word I can come up with. I am fucking ashamed to be an American if this is what they do when a baby is dying in front of them.

(Reply to this)


 
   
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