“She has remained [in the detention center] for the past two years, denied bail and denied any hearing on the merits of the Mexican charges,” said Shanlon Wu of Wheat Wu Law.
According to Wu, Mexico claims that in 1998 Ramirez engaged in human trafficking when she was on the same bus as four Filipino nurses, who lacked proper Mexican immigration papers.
Wu said his client had nothing to do with how the nurses entered Mexico and had no reason to believe anything was wrong with their paperwork.
“She was let go by the Mexican police after her arrest and heard nothing about the matter for the next eight years,” he said.
However, in 2006, US Marshalls arrested Ramirez at her home in San Diego.
The Marshals informed Ramirez that Mexico had issued an extradition request for her and arrested her. Ramirez is currently being detained in an ICE detention center.
Wu believes his client is innocent “but she will never be able to prove it now—nearly 10 years after the fact.”
Wu said at her extradition hearing, the law prevented Ramirez even from trying to refute Mexico’s charges.
Her legal appeals are running out. Her family is asking for the Secretary of State to exercise her power and protect this outstanding American citizen, added Wu. (www.asianjournal.com)
