‘Bogus’ Interpol red notice kept mum from El Salvador in US immigration detention for six years
A woman spent six years languishing in US immigration detention due to a “bogus” Interpol red notice stemming from a harassment campaign by a police officer in El Salvador.
Jessica Barahona Martinez, who is originally from the Central American country, told Sky News and its US partner NBC News about her ordeal in her first sit-down interview since her release.
During her time in detention, her sister died of cancer and she rarely saw her children after being moved to a facility more than 1,000 miles away from her family.
Ms Barahona Martinez’s lawyer Sandra Grossman describes it as one of the worst cases she had come across.
“We have been fighting bogus red notices for over 15 years,” she said.
“And I can tell you that this is one of the most egregious examples of Interpol abuse that we’ve ever seen.”
The US is considered a leader in tackling Interpol abuse – in which authoritarian states use the notice system to target dissidents abroad, or when individuals use it in the service of private disputes.
While the US has specific legislation to prevent Interpol from being used for transnational repression, immigration authorities are ignoring guidance not to arrest people solely based on a red notice.
Since her release, Ms Barahona Martinez has been trying to repair her mental health
Ms Barahona Martinez said her ordeal began when a local police officer in her hometown in El Salvador began a campaign of harassment, targeting her due to her sexuality.
She said he initially accused her of being interested in his girlfriend, and went on to sexually harass and assault her in the town’s market.
“He talked to me like I was nothing, like I was trash,” she said. “He called me a waste of a woman.”
Dangerous allegation
Eventually, the police officer accused Ms Barahona Martinez of extortion, for the amount of roughly $30, and said she was part of a gang – which is considered an extremely serious allegation in El Salvador.
The country has a long history of gang violence, and at one point had the highest murder rate in the world.
The subsequent crackdown has been effective but brutal; human rights groups say it has included torture and arbitrary detention, while police have bragged about being able to “arrest anyone we want”.
Jessica Barahona Martinez reunited with her family. Pic: ACLU
Ms Barahona Martinez spent nine months detained in El Salvador waiting for a court date, until her case was dismissed for lack of evidence in March 2015.
Upon her release, the harassment resumed. She said the same car would drive by her house each night.
Ms Barahona Martinez has three children from a previous relationship, and says she started receiving threatening phone calls from a person who listed her children’s names and where they went to school.
In May 2016, a year after her case was dismissed in El Salvador, Ms Barahona Martinez fled to the US. She submitted an official asylum application in April 2017.
However, she was unaware that police in El Salvador had attempted to re-open her case in the meantime.
She did not show up for a subsequent court appearance, and so local police circulated a red notice via Interpol.
Immigration officers in the US are not supposed to detain somebody purely on the basis of a red notice.
But when Ms Barahona Martinez attended her monthly check-in with immigration authorities on a Friday in June, she was told to head home and pack her bags, say goodbye to her children and report to a detention centre the following Monday morning.
Two asylum bids
Ms Barahona Martinez first learned she had been detained due to a red notice when she was denied bail a month later.
She would spend six years in detention.
Twice she was granted asylum. Two separate immigration judges found her claims of persecution in El Salvador credible – in 2018 and again in 2019.
However, both times an immigration board overturned the asylum decision, citing the existence of the red notice.
Authorities claimed the red notice meant that Ms Barahona Martinez was banned from refugee status under a rule called the mandatory non-political crime bar, which is designed to prevent people who have committed crimes abroad from seeking asylum after they have gone on the run.
But for Ms Barahona Martinez, the red notice resulted from – and was evidence of – the very persecution she was escaping.
Nevertheless, she was detained for the entirety of her asylum proceedings.
Ms Grossman said this was because of a disconnect between US policy and practice when it comes to Interpol notices.
‘Fundamental misunderstanding’
Although the US government guidelines state that a red notice should not automatically lead to detention, in practice that is what happens in the immigration system.
“I think this might hopefully be changing in the United States, but it appears in most of these cases that the red notice is sort of looked at as evidence of criminality and often as conclusive evidence of criminality,” Ms Grossman said.
“There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding in the United States about what a red notice is and is not.”
Ms Grossman believes that if Interpol was more transparent about the ways in which red notices can go wrong, both officials and victims of Interpol abuse would be better equipped to respond.
“It would be really helpful for cases where there’s bogus red notices involved for Interpol to be much more open about the fact that this happens,” she said.
Ms Barahona Martinez’s case came to light after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) met with her on one of their regular tours of detention centres in early 2023.
They then turned to Ms Grossman for specialist help.
When she petitioned Interpol’s review body she received an unusually swift reply telling her the red notice had been deleted.
From shock to panic
Still, Ms Barahona Martinez remained in detention until September last year, when she was released without warning after several interview requests by Sky News and the filing of a habeas petition by the ACLU, which would have seen her case brought before a higher judge.
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On 28 September, as Ms Barahona Martinez was working in the kitchen at a Louisiana detention centre, an immigration official sought her out to inform her she was being released the following day.
She told Sky News she was so shocked that she told the officer there must have been a mistake.
However, her shock soon turned to panic. After six years inside, she was not sure how she would cope with the outside world or even how to get back to her family.
Jessica Barahona Martinez with her family
“What was I going to find outside? I spoke to my mother, I said to her ‘Mum, what if I get lost?’ It was something that I honestly wasn’t prepared for at the time. And she told me, ‘You’re not going to get lost. We will find you’.”
The day after Ms Barahona was released, US authorities published updated guidance, reiterating that immigration officers shouldn’t detain people solely on the basis of a red notice.
‘Very robust system’
In an earlier episode of Sky News’ Dirty Work podcast, Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock defended the red notice system.
He said: “I think it is a very robust system, and it is a very successful system first and foremost because it helps almost every day around the world to catch dangerous fugitives, murderers, rapists, those who are exploiting children, drug traffickers.”
When asked about people ending up with a notice that should not have been issued, he said: “[It is] a small number of cases, but of course, very often significant cases that end up in the media and where we say, yes, this notice should not have been published.
“Every one of those cases is a case too many because we know the consequences this might have,” he said.
A spokesperson for the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) said: “Regardless of nationality, ICE makes custody determinations on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with US law and US department of homeland security policy, considering the circumstances of each case.”
A dramatic rescue was captured on live TV in New Orleans as Hurricane Francine swept in to the city.
The category two storm made landfall in the state of Louisiana on Wednesday night, bringing strong winds and heavy rains which caused flooding and knocked out electricity to more than a quarter of a million properties.
Jonah Gilmore, a reporter with New Orleans channel WDSU, was live on air when he spotted a vehicle driving into floodwater.
“We saw the pickup truck going into the canal underpass from the opposite direction… going against traffic… when this area was blocked off,” he said.
The panicked reporter flagged down a nearby police officer as he described how the water was “coming up so quickly” – but as he did so a passing Good Samaritan also leapt into action and approached the car with a hammer.
Mr Gilmore told viewers: “You can see that guy breaking the [vehicle’s] window.”
The footage then showed a man’s head emerging from a rear door window and squeezing through the gap.
The driver was eventually led to safety by the rescuer, Miles Crawford, before firefighters arrived at the scene.
Submerged cars in New Orleans: Pic: AP
Mr Crawford, who works in a hospital ER department, said afterwards: “I just had to go in there and get him. I’m a nurse so I got to save lives.”
Hurricane Francine came ashore in Louisiana with winds approaching 100mph in Terrebonne Parish, about 30 miles southwest of Morgan City, according to the National Hurricane Centre.
It prompted evacuation orders for thousands of people in a region which has still not fully recovered from a series of devastating hurricanes in 2020 and 2021.
Evacuation orders were issued before the hurricane hit. Pic: Reuters
Firefighters in Morgan City, near where the storm made landfall. Pic: AP
Morgan City fire chief Alvin Cockerham said the hurricane quickly flooded streets, snapped power lines and sent trees crashing down.
“It’s a little bit worse than what I expected to be honest with you…. it’s too dangerous to be out there in this,” he said.
The hurricane’s path later moved inland, cutting power supplies for 261,000 properties across southeast Louisiana, before weakening to a tropical storm.
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Much of Louisiana and Mississippi could be hit by 10 to 20cm (4 to 8in) of rain, with the possibility of 30cm (12in) in some places, said Brad Reinhart, a senior specialist at the hurricane centre.
Francine is the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season and was fuelled by exceedingly warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
President Joe Biden has approved emergency support to help Louisiana secure federal money and assistance.
Taylor Swift has won seven gongs at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), equalling Beyonce in a career total of 30 and matching her as most-awarded musician in VMAs history.
Swift, who used her platform to urge Americans to vote in the upcoming presidential elections, picked up prizes including video of the year for Fortnight, featuring Post Malone, artist of the year and best collaboration.
While Swift overtook Beyonce as the most decorated solo artist in VMA history, the Single Ladies singer has previously picked up gongs for being in girl group Destiny’s Child, and her collaborations with husband Jay-Z as The Carters.
Beyonce did not win any new awards at this year’s VMAs and was notably shut out of the Country Music Association Awards earlier this week.
Upon receiving her award for video of the year, Swift thanked her boyfriend, NFL player Travis Kelce, for his support, saying: “Everything this man touches turns to happiness and fun and magic.”
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‘Taylor Swift is America’
She also encouraged her fans who are over 18 to register to vote in the upcoming US election, although she avoided directly mentioning her endorsement of vice president Kamala Harris.
On Tuesday, after a presidential debate between Ms Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump, Swift endorsed the Democratic candidate on Instagram, writing: “I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”
Swift jokingly signed off her endorsement “childless cat lady” – a move which was followed by Fleetwood Mac star Stevie Nicks shortly after.
Katy Perry won the VMA lifetime achievement award. Pic: AP
Elsewhere, Katy Perry also made VMA history, becoming the first singer to win the Vanguard award – the VMA’s lifetime achievement award – having previously won video of the year and also present the ceremony in previous years.
The stakes were high for the I Kissed A Girl singer after her comeback album – 143 – was panned by fans and critics alike, with the first two singles from the collection sinking without trace.
Katy Perry performs a medley of her songs. Pic: AP
Perry performed a medley of her biggest songs, including Roar, Teenage Dream and Firework, with her stage show including a risqué performance with rapper Doechii, during which the pair wrapped their legs around each other and lay on the stage.
Accepting her award, which was presented to her by her husband British actor Orlando Boom, Perry said: “There are so many things that have to align to have a long and successful career as an artist. There are no decade-long accidents.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Bloom and Perry shared an on-stage kiss after the singer accepted the award, with Perry thanking him “for keeping me grounded”.
She also paid tribute to their four-year-old daughter, Daisy Dove, saying: “Lastly, for my Daisy, the only flowers I’ll ever need.”
Sabrina Carpenter performs Please Please Please. Pic: AP
Elsewhere, Sabrina Carpenter picked up song of the year for Espresso, while Good Luck, Babe singer Chappell Roan was named best new artist and Blackpink’s LISA won the best K-pop award.
Carpenter wore the same silver sequined Bob Mackie gown that Madonna wore to the 1991 Academy Awards, and surprisingly kissed an alien during her performance of a medley of her hits which included Please Please Please, Taste and Espresso.
Chappell Roan won best new artist. Pic: AP
Meanwhile, Roan channelled Joan of Arc for her medieval performance of Good Luck, Babe – a summer hit that has made her a break-out star.
Roan – who last month sparked a conversation about boundaries after posting videos online urging fans to stop “harassing her” – had recently faced push-back after cancelling two European shows to play the VMAs.
Eminem performs Houdini. Pic: AP
Eminem won prizes for best hip-hop video and best visual effects, making him the solo male artist with the most wins with a total haul of 14 gongs.
He performed his two latest singles, Houdini and Somebody Save Me, entering the stage with dozens of dancers all sporting bleach blonde wigs.
It was a nod to his 2000 VMA performance of The Real Slim Shady, where he sang at the ceremony in front of hundreds of extras dressed just like him.
The 2024 MTV VMAs will be screened in the UK on MTV and Paramount Plus at 8pm on Thursday 12 September
US
SpaceX Polaris Dawn: Billionaire Jared Isaacman becomes first person to take part in private spacewalk
An American billionaire has become the first person to take part in a private spacewalk – against the spectacular backdrop of the Earth.
A spacewalk is considered one of the most dangerous activities an astronaut can do in orbit.
SpaceX Polaris Dawn spacewalk – live updates
Jared Isaacman outside the Dragon capsule. Pic: SpaceX
It was delayed by around four hours earlier this morning – with no explanation given – before final safety checks of the spacesuits and equipment were carried out and SpaceX officials confirmed the mission was “go for spacewalk”.
First images broadcast from inside the Dragon capsule showed the four-strong crew preparing for the historic event – and sharing fist bumps with each other.
The crew inside the Dragon capsule ahead of the scheduled spacewalk. Pic: SpaceX via AP
Pic: SpaceX
Daredevil Jared Isaacman, 41, was the first to exit the capsule – joining a small, elite group of spacewalkers who until today had included only professional astronauts.
After opening the hatch, a body camera showed his ascent through the narrow opening before incredible footage showed the spacewalk taking place to huge cheers from mission control at Cape Canaveral.
“It’s gorgeous,” he said, in awe of what he could see, as he eased out of the spacecraft into the vacuum of space, hundreds of miles from Earth.
He kept a hand or foot attached to the capsule the whole time as he flexed his arms and legs to see how the new spacesuit held up.
“The handsfree demonstration is very comparable to the trainer, in terms of the foot restraint,” he added, as he tested his spacesuit.
He had said before lift-off earlier this week: “Whatever risk is associated with it, it is worth it.”
“I wasn’t alive when humans walked on the moon,” he said. “I’d certainly like my kids to see humans walking on the moon and Mars, and venturing out and exploring our solar system.”
The tech entrepreneur blasted into space from Cape Canaveral in Florida before dawn on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday for the five-day flight – along with mission pilot Scott Poteet, 50, a retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel, and SpaceX employees Sarah Gillis, 30, and Anna Menon, 38, both senior engineers at the company.
Ms Gillis followed Mr Isaacman out of the capsule on Thursday to carry out the same mobility tests.
The pair bobbed up and down in weightlessness, no higher than their knees out of the capsule.
Astronauts from left, mission specialist Anna Menon, pilot Scott Poteet, commander Jared Isaacman and mission specialist Sarah Gillis. Pic: AP
The mission, called Polaris Dawn, to test a new line of spacesuits is the Elon Musk-led company’s riskiest mission yet – from a space capsule that doesn’t have a safety airlock, and in suits far slimmer than the bulky protective layers worn by NASA astronauts.
It is the first of three funded by Mr Isaacman – a pilot and the billionaire founder of electronic payment company Shift4.
He has refused to say how much he is paying for the missions, but they are believed to have cost hundreds of millions of dollars based on Crew Dragon’s roughly $55m (£42m) per-seat price for other flights.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Ms Gillis could be heard saying “pretty good” as she carried out her spacewalk – before she followed Mr Isaacman back into the capsule, after being told what sounded like she had less than six minutes of oxygen supply left.
“Pressure indicates good seal,” mission control told the astronauts, reassuringly, as the hatch was shut again.
“That was really cool,” said one of the presenters on the SpaceX live stream.
Mr Menon and Mr Poteet remained inside the spacecraft during the spacewalk.
Only government astronauts with several years of training have done spacewalks in the past.
There have been around 270 on the International Space Station (ISS) since it was set up in 2000, and 16 by Chinese astronauts on Beijing’s Tiangong space station.
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