Strength, Character, and Love

I am writing after our fourth day at the Karnes Detention Center.  It has been an overwhelming, inspiring, devastating, exhausting week.  Tomorrow is the last day for most of the team.   A handful of us may be here on Friday.  One student left today.  The students are so dedicated to serving these dads and their children and giving them hope.  Vanessa Baez and Nathalia Lozano, our project coordinators, have done so much to make this experience a success.  In addition, Professor Judith Bachay has been indispensable to our team, providing counseling to the fathers and kids, and to us.  Thanks to Donna for creating this blog and encouraging us to contribute!

Today, Wednesday, was a particularly hard day, and left some of us feeling a bit empty inside.  On Saturday afternoon, after the entire STU team assembled at the Alamo, we received a call from Kathryn Delgado, the pro bono coordinator.   She said that we were needed at Karnes on Sunday.  An injunction preventing the reunified families from being deported was about to be lifted, and they needed us to meet with the fathers and sons to determine if they wanted to fight their cases.  Most of these were new arrivals to Karnes.  Almost all of them were separated upon arrival to the United States and held in separate detention facilities until Judge Sabraw ordered their reunification by July 26, 2018.  Many of the parents and kids we met with had only been reunited for a few days.  For many it has been a joyful experience, but many parents told us that they keep asking their children for forgiveness for what happened.  Some must confront horrible choices, such as whether to remain together and fight their cases, to remain together for deportation to their countries, or for the fathers to accept deportation while their sons remain in the United States to seek a better life.  Most of the time, fathers and children are in agreement, but sometimes individual desires are at odds.  Today we asked several children, from age 6 to age 16, what they wanted to do, away from their fathers.  It was devastating, particularly where the child’s desires were at odds with the parent’s, which was how our day ended.

I suspect that Karnes is being used by ICE as a staging ground for removal of fathers and sons who range in age from 5 to 17.  Most fathers were separated from their sons within 1-2 days of their arrival. Some had a few minutes to say goodbye.  Dads and kids remained separated while in the same detention facility for 1-2 days before being shipped off to their destinations. Many dads were then sent to federal prisons, where they were prosecuted for illegal entry.  After completing brief sentences or being sentenced to time served, they were transferred to ICE detention centers.  Most of the dads had their credible fear interviews (CFIs) with the Asylum Office and IJ Reviews with the Immigration Judge (IJ) soon after their separation from their kids.  Many described severe symptoms of trauma and anxiety during these interviews, including chest pains, headaches, and extreme anxiety.  Their hearts were literally aching!   Most received negative decisions, both by the Asylum Officer and Immigration Judge.

After Judge Sabraw set July 26 as the deadline for reunification, ICE shipped many fathers and kids to a facility in El Paso.  Some fathers were given humanitarian parole, made to sign a ton of documents, told they were being released, and then reunited with their kids.  This was a moment of great hope, until they realized that they were not being released after all.  The same night of their reunification, most were put on busses and sent to Karnes.  The next day, their humanitarian parole was revoked.

We have seen loving fathers who want the best for their sons.  Many are sacrificing themselves so their sons can remain.  We have encouraged these fathers, many who have strong cases, to stay and fight.  Sadly, it seems like those with the strongest cases are most torn between staying here and returning to their countries to protect their remaining family members.  Although we expected to work with women and children when we planned our trip to Karnes, I have to say that I am grateful for this opportunity to work with these fathers and sons.  Their strength of character and love for each other has kept us going.

This post was originally published at "STU Karnes Project", a blog coordinated by Donna Nasimov. (https://stukarnes.wordpress.com)