When Being Resilient Just Isn’t Enough By: Alexsandra Simoes

I have seen the news and heard stories about the number of children being incarcerated at the border. However, when I first entered the visitation room in the detention center in Karnes and saw dozens of fathers and children lined up to see us, it shocked me. I thought, “children should be in school or at home – a safe home – and not locked in a prison.” Meeting with these fathers, who were carrying not only questions, but desperation and sadness in their shoulders, was a heartbreaking experience. Many of them cried for having exposed their children to such a traumatic experience, others were thankful for having been reunited with their children after many months. But they all had something in common- the courage to face the unknown in order to save their families.  

Imagine how it must feel, carrying a 2-year-old toddler for days until you reach what was supposed to be a safe destination, and upon arrival, your child is harshly taken away from you without explanations. Now imagine how you would feel if, after the separation, you were prosecuted and taken to federal prison with freezing temperatures, no warm clothes or food, no bath for twelve days, and no knowledge of your child’s whereabouts? What if during your detention, I.C.E. gives you a humanitarian parole document (“permisso”) allowing you to legally stay in the U.S, and takes it back as soon as you meet your child months later in prison? This is not all… how would you feel if you had work 8 hours per day, for 4 days to earn a total of $4 ($1/per day) so you could pay a five-minute call to your wife and inform her that you and your son are ok?   As I approached my last day at Karnes Detention Center, I kept asking myself how could our Government continue to detain the fathers and children when they have opted to depart. This is such an atrocity. They should not keep a two–year-old child and his father detained indefinitely. Someone trying to escape violence, racism, exclusion from society and the inability to make a living because they fear for his or his family member’s survival cannot be labeled or treated as a “criminal.” They should be released.  Most of them are simple and uneducated people from violent countries like Honduras or Guatemala who live in poor villages far away from the city. They fled to escape extreme poverty and criminality without having any idea that reasons, if not risen to the level of persecution and a well-founded fear, would bar them from seeking asylum.   It was very rewarding to assist RAICES’s attorneys in the attempt to prevent fathers and sons who qualify for asylum to be deported without a chance to present their cases. I wish more people could experience what I did. Although trauma is very subjective, meaning that what might be a traumatic situation for one may not be for the other, these imprisoned children are so distressed, and tired of being locked for so long, that the effects of this detention can be seen already. During an credible fear interview preparation with the father, I kindly asked a five year-old boy to go sit in the play area next to us, an area RAICES had set up with toys to distract them, but the boy refused to leave the Dad’s side. No wonder why.  

The distress these fathers and children are experiencing are endless. Many times I had to held my tears back when asking fathers the details of the separation. Being a parent and watching a father cry when describing the excruciating pain he felt when his child was taking away, made me feel so helpless. I also asked myself, why did these fathers bring their children with them? Maybe they did for desperation to keep them safe, maybe not. The fact is their children are the only treasure these fathers have. Taking them away is a disproportionate and inhumane punishment. It violates principles of dignity and worth of a person.

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