Advocates for Immigrants in Detention Northwest

Monday was a pretty light night. We greeted one man from Cameroon who was granted asylum and was picked up by his brother. Two Indian gentlemen were taxied off to the Sikh Temple. Then we met one man from Pakistan and one from El Salvador, both needed to go to the airport, both out on bond.

The journey to the US was a horrible ordeal for married couple, D from Ukraine and M from Russia. Once they finally arrived in this country and claimed asylum they were separated. He was sent to the Detention Center here and she to San Diego.  He was not told where his pregnant wife had been taken. “Here in Tacoma you get released and there are volunteers waiting to help you. In California you are released to the nearest train station and they didn’t care if you have money or a ticket”.

At 3:45 two men were released, one from Kyrgyzstan who had won asylum after being held for 6 months.  When we took his information we noticed how much he had changed from his ID photo and he told us that he had lost 21 kilos (46 lbs ) during his stay because the food was terrible. He spoke very little English but we were able to patch together his flight arrangements with his sister in Philadelphia, recruiting an English speaking neighbor to help clarify the plan.

The other man was from India but had been residing in Mississippi for the past several years, where he was the owner of two gas stations. He had come out to Washington to attend a family wedding.   He was held for 4 days and then released as he had been held by “mistake.”  As he waited for a friend to pick him up, we talked about AID NW and as he thanked us and left, he handed us a $100 bill.

Last Friday at the Welcome RV was certainly a joyful one! Two women from Guatemala, and three men, one from India and two from Guatemala, were released. All gladly received backpacks, toiletries, and snacks. Four of the five also accepted new clothing. The two women, both young ladies, looked so pleased to pick out fresh clothes – including trendy shoes, jeans, and fashionable tops – and gave no backward glance as they threw away their old clothes.

 

One of these young women was only 19. She had been at the detention center for three months and held in a federal prison before that. Her next stop was to meet family in Florida. She remarked to S that this airplane trip would be noticeably different from her last one, when she had handcuffs on her ankles and wrists.

Yesterday at the Detention Center, nine were released, with seven visiting the Welcome Center.  A woman from Cuba was released at 11am and was waiting at the RV.  A daughter in Houston provided a plane ticket, and she was taken to the bus for a ride to the airport.  She was going to see a two year old grandchild that she had never met.

A woman from Honduras was released after spending 3 months in the Federal detention center at Seatac and a week at the NWDC. She needed to get to her aunt’s in Orange County, CA. After a lot of phone calls and texts, her aunt was able to pay for her ticket to CA. She spent the night at the Hospitality House and will get a ride to the bus station in the morning. I was a little worried as she doesn’t speak any English and has never flown before. The ride from NWDC to the Hospitality House was her first sight of the US. She was quite awed by downtown Tacoma. She said that she left Honduras with her brother because it was very dangerous. Her uncle was killed. Both she and her brother were detained by ICE at the Texas border. His bond was $1,500. hers was $12,000. He was held for a week, she for over 3 months.

Another great crew witnessed amazing things last night. J visited with a gentleman who was sitting in his car. He had driven all the way from California to pay his cousin’s bond because it was to be set at $25,000 but if he came and vouched for the relative, the lawyer felt that the bond could be reduced. He paid $17,000. He came into the RV, and helped us translate for the 7 Sikh people who eventually came out!

Tuesday evening began with the release of a young man who dropped to his knees a few feet after his release and with arms lifted, prayed for several minutes.

Two men from Egypt and Nepal went straight to the airport  A man from El Salvador had his family waiting for him. Despite a horrific history of torture, he was denied asylum and was released on $25,000.00 bond. His wife and her children were very excited to see him.

A gentleman from Costa Rica has lived here 21 years and got picked up two weeks ago. He was very upset that he had never committed ANY kind of crime or misdemeanor and had to spend two weeks in detention. He has a 21 year old daughter who is a US citizen.

Finally, a gentleman from Eritrea came out. He had asylum ! …We now had 2 men and a woman who needed a place to stay… Stephanie from World Relief had called to say they were set up for someone, if we needed… F and I closed up the RV and were thankful for another night of blessings.

We spoke to the Haitian man’s relatives in NYC who got him a plane ticket NYC for 9PM. so J hustled him to the bus so he could make that plane. 

Two men from Sudan, one who had been living in the states for 23 years, were taken to Hospitality House.

We gave ice-cold Cokes and backpacks to all three released, and enjoyed visiting with one young Gujurati man, locating his hometown on the map.