Artesia: A Day in the Tour of Duty Part 3
*Some details have been changed to ensure privacy of clients. The rest of my day went like this: 2:45 pm. I return to the attorney’s trailer. I prep two more clients for credible fear interviews taking place the next day. I meet with a young mother who belongs to...
Artesia: A Day in the Tour of Duty, Part 2
*Some details have been changed to ensure privacy of clients. The day continues: 10:00 am. I get notified the Immigration Judge is ready for another client’s bond hearing. I quickly ask for my client and request to be escorted to the trailer housing the Immigration...
Artesia: A Day in the Tour of Duty, Part 1
Note: Some details have been changed to ensure privacy of clients. There was no way for me to explain my time at Artesia in one blog post. Instead, I offer a look at one of the days I spent there in posts today, continuing over the next three days as well. I hope...
Championing the Vulnerable
As an immigration lawyer from Vermont, I was thrilled to see the recent letter that Senate Judiciary Chairman Leahy (D-VT), one of my Senators, led the charge on. What does that letter to the Department of Homeland Security condemn? The heartless and inhumane...
Karnes is a Disgrace
Let me begin with this: We, as lawyers, have to be careful not to let our emotions cloud judgment. But I must say my trip to Karnes Detention Center this past weekend brought to the forefront of my consciousness a number of strong emotions which cannot be ignored. I...
A Look Into Karnes
AILA member Ruby Powers volunteered at the Karnes detention facility recently; her experience inspired her to write an article which will be available in full soon on AILA’s volunteer resource page. Excerpts from the piece are below: “I would like to echo the...
A Shameful Chapter in Our History
The family detention center known as the “T. Don Hutto Residential Center” opened in May 2006. Most of the families previously housed at this residential center, like those currently housed at the Artesia and Karnes Detention Centers, were families awaiting...
Artesia Kaleidoscope
The three weeks are a kaleidoscope of shifting images: visual, auditory, sensory, and emotional. From 90 degree heat to heavy, cold, rain and flash flooding. It hadn’t occurred to me to bring sweaters to the New Mexico desert. Apparently it hadn’t occurred to the U.S....
Offering Hope and Comfort to Detained Moms and Kids
Over the past year, the United States has seen a sharp increase in the number of women and young children fleeing violence in Central America. In response, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began opening new detention centers across the country to detain...
Artesia Betrays America: Part III
I have no way of adequately expressing the dismay, and loss and anger and hurt and woundedness that this week made me feel. Finally I figured out the word. It is betrayal. I felt betrayed. Deeply betrayed by something that I have dedicated my life to. Another...
