Volunteering at the border before Trump’s family separation policy

It was 2018 when I was asked to help with an asylum case for an anti human trafficking organization Abolish Slavery Coalition. I volunteered on both sides of the border, between San Diego California, and Tijuana Mexico. The volunteer work as a victim advocate, and bilingual translator was to help a father who had petitioned for asylum at the border after risking his life to testify against a corrupt leader involved in organized crime who had exploited his daughters, he was separated from his family at the border at a time when family separation had yet to make the headlines and well before Trumps family separation policy was in full effect.

He was first detained and processed at a Texas facility where he was separated from his wife and daughters, and from that moment on he was lost in the system until some research later led to discovering he was being held at a California detention center. He had been detained for at least three months before his court hearing. His asylum paperwork and his identification documents were taken by prison officers which prolonged his case and kept him in detention longer. Had it not been for the advocacy of the Abolish Slavery organization, and the support of pro immigrant support organization Raíces Texas, the brave father would not have been granted Asylum due to facing one of the toughest judges in Los Angeles and his asylum documents being taken by the officers.

The father was granted asylum and released soon after… his wife and daughters chose to return to Mexico due to the unknown time they would have to wait for their own asylum processing in Texas which meant being separated from family for an undetermined amount of time while dealing with a sick child in the family. The organization Raíces supported the family while they awaited processing and through their return afterwards.

However there’s very few support given to migrants who are granted asylum or refugee status once they’re free to start a new life, such as the application process for their social security card, and how to apply for housing, medical services, and other support that is temporarily given once they’re granted asylum.

In the time the father had been detained before being granted asylum he suffered through various things including being incommunicated from family, we also learned from him about harrowing stories of the conditions inside the prison where undocumented immigrants were deprived of food, sleep, and support, and where some prisoners chose to take their own life.

Soon after the father was granted asylum, I volunteered my time to schedule and attend various scheduled appointments with the father due to his eye vision problems, education level and necessity for an interpreter-advocate. We also worked with USCIS with the support of Barragán, community advocate for survivors of violence and human trafficking and previously Commander of veterans organization in OC.

It is because of the work of advocates and non governmental organizations that migrants and refugees are able to find a path forward. As for the father who was granted asylum, he found work and was able to begin the process of supporting himself and send some money back to support his family. I advised he enroll and attend ESL classes (English as a Second Language), The application process for asylum is a difficult one especially under the family separation policy and judges in charge of hearing cases in addition to a lack of advocates and legal defense for Migrants and refugees.

The fathers bravery to testify and seek justice for his family led to more victims of sexual exploitation being helped and supported along both sides of the border. He also inspired other parents with missing daughters in Tijuana to continue their advocacy and search for justice.

The 2020 pandemic has only further worsened risks and conditions for migrants who are detained at the border without sufficient medical attention nor basic daily living necessities such as food, water, access to restrooms and showers, which most people being held in prison and detention centers receive and it took journalists reporting and media attention in order to highlight those very issues. It will be up to the current Biden administration to make necessary changes to the polemic family separation policy started under the previous Trump administration and led by Miller that affected and undermined basic human rights for hundreds of children and their parents who are still not reunited with their families as of today.

By Gia Santos on Medium. https://link.medium.com/HULdXzmvxdb