“He’s just disappeared”: What it’s like to be detained by ICE — and why some prefer to be deported

Through deportation stories to Al Salvadori Prisons and in the middle of flights in the middle of the night, they dominate the headlines of the newspaper, defenders warn that detention in American immigration facilities is a horrific punishment in itself and waved on the horizon on many United States population as President of the United States as President Donald Trump The administration has increased its deportation campaign.

Stefania Arga, a Co -founder From the Carolina Migrant Network, it helps operate the hotline that people in North Carolina and South Carolina can connect to reporting the enforcement of immigration enforcement in their societies, as well as to reach legal resources. SALON told some that some have recently started contacting the emergency cases – before contacting the police – because they are afraid that any law enforcement may lead to ICE clients expelled their door.

“Early, we received a call from someone who was hiding in the bathroom from an abusive partner and was not sure whether she could call the number 911 and contacted our hotline instead,” said ARTEGA.

Fear of the police summons is not the only influence of Trump and the Republican deportation campaign. Artega Salon told that in the societies she works with, children remain at home from school and parents remain at home from working because of the fear of ice and what it might mean for them and their families if they are detained.

Becca O’Neill, a lawyer for immigration and co -founder of Carolina Migrants, has described a system in which detainees have reduced the rights of criminal defendants and one characterized by uncertainty. Stewart detention center in Lombin, Georgia, is one of the largest detention centers in the United States, saying that the detainees were stumbling regularly for years. Immigrants are usually kept in the province’s prison or a different partner facility before being transferred to a long -term facility, such as Stewart.

“These are the people who are being held purely on charges of migration, and” charges “are not a good work for that. These are simple violations. There is no one on criminal charges,” O’Neel said.

Stewart is a private prison managed by Corecivic, a profitable company that makes money Disable immigrantsMost of them have No legal advisor. Unlike the criminal court, the immigration courts are not required to provide detainees with a lawyer. O’Neill said that the movement in this system without a lawyer can be confusing and difficult, a case that is exacerbated by the detainees who do not speak English, Spanish, or another language in which a translator is available.

O’Neill said she was aware of one detention that was kept in Stewart for 900 days, while his wife and child were allowed to apply for asylum and live in North Carolina. He later won his case. However, when the government resumed its legal victory, he had to stay in prison throughout the appeal; About a year after his first legal victory, he was still in detention because the appeal was suspended.

O’Neill said that the best immediate result can people detained by ICE usually hope to release it on Bond. According to the actions of access to the record records, which they maintain Detailed data In immigration procedures, only about 31 % of detainees are released on bonds. These rates also vary greatly on the basis of national origin, where about half of the Turkish detainees are released on bonds, while only 16 % of detainees from the Dominican Republic are released.

Marcela Hernandez, director of organization and membership in the detention control network, told a salon that for some detainees who cannot release them on bonds, the deportation is the best for the treatment they receive in detention centers.

“When talking to people inside or supporting the people who were released, people have informed that there is a lot of medical negligence and overcrowding. He said.

At the Irwin County detention center in Georgia, they were claimed to be subjected to submission Unnecessary measures Like the uterus under the first Trump administration. Hernandez said that when the detainees try to defend their rights, they are sometimes transferred to other facilities.

The detention control network collected reports of the alleged violations details in various detention facilities, such as the use of tear gas Punishment For perceived “rebellion”, the countless health problems that grow in detention centers. Virginia one facility, for example, witnessed a Mumps The outbreak of 2019, which the organization says has exacerbated due to unsafe and overcrowded conditions.

“We have people to bear just detention of terrible conditions that some people say:“ I prefer to be deported instead of being in these violations in a detention center. ”Detention is a major part of the deportation systems and is designed to be offensive so that people are thwarted from fighting for their cause and rights.”

At the same time, it is often difficult for the families of the detainees until they know where to keep their loved ones. Matt Cameron, a migration lawyer in Massachusetts, told a salon that it is easier to follow a bundle in the mail rather than locating a detained family.

“I think most people will be surprised when they knew that you cannot even reach anywhere near the basic level of tracking that you can get if you ask for shoes on Zapus at the present time, for a person in the ice system,” Cameron said.

Cameron said he had recently had a customer who was facing a bond hearing on Monday and disappeared during the previous weekend. He said he spoke to many ice officers and “no one seems to be particularly concerned about the fact that they do not know his place and that they do not know where to go.”

“It has just disappeared, and this has happened a lot. I am sure you have seen stories. There was always a built -in chaos in the system, but this is another thing,” Cameron said. “There is a detained attempt that you can use online, and if you are taking a person’s details, but this is not very worthy at this stage because they did not update it, and it was always late for 24 to 48 hours.”

Cameron said that, compared to a criminal custody, the detention of immigration has a much lower certainty for those who are being held. Cameron narrated the story of a client from a country of Southeast Asia who was suffering from dementia and residing for years, partly because he could not bear the costs of the legal advisor.

“He did not know what was going on. He was entering and outside the dementia and no one was doing anything about his situation.

Franky Miranda, president and executive director of the Spanish Federation, a non -profit support group, told the salon that the threat of deportation and detention is suspended on society of Spanish origin in the United States. He pointed out that immigrant societies are not only those affected, citing Reports From Puerto Rico Targeted By ice.

“First and foremost, I can tell you that I have family members and the people I know about their anxiety and wander in their passports because they are concerned that the way they look at and the language they speak in public places will be detained for them,” said Miranda.

In response to the request to suspend from a salon, an ICE spokesman said: “Law enforcement activities for migration and customs in the United States are not conducted on the basis of racial or ethnic stereotype.

“ICE law enforcement procedures are compatible with DHS and ice policies, as well as the American Immigration Law, which prohibits consideration of race or ethnicity when taking enforcement measures,” the spokesman continued. “Instead, ICE relies on fact -based data to determine and arrest criminal foreigners from the United States.

Miranda explained that he is concerned that the information provided by immigrants to the government in other contexts, such as when paying taxes, can be used against them. For example, the Tax Authority agreed to participate taxpayer Immigrant information with the Ministry of Internal Security. Miranda said that some documented immigrants have expressed their guilt because they “provided a huge amount of information to the government and feel that they are exposing their families to danger.”

“Instead of providing resources to clarify accumulation, what they do is taking resources away from reliable partners in societies and investing millions of dollars in a campaign to intimidate societies,” said Miranda.