Lost in Detention With No End in Sight

The Immigrants’ Rights Project receives hundreds of letters each month from individuals inside immigration detention who have been locked up for years, fighting their cases to remain in the United States. Many of them are lawful permanent residents with US citizen family members and pose no threat to the community.

Excerpts from some of these letters are below.

JORGE RAMERO | Detained by Immigration for 1 year | Country of Origin: Mexico
 

My name is Jorge Ramero, I’ve been in El, Centro detention for a year now. We all make mistakes no ones perfect, but I think that theres a difference between those who keep on making them and those who learn from them.
They don’t care that we have lived here most if not all our lifes, and that we have kids and family here that need us, They don’t care they just keep breaking familys apart. See full document »

 
SEYDON KABORE | Detained by Immigration for 17 months | Country of Origin: Burkina Faso
 

I have been detained for 17 months now while in custody of ICE.

I have been treated very badly and all my rights have been violated. I also lost my vision to my left eye. ICE didn’t care about that. Because they don’t believe it’s a big issue.

We may be immigrants but we are still human beings. This is an experience I don’t anyone to go threw. See full document »

 
ANTHONY CEDANO | Detained by Immigration for 11 months | Country of Origin: Dominican Republic

I have been here in U.S. twelve years. My whole family U.S. citizen which includes mother, father, sibling, 6 months old son, etc. I never had a bail hearing. I am not a danger to society nor a flight risk. I am permanent resident but they don’t give me bail. Altogether I have spent 11 months in ICE. See full document »

 

 
ROBERTO BLANDINO | Detained by Immigration for 2 years | Country of Origin: Nicaragua
 

Unlike regular county jails where you are actually paying for a criminal crime this facility treats ICE detainees (civil hold detainees) worse than if you are paying and serving time for a crime committed.

We are treated worse than animals…Since my detention and arrival with Immigration and Customs Enforcment I been abuse, mistreated and discriminated against (singled out) in many ways.

Being in custody of ICE is stressfull, inhuman, degrading and tortureness..Our civil rights and human rights if we have any are being violated day by day. Who could help us? Who are we? It seems that we are nobody and that nobody could help us. See full document »

 
ALEX TOLENTINO | Detained by Immigration for 3 years, 6 months | Country of Origin: Philippines
 

Our ultimate goal is to embrace our families once again.

This prolonged detention is becoming an epidemic to some that has been in El Centro or any place that a detainee came from over a year. Some detainees have been here over a year for no good reason. For example, a detainee signed a while ago to go back to his country, but since Egypt is in turmoil within the people, for some reason, ICE doesn’t want to escort him back to his country. He has nothing to fight and he just wants to be free in his homeland.

Imagine, God forbid a detainee gets deported and the last time you see love ones is through a glass window. No hugs or kisses before departing from a place where most of us were raised. See full document »