​I’ve let a lot of posts about the treatment of detainees in other parts of the country go by with out reposting them, telling myself, “I don’t know the story as personally as I do Becky Burke’s.” I focused on sharing what I knew from hers and my and the personal experience of other people I have met journeying to be a part of shedding light on what has been and is going on.
What I’m sharing here is the level of human abuse I was hoping we weren’t going to get to as a nation.
Not knowing any of the people involved, I didn’t want to take just one Facebook post by one person
and pass it along so here are the news stories that also tell this story, this reality of what is happening.
https://english.elpais.com/.../inhumane-conditions-and...
https://www.nbcmiami.com/.../hundreds-gather-at.../3578748/
https://www.usatoday.com/.../immigrant.../82029368007/...
An internet search shows that the Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami, Florida, is owned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and operated by ICE officers and contract employees, with the management of the facility handled by Akima Global Services LLC, a private for-profit company managed by Akima Infrastructure Protection under a $685 million contract.
One of the things I have been following since seeing how Becky and others were and are being treated in the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma Washington run by the Geo Group, is the for-profit aspect of American detention centers.
This is from Akima’s website: 𝘈𝘬𝘪𝘮𝘢 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 (𝘈𝘎𝘚) 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴’ 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.
They go on to say: 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴.
Some of what is happening right now is being “justified” or explained as you can hear on NBC news video above as an adjustment period to higher detention numbers.
One of the promises of these various for-profit companies also state on their websites is the idea that they can be more responsive as immigration numbers fluctuate. Trump stated that numbers would go up in his campaigning and his inaugural speech.
This is not responsive transportation or care of detainees.
This is shameful.
This is also not just a shameful issue of one political party and not another. My own understanding of the scope and length of issues in our country around detention practices tracks with this quote from USA Today article above:
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦.
This is not new just much more visible and even more in need of our care and concern.

𝟏 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭, 𝟕 𝐩𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐝𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨.

​When you step in to help someone, you never quite know where it will lead.

I’ve been posting about our traveling guest Becky Burke’s detainment experiences, what I have learned about some very drawn out dysfunctions of our American immigration system, and things we can each do.
And . . . ya’ all are doing it!

𝐓𝐨 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 . . .
that some of you have asked yourself and went with, yes, you’ll step up to visit detainees.
I read this text this morning and grinned from ear to ear. I wanted to share (with some identifying info removed):
𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦. 𝐼 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐵𝑒𝑐𝑘𝑦’𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑛𝑘 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒! 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝐵𝑒𝑐𝑘𝑦’𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑑𝑎𝑦. 𝑊𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛. 𝐼 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑒𝑛𝑑. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐼
𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜𝑜. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝐼 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡!

There is more info below to help find out if you are in a place to visit or be a pen pal to some of our growing numbers of detainees around the US.

𝐀 𝐩𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲
I’ve been checking on the RSVP list for Piecing It All Together - Puzzle Day and Immigration Awareness Open House coming up at my place in April. I love seeing the names of every one of you who has responded as coming.
I would spend time with each of you, any time of the year, talking about all sorts of things. It’s all the sweeter and so important right now that we are talking about the history of and current state of immigration in the US today, collecting up helpful donations and growing our collective advocacy.

An added bonus: we have attracted a puzzle artist! (I didn’t honestly know there was such a thing)
Tim Klein takes puzzles with the same standard piece cuts and blends them together artfully. You can check out his work here: http://www.puzzlemontage.com or ask him about it when we are all puzzling together.

Then there is the 𝐃𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐭.

I feel like I have meet a kindred spirit in Waylon Hedegaard.
In the heart of the COVID pandemic he was living as a bilingual expat in San Miquel de Allende, Mexico and started leading social walking groups during the most sequestered time of business closures and gathering restrictions so everyone still had a way to socialize and connect.

He’s still in San Miguel de Allende. And so was I this week visiting Scott Buntin. Scott set me up as the guest speaker for Wayland’s latest gift to community - a regular gathering called the dystopian lifeboat at a local restaurant in San Miguel de Allende called Silveyra’s.

Wayland describes his dystopian lifeboat as a left leaning political group, focused away from partisan politics and more toward a rational discussion of what it will take to ride out the coming changes.

So we all rode together on Saturday through what I’ve learned over the last month. As they asked for a link to this or more information about that, I realized it was time to scoop everything together that I have posted here or there into one bigger list of options for getting involved.

Maybe there is something below that speaks to you and what you feel capable of doing. Thank you for whatever you do to help keep an eye on what is happening, who it is happening to, who is suffering needlessly, who is profiting and what could be better for one and all.

Every activist I’ve ever met, who has been at it for any length of time, knows to take breaks and regroup and recenter. So, if pretty pictures do it for you to enjoy and relax, here are some for you from my week walking the streets of San Miguel de Allende. Enjoy!

For everyone wanting to get more involved, here is the list I shared yesterday with everyone in the dystopian lifeboat gathering:

𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐲’𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲: Our traveling guest, Becky Burke, was held in a privately run detention center of which there are many across the US. You can follow her own post- detention advocacy on her Instagram account. https://www.instagram.com/r.e.burke/?hl=en

𝐈𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮?: You can quickly familiarize yourself with where all the detention centers are in the US to get involved in places near and dear to you at this link:
https://www.ice.gov/detention-facilities

𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭: You can check your own investments and spread the word to others to see if you are unwittingly investing in any of the private companies that are offering for you to profit off of other people’s suffering and struggle.
Privately run Detention Centers:
The Geo Group traded as GEO
CoreCivic traded as CXW
The company charging detainees for banking and phone/ video calls is:
Keefe Group LLC
I cannot tell if they are publicly traded. Maybe someone else can: https://www.keefegroup.com/

𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬: Surrounding each detention center are non profits attempting to end non-criminal detention and/or help bring dignity to those being detained.
Feel free to post here when you find those services for an area near you.
This is what I know for the Pacific Northwest and specifically the Geo Group run Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma Washington which is likely possible/appreciated as forms of help in other places as well:
At AidNW website (https://aidnw.org/programs/ ) there is info to help you find out how to:
- Visit/financially support visits
- Become a pen pal
- Give to a phone fund to help financially destitute detainees (and detainees who have yet to be able to reach family and friends to secure their own funds) to make phone calls
- Help gather and distribute items for inside (puzzles, books) and clothing for those deported or released
- become a Welcome Center volunteer - greeting those released and offering assistance.
Many hours and angles of effort have been put into ending forced detention for most if not all people with immigration issues. The group most involved in this effort in regards to the Northwest ICE Processing Center is: La Resistencia.
You can read about their successes and next steps here: https://laresistencianw.org/

𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐔𝐒 𝐌𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲: Liberals will hear news about Conservative missteps and vice versa, there are dark spots in both the Republican practices and Democratic efforts to achieve humane, efficient immigration practices.
We don’t get to real solutions by talking as if what is happening is all one party’s fault.
Ground News is a helpful place to read current news inside and outside your own bubble laid side-by-side with ratings as to the reliability and leanings of each source.
https://ground.news/
Historically, here are a couple of articles you might find useful:
Obama: Our Democratic Deporter in Chief: https://www.boundless.com/blog/obama/
Large rise in the immigrant case backlog during Biden’s term in office. https://youtu.be/k2TAkfjqrfI?si=vt9fmVzjaOrOpFxh
Some current numbers getting better or going up with Trump in office:
https://tracreports.org/whatsnew/email.250320.html

Last, but not least . . .
​
𝟓 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐀𝐥𝐥:
Where ever you are and whatever cause is most important to you, there is a website and app called 5 Calls that will help point you to your own representatives, the number to reach them at and suggested scripts to bring things to their attention, be it immigration reform or other topics too.
https://5calls.org/

:There are so many moments of heavy handedness, harsh treatment, delay, and wasted opportunities to do things in simpler, smaller ways in what Becky and her family and so many other people and their families are experiencing.
And this is just what we can see and are hearing about.

Here’s is more about Becky’s experience as told by her father.

From Paul Burke

Becky Burke is Home After ICE Detention Nightmare.

After 19 harrowing days in ICE detention due to a visa mix-up, our daughter Becky has finally returned home to the UK. Instead of allowing her to take an immediate flight back, Homeland Security detained her in handcuffs at a Tacoma, WA facility under harsh conditions. The current immigration crackdown and systemic delays exacerbated her ordeal, worsened by a shortage of immigration judges. Becky's nightmare ended on March 18th, and she is now beginning to recover.
​
The Light of Kindness and Compassion:

Throughout this ordeal, we were overwhelmed by the incredible kindness of friends, strangers, experts, politicians, and the media. From visitors making long journeys to see Becky, to generous donations for necessities, we cannot express our gratitude enough. This experience has reaffirmed our faith in humanity—showing that even in the darkest times, compassion shines through.

A Word of Caution for Travelers:
Becky's story serves as a warning to anyone planning extended trips to the USA: always triple-check visa requirements and confirm them with the US Embassy. Print any documentation for added security.
Becky is also planning to produce a graphic novel highlighting her story and how it is not an isolated case. She wants to support her fellow detainees who are still locked up, a group of women who helped Becky get through this horrible experience, despite their own grim situation.When she feels able to she will start posting again on her instagram page @R.E.Burke.

Frequently Asked Questions:
Did she overstay the 90 day limit on the ESTA tourist visa?
No. She had only been in the USA for 50 days when she had planned to travel by bus to Canada, she was planning to spend 2 months in Canada and then fly home to the UK.

Did she break the rules of the ESTA?

The ESTA is for tourists only. For work or study a specific visa is required. Becky did a lot of research before she went and what she had planned was classed as tourism. This was accepted when she entered the US on 7th January. It was also accepted in 2023 when she spent two weeks in San Francisco, with a host family. On the 26th February, US border officers suddenly decided staying with host families and joining in with household chores was now classed as work. Our US Immigration Lawyer said they got their definition of work wrong.
Was she given a chance to return to the UK at her own cost?

No, this was not offered at the border despite this being the usual protocol for tourists. ICE had the chance to offer this at any stage during her detention, her parents even had a flight home booked for her at one point, in the hope they would let her take it, but they didn't.

Does she have a criminal record?
No. She also has many people who testify to her good character and her gentle soul.

Was she allowed to let family know when she was being deported?
No. One of the other detainees had to call us to say she had left. Even the British Consulate were not told that she had boarded the flight. We were only certain when she arrived at Heathrow.
​
Was she treated with 'dignity and respect' as written in ICE policy.
No. She was handcuffed when she was transferred from the border to the facility. When inside the facility ICE did not communicate where she was in the process, all her possessions were confiscated, lights were on 24/7 and there were four head counts each day during which they were forced stay on their bunk for at least an hour. When she was eventually transferred to Seattle airport to fly home she was taken in leg and waist chains and handcuffs, and was escorted to the plane.

𝟓 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬, 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐏𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭

I brought two puzzles with me a couple hundred miles this week in case there was an easy place to drop them off for the people I heard would appreciate them.

But there wasn’t.

Nothing was feeling easy this past Tuesday except turning away and going back to living my own life. There are times though where “easy” stops feeling comfortable and lands more in the arena of complacent or even complicit.
I had gotten the news Monday morning that Becky Burke, our house guest in January, was on her way home to Whales after 19 days held in the privately run Northwest ICE Processing Center. She was taken there from the State of Washington border with Canada after what both the Canadian border patrol and then their US counterparts perceived as her answering their questions in ways that indicated a misuse of a tourist VISA.

Somehow, I had talked myself into still getting in the car on Tuesday to head north to Tacoma, not to visit Becky, as I had originally planned if she was still there, but to meet up with the women who visit detainees every week to join them checking in on detainees, how they are treated and what they need.

Those women weren’t there for just one detainee, and I didn’t want to contain my care to just the people I personally knew or could most easily relate to.

But where to start? And how much time to give and how to give it?

I started with an audio book. I had a 2 1/2 hour drive to make to get to the detention center in Tacoma. I like listening the the people who’ve been at something longer than I have. It saves me from at least some of the rookie mistakes, from putting my foot in my mouth or foolishly spinning my wheels.

One of the women from the group of regular volunteers visiting detainees recommended the book 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐎𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐢𝐧𝐠.

I uploaded it for audio access. I drove and I listened and I pretty quickly found myself needing to drop that comfortable notion my liberal mind would like to hold onto that Republicans and Trump in particular are entirely to “blame” for my drive north.

New news to me: The US didn’t used to detain people for VISA matters that needed to be resolved in such high numbers UNTIL THEY WERE RESOLVED. That practice started during Obama’s presidency and hasn’t been set down since.

Before the Obama era, if someone was confronted/apprehended who wanted to stay on in our country and their documents to do so were non existant or not in order, a summons to appear in court rather than detainment was more the norm. There would be the possibility of a bail bond if there was a concern about a failure to appear in court. Ongoing detainment until a court date only happened in a much narrower set of cases.

People who were apprehended also had the opportunity to leave on their own accord. This would have, in Becky’s case, avoided weeks of misery and confusion for her and the thousands of dollars in direct and indirect costs to the US government and our tax payers for her transport to a centralized holding center, staff and food and services (such as they were) for weeks of detainment and the cost of her flight home.

I don’t know exactly what would have avoided what I saw first when I arrived at the center on Tuesday afternoon. But, no.doubt, there are plenty of things that could have and should have been different.

I had parked my car on the street outside the center in a way that I needed to walk past a well tended memorial that I hadn’t seen when I visited Becky last week. It was dedicated to people who died while detained.

There was a plaque there honoring the 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐋𝐞𝐨 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥- held in this facility for FOUR YEARS dying in detainment with most of those years in solitary confinement.

You can read more about what happened and didn’t happen here: https://prismreports.org/.../ice-cruelty-kills-another.../

While the fight goes on and on on a lot of fronts to end forced detainment while resolving immigration issues, there is the reality of now.

Next on my walk to the visitors’ entrance of this sprawling center housing 1,400 detainees (double, I’m told by other volunteers, the number in early February), I met the volunteers at at a mobile “welcoming center.” It’s a motor home permanently parked on the street with some tents on the side of the road . . . not for people coming in but for the few that actually come out - not deported but released.

It’s a welcome back center. Do they need warmer clothing than what they came in with? A ride to the bus, train or airport? Medical care? A phone call to someone to know they are out?

𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐢𝐝𝐍𝐖.𝐨𝐫𝐠 support this welcome center providing funds for phone calls, clothes and transportation for those released as well as deportation bags (clothes) for those who are deported.

I wish I could have talked with the two people there for their afternoon shift more but visiting hours were starting and I had a name and a half baked plan that the regular visiting volunteers were helping me attempt.

Becky’s family knew of her release because another detainee used her limited access to messaging to reach out and tell them.

I only had her first name and no idea if she appreciated visits or what her situation was. But, apparently, that’s where so many volunteer connections start - a bit of info and some effort.

Forget about whatever you think the general story of who gets detained is and why. My hour and a half that afternoon visiting someone as a general visiting volunteer didn’t match any stereotypes in the news that then end up in our heads.

Becky’s helpful fellow detainee came into the Center prepared for the possibility of detainment, not shocked that this was happening when it did, not mad at the US government for our barbaric practices. She was ready and willing to do what it takes, whatever the current system is, to seek asylum in the US . . . FROM CANADA.

And just in case you were yourself thinking it is high time to figure out a way to request asylum in Canada coming from the US, she and I both recognized the irony of an American sitting across from a Canadian with a phone in each of our hands and a glass window between us.

Talking to her taught me more than any news article or audio book ever would about the hundreds and thousands of reasons to want to get across a border to increased safety . . . in both directions.

There is too much physical risk for her to feel comfortable with her story shared in any detail on social media. If we know each other and you are curious what would inspire an attempted exodus by a young woman from Canada into the US in 2025, let’s connect off line. I think her story is both unique and rather universal and I’d love for more people to know about what she sees and experiences and how she hopes to live her life.

Hope comes in many forms. If you live close enough to the center in Tacoma to offer to visit detainees once in awhile or regularly, I can 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬 so you can find a time and person that matches up well for you and them. The more languages you know, the more people you could be a good match for. Speaking Spanish is helpful. They are actively looking right now for more volunteers who speak Vietnamese.

Calls need no proximity, just time. In taking about these issues and my experiences, a friend started gushing to me about a 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩/𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝟓 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 .

Kudos to the people who came up with and run this! In the app or online you can enter your location and find all the steps and a helpful script to reach out to your elected representatives.

Number 6 on their list of suggested issues to stay actively reaching out to congress about:
Protect Free Speech: Stop Unlawful ICE Detainment of Immigrants
https://5calls.org/.../mahmoud-khalil-deportation-first.../

And then there are the puzzles. I have a half baked plan around puzzles. Maybe you would be interested to join me in gathering the ingredients, stirring them together and turning up the heat to cook up something meaningful together.

Here’s how my brain works: Becky experienced the struggles of a language gap first hand when she and the other over 100 women she was held with tried to communicate and support each other.

Because it is a detention center that is meant, in theory but not in actual practice, for short term stays there is little to do but sit and wait.

The volunteers shared that puzzles are popular because they do not require a common language to sit down together and they help pass the time.

Visitors can’t drop off items to individual detainees or in general at these detention centers, no matter how useful or appreciated those items would be. Some non profit orgs like 𝐀𝐢𝐝𝐍𝐖.𝐨𝐫𝐠 can and are also in the position to know what is most needed when.

So, I’m dreaming up a puzzle day at my house in Portland - a chance to get together and care and share with each other about immigration in America and how we are navigating our own lives these days around all sorts of challenges. Everyone could stop by for a bit or stay for the day. And bring a puzzle to donate to a place where people are being held and bordom and anxiety are high.

By the time this puzzle day takes place, I will hopefully know a bit more about other items that might be needed/appreciated too that can also cross the barrier between “us and them.”

I’m looking at picking a day in the last couple of weekends in April and filing my downstairs living room with card tables and build up some care towards the systems, practices and people involved in US immigration.
Anybody care to join me? Either here in Portland, Oregon or with your own puzzle day in your own part of the USA.

We’ll be puzzling it all together piece by piece and day by day.

What goes up, must come down.
It's a song. It's true in a state of gravity.
And here's the gravity of an immigration situation right now . . .

Case loads have been and are going to continue to go up and up and up until action is taken, which may take action/pressure from you and I, to bring them down.

A simple, undeniable truth right now: We don't have enough immigration judges and other legal staff to handle the actions already in motion let alone what our current president campaigned on and the people who put him in office voted for.

In 2020 there were a little over 1.2 million immigration cases waiting to be heard. Even before the start of the current push for more prosecution of immigration cases, our US immigration case load (according to a data resource institute at Syracuse University) has almost TRIPLED over the past 4 years to over 3.7 million.
Type in the question: How long would it take to clear the current backlog of immigration cases? You'll get this:
𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 3.6 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 700 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑗𝑢𝑑𝑔𝑒𝑠, 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 5 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑖𝑓 𝑛𝑜 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑.
To add insult to injury, this administration's acts of "efficiency" are actively making this situation worse.
There were campaign promises to hire more judges but instead 40 judges have already been let go with anticipation that there will be even more cuts.

It looks like this according to a March 6th New York Times article:
𝐴 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 85 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑒𝑠, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 18 𝑗𝑢𝑑𝑔𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡’𝑠 𝐸𝑥𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑂𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐼𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡’𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝑎𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 29 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒, 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒’𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠. 𝐴𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 40 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 700 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑗𝑢𝑑𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑀𝑟. 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒.
I never thought I'd be following the state of immigration judges in America with keen interest but I think there's an issue and potential solutions here that all sides of our political struggles could rally together about and get behind some real solutions.

It's a put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is sort of thing.
We will all have different reasons for caring about enough judges and staff for the immigration case load in America but the solutions we could seek together will help everyone.

Whether you generally hang out in the realm of grace and dignity for all, no matter what each person's circumstances are, or want to defend our borders in some clear way, or some combination of these two ideals, I hope to have your ears for just a minute.

Becky Burke, our recent houseguest, and dozens of other travelers are in the news right now because they are being held for weeks instead of just hours or a few days in substandard conditions in a clogged up immigration system.

Our backlogged, inefficient immigration system is providing this kind of dystopian holding tank situation for people who were intending to visit and leave soon anyway.

The wait is even worse while defending/seeking the right to stay here. The wait for any kind of final decision on the right to live and work in America can take years while being detained at government expense in facilities meant for much more temporary use (yes, YEARS away from partners, family, friends and community.)

If a person is fortunate enough to not be detained while seeking citizenship, they are living in American communities putting down more and more roots as time passes, not knowing if this is going to be a long-term home or not, less connected day-by-day to the places they came from, more connected here and with children born and raised here who do not know any other country and have all their ties and memories and experiences here.

Immigration court cases started now, according to Katherine Gordon of Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, have a 2028 court deadline. We are in a place where it takes TWO YEARS OR MORE to make the legal decisions that determine a person's destination/destiny inside or outside our country.

More detention centers, whether privately built and run, or provided by the government, look to me to make less sense for both liberal and conservative goals, than hiring more judges and legal staff while at the same time streamlining the processes needed to get to a decision about someone's legal status in our country.

There is human dignity in legal proceedings efficiency and a potential for cost savings too. For every way that the drug out system we have now gets touted as a potential deterrent to attempting to come here to stay it is also, in its own perverse way, an incentive as well. Endless days of housing and meals, no matter how poorly administered, is still housing and meals.

When we lock people up (supposedly not in prison but, really, in a prison in all true senses of the word), we end up treating everyone like criminals because we don't have our system well set up to determine and separate simple civic VISA issues from any genuinely needed defense against criminal activity.

I hope you have found, who ever you are and however you lean, something you care about in what I am describing that an increase in judges and staff will do. I hope you can join me in getting the word out that we need judges and staff in place ASAP to handle cases . . . as they come in, not months and years down the road.

How's this for a bipartisan rallying cry? . . .

What do we want?
Decisions, not detentions!
When do we want it?
NOW!

Let's get people in front of judges. Let's get tourists home, without a wait for a court date with a judge and weeks or months in detention. Let's get people on solid ground in the US so they are putting down roots where they are confident they will be staying. Let's make the decision that our answer is no to citizenship or legal residency or the right to work in our country before more and more time and money has been spent leading to more heartache from attachment and then separation.

I want more judges. Yes I do. I want more judges. How about you?

**************************************************************
How to get to more judges and a lower case load:

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 with requests to act to stop the firing/letting go of immigration judges and staff and, instead, bringing on the staff needed to bring down case loads.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 in with folks with insider knowledge that have been advocating for a better court system for years. The website of the National Association of Immigration Judges (https://www.naij-usa.org/)has an informative educational video about how the immigration courts work differently than you would expect/have been taught. From their point of view, the whole system is in need of reform.

This book came highly recommended to read or as an audio book by one of the visiting volunteers supporting detainees held in Tacoma, Washington: Humanizing Immigration by Bill Ong Hing
https://www.beacon.org/Humanizing-Immigration-P1976.aspx

𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 to help address the need for more immigration judges, you can donate to organizations like:
The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC):

NIJC is a national nonprofit that works to advance the rights of immigrants and refugees through legal representation, policy advocacy, and community education. https://immigrantjustice.org/how-help.
​
Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC):
The ILRC is a national nonprofit that focuses on promoting and defending immigrant rights through legal representation, policy advocacy, and community education. https://www.ilrc.org/donate-now.

Capitalizing on sorrow and banking on delays is such a shameful business model, one that has gone horribly awry for our US immigration system and needs to stop.

I sat up last night trying to figure out how to write this post and have restarted it a dozen times.

I'm going to give it my best, hit send, and hope that we can all keep enough attention on what is going on in FOR PROFIT immigration detention centers in the United States to be able to stop or, at the very least, lessen the madness for everyone involved.

Here's the situation: There are non-governmental, for profit detention centers running in America where money is getting MADE off of people's detentions while decisions are too slowly made about their legality to stay in the United States.

The slower the process, the more people in the system to make money off of. The fewer services they receive, the more profit there is. My own personal experience helping a traveling houseguest detained in the privately run Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma Washington and what I am reading about experiences in similar facilities in California and Arizona show how poorly, and, at the same time, all that much more profitable this nightmare is.

The money making business model goes like this: the US government pays the for-profit company a per day fee for every person ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers decide to bring to them to detain. This money is paid to a company, like Geo Group or CoreCivic, who build and run facilities that house, feed, provide medical care and means to communicate with the outside world while those detainees wait out the time it takes for their case to be resolved.

That same company, or in some cases another company, also collects money each time a detainee buys something at the internal store and each time they make a phone or video call beyond any free calls allowed (often free calls are only available to their attorney if they have/can afford one).

The only money a detainee can spend at the store and for calls is money that is put into an account for them by family and friends - most commonly achieved by going through the access corrections website (also part of a larger for profit business: Keefe Group) - that charges a fee to the person depositing the money.
By detaining people facing issues with their VISA status this way, money is being made by OWNERS and INVESTORS (investors which could unknowingly be you or I).

Do you have a company 401K or an IRA? You might want to read that investment summary and look for Geo Corp, Core Civic and Keefe Group.

Geo Group would sound really nice on a list of investments wouldn't it? Before this week, I could have made a hundred guesses as to the nature of a business called Geo Group and none of those guesses would have been what it actually is.

I'm sure there are more than these three. People have taken to calling them "Jail Stocks." They are not companies I would be proud to be invested in.

Whatever oversight is supposed to be happening for the facilities and services they provide has failed at a level that boggles my mind and makes me ache. Right now, in particular, Geo Group and CoreCivic are failing in the very place they promised to do better than government run facilities could and here's the part that slays me: the MORE THIS BUSINESS MODEL FAILS AT THE BUSINESS IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE DOING . . . THE MORE MONEY OWNERS AND INVESTORS CAN MAKE.

Thank you, CoreCivic, for these promising words on your website:

𝑊𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑
𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡
𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠’ 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒
𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠
𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡 𝑏𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒
𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒
𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒
𝑓𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑦
𝑟𝑢𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠.

Oh, if only this was playing out as promised right now.

We all saw more immigration detentions coming, at some level, didn't we? Whether we voted for a crack down on illegal immigration or are aghast at what we see as fear mongering and scapegoating, this would be a super humane time for this supposedly more responsive business model to play out well.

It hasn't.

And, if this money making model is allowed to run unchecked . . .

It won't.

When I visited our recent houseguest she, and other people there visiting who have themselves spent years seeing what is happening, described conditions right now that show a lack of business planning and foresight that, as I said at the start of this post . . . is capitalizing on sorrow and, as I would now rephrase it, "making bank" on delays.
Buildings take time to build, but on the very basic level Geo Group is failing to do the things they can do: staff up properly and order enough supplies. The kitchen staff is struggling to get meals out to everyone in their care. Lunch is being served anywhere between 11am - 4pm. Dinner between 6pm and MIDNIGHT. For awhile, as they were really struggling to catch up, everyone was getting half portions for meals.

They did not, in that responsive way a private company can, manage to hire and train fast enough. The employees they do have are working 15 hour shifts. Just three doctors serve 1500 people. The time slot allotted to my friend for any medical care requested is only at 5am in the morning so others have access too.

She was handed a pamphlet sharing what Geo Group had promised the government they would provide in the way of multiple sets of clothing and towels for the duration of her stay and then they gave her what they actually had for her - one set of clothing and a towel slightly larger than a standard placemat.

And why all this effort to house, clothe and collect fees for phone access and banking services in the first place for a person who has their own clothes and phone and banking arrangements who is willing and able to go home now that our government has declared, rightly or wrongly, improper use of a tourist VISA?

This is the part of this business model that disturbs me the most. The longer her release and everyone else's is delayed, the more tax payer money flows per day to help make a profit for companies who aren't well running the business they contracted to provide. We are in real time watching them operate in a way that actually increases their profits during this time. They and some of the politicians we complain to will attempt to call what is happening an "understandable period of adjustment" but it is anything but that.

It is inhumane. It is greed.

CNBC ran a story on Nov 14th about about how, since the election results on Nov 4th, shares of the GEO Group shot up 87% and CoreCivic 82%. They reported that the companies are now part of the so-called "Trump Trades", stocks who are seen as potential beneficiaries of Trump's policies over the next four years.

So what now?

𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭 if you find you are invested in any "Jail Stocks". Sadly, I can find you all sorts of articles of best stocks to buy in this category which says that buy rather than sell is what is getting searched most right now when you put in these words.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 in with folks that have been fighting this rise in private companies providing jail and detention service for years. This isn't new, it is newly visible to those of us who didn't yet know or didn't know enough to want to act.

In the state of Washington, a recommended group to get involved with is: 𝐋𝐚𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚. They describe themselves as a grassroots organization led by undocumented immigrants and people of color who have been oppressed by the immigration enforcement system. They are based in Washington State actively working to end the operation of Northwest ICE Processing Center while advocating for immigrants and stopping unnecessary deportations.
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I've learned a lot and become more aware looking at their most recent posts on Instagram:
https://laresistencianw.org/press/

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 with requests to end private detention and unnecessary, long delayed immigration detentions in general.

For everyone in the greater Vancouver area of the State of Washington Brenda Broyles Powell sent me a note today with the link to where she and others are actively sending messages of concern to representative Marie Glusencamp Perez in the 3rd congressional district.

A staff member directed Brenda to tell people to go here and click on the Contact Me button to help bring your concerns about private companies running detention centers, and detention practices in general, to her attention.
https://gluesenkampperez.house.gov/...

Where ever you are and whoever you talk to, thank you for getting involved and not just thinking it will get sorted out somehow or doesn't need to be sorted out because it is just fine the way it is or this is just the way it has to be.
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Gaining awareness, feeling into our reactions, finding a place of action and spreading the word: It all helps.

This is bigger than Becky.

Her story spread like wildfire yesterday. I watched it pop up first in the UK where she is from and then other European news outlets and by today across the US as well.

If you don’t know who and what I am talking about, put Becky Burke in a search engine right now and you’ll get lots of versions of her story.

She stayed with us for two weeks in January as part of the 4 month backpacking trip described in her news story . . . She drew watercolor pictures of our dogs and chipped in around the house. She made great vegan meals.
Then, about a month later she got caught in the cross hairs of our immigration system right now.

We didn’t get where we are as a nation right now in a day and we won’t ge out in a day either . . . especially Becky and so many others who are being told they are facing 1 or 2 days in detention and then weeks or months or years go by.

There are changes that need to happen and, until they do . . .

How willing are you to walk into a detention center somewhere in the US, for the first time in your life, and ask to visit someone . . . maybe because you heard they had a compelling case or you simply thought they would appreciate a friendly visitor being so far from everyone they know?

We met folks today who did just that. Walker and I came to visit Becky only to find we weren’t alone because of a few folks who heard her story, lived close by and willed themselves to figure out the system.

What really warmed my heart was the women I met today from the NWDC visitation group who over the years have formed a loose alliance of caring humans who patiently visit detainees week after week lending human care to their journeys.

Their loving group was all set to visit with Becky and everyone else they were there to see.

If you live in or near Tacoma I can connect you with this group. Their care and energy and level of knowledge was impressive. One of the woman who came just to see Becky today left inspired to join them regularly.

If you live somewhere else in the country, I am confident you can find an existing group of active angel/advocates to join in with too in a very similar capacity.

Do you have an immigration detention center near you?   Here's a fast way to find out:
https://www.ice.gov/detention-facilities

Is funding support a better move at this point in your life?

One of the women we met today, who has been in detainee advocacy for 6 years now, recommended helping to fund Northwest Immigrants Rights Project. It gets a super high 96 percent rating from charity navigator. NWIRP.org provides free legal assistance to immigrants in and out of detention. She says representation is absolutely crucial to winning an immigration case and there is no right to free representiation because immigration is a civil matter.

If you are more about giving items that make a difference, AidNW.org collects books for those in detention and also provides money for phone calls, clothes and transportation for those released as well as deportation bags (including the personal items someone would need if they entered the facility with nothing - or everything taken away - and are now being put on a plane to another country.)

Becky has her things waiting for her to retrieve when she is released. All the publicity looks to have sped up the visit she got yesterday and today from an ICE representative. They are finally telling her next steps and she understands what they are saying to mean she could be flying home as early as next week.

Her father set up a Go Fund Me for her own legal and transportation needs looking to send any funds collected over her own needs to charities in the Seattle area that will help people in similar situations.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/4qt8r-bring-becky-home

The way things are going, we are all more likely to know someone in a similar situation and we don’t have to know someone to know that this system needs to change.

I’ve got more to say about change and what’s happening from what I’ve seen so far. Going to call it a night for now and write more in the morning.
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Stay strong y’ all and stay helpful.

I wrote on Facebook:   
Imagine my surprise when I opened my Facebook feed to see the face of Becky, who stayed at our house for weeks as a couch surfing guest of our roommate, and this story below.

We’ll be trying to visit her and support her in ways that we can. We need a better system than this to address whatever our government and the Canadian government had any concerns about.

Just like a similar story I read for a woman crossing the border in Tijuana, we are holding someone who is capable of simply going home if that is what these government folks want.

Waste of our taxpayer money, crazy situation for the people involved and how many people don’t have a network of friends and family and incensed folks of means to appeal to?
We need to do better than this.

And I reposted her dad's post:
​
​Urgent Appeal: Help Bring Becky Home

Our daughter Becky, a 28-year-old British tourist, has been caught up in the recent immigration crackdown in the US. What was meant to be a life-changing four-month backpacking trip across North America has turned into a nightmare. Becky has now been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for over ten days, with no clear timeline for her release.

On February 26th, Becky attempted to cross the Canadian border for the next leg of her journey. Unfortunately, due to an incorrect visa, she was denied entry into Canada. When she tried to return to the US, she was refused re-entry and classified as an "illegal alien." Despite being a tourist with no criminal record, she was handcuffed and taken to a detention facility in Tacoma, Washington.

Becky’s current conditions are deeply concerning. She is sharing a cell, surviving on a diet of cold rice, potatoes, and beans (she is vegan), and has limited access to phone calls. Visitors are restricted to speaking through a glass screen via telephone. All her possessions have been confiscated, and she feels isolated and desperate to come home.

We are doing everything we can. Our local MP has contacted David Lammy’s office, and we are in touch with the British Consulate in London and San Francisco. An American friend is helping by sending funds to her inmate account so she can buy basic necessities like tea and milk. However, progress has been slow, and we urgently need more support.

We are asking for your help. Please share Becky’s story widely through your networks. We hope to connect with experts, legal professionals, or anyone who can offer advice or assistance. Becky is a kind, adventurous young woman who simply wants to return home to her family.

Thank you for your support.

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