This is the story of my friend, Linda. Linda has been detained and separated from her community and family in the South Texas ICE Detention Center in Pearsall, TX since June. She missed her son going for his first ride on the big yellow bus, she missed my birthday (although that didn’t stop her from helping me plan it from inside detention), and she’s missed so many moments with friends and family that are so easy to take for granted while you have such easy access to them.
If you’re reading this, wondering to yourself how someone who’s really been following the “right” path could have found themselves in a detention center, here’s the short version: she did everything this country asks of those seeking asylum, and put her trust in an attorney who radically mishandled her case. Those dominoes have landed her in ICE detention, with an attorney who’s now doing her best to pick up the pieces and find a way forward for Linda–with severely more restricted options…
