People Detained at ICE Facilities Far from Their Home and Family

A Venezuelan father and 19-year-old daughter asylum seekers were taken by ICE agents during a standard immigration check-in in Chicago despite having work permits and a good asylum case. They were taken to the Broadview facility where they were "cold, without any blankets, without any food and they were laying on the floor without any beds." They were later transferred to facilities far away in El Paso and New Mexico where placing a simple phone call costs $53 and overcrowded with 70 people in the room the daughter was held in. Medical issues were ignored where the daughter was not given any medication despite having a bad cough that was worsening and the father hadn't been given his medication for high blood pressure.

56-year old diabetic Martha Ruiz, who has no criminal history and has lived in the U.S. since the 90s on a religious visa, had agents bang on her door and then immediately broke it down before she had time to answer. Despite her telling them she had a hurt arm, agents forced it behind her back and handcuffed her on the ground. One of their dogs obviously bit her repeatedly on her back and legs leaving bite wounds still noticeable two weeks later. When she yelled out in pain and out of a longtime fear of dogs, they dismissed her with "our dog doesn’t bite." They then dragged her up the stairs and threw her on the ground fracturing her ribs which she did not receive any medical attention for until she was released two weeks later. When she asked to use the bathroom, they refused. She was transferred from a nearby ICE facility in Broadview, Chicago where she shared an overcrowded room with 170 people with only one window, a single open bathroom with no privacy and where some had to sleep on the floor. She was then transferred to an El Paso, TX ICE facility much further away after a couple days where they finally treated just the pain from her injuries but only with a single injection. She was finally taken to a women's shelter where people were kind and welcoming but obstinately felt the need to shackle her the entire trip all the way up until she walked in the door. When finally released, her son had to fly all the way out to El Paso to bring her home where she was given an ankle monitor -- something they could have done very easily from the beginning.

Kurdish asylum applicant Enes Abak was detained despite following proper immigration procedures and having a very strong case for asylum due to his home county of Turkey's long history of human rights abuses and genocide against Kurdish people. Even more so, the day afterwards his wife officially became a U.S. citizen -- which, probably without coincidence, would have made his case even stronger to apply for a marriage visa. He was also moved to a facility in El Paso, Texas 1500 miles away.

A beloved DACA eligible and Green Card Applicant barber who has lived in the U.S. for 40 years since coming as a child under a medical visa was detained for a year without bond despite being pardoned for a crime in 2010 due to his strong character vouched by many. He is a double amputee and struggles with many health issues that are worsened by the conditions during detainment. He got engaged 10 days before being detained, and his fiancée has trouble finding the time to visit going 2 months sometimes as the facility is 150 miles away. They have seven children and on a recent trip to visit him, the ICE facility for no good reason limited the number of people who could visit forcing some of his children to wait in the parking lot.

18-year-old legal U.S. resident Carlos Guerra Leon was detained by ICE for nearly 3 months at a facility in Louisiana 1400 miles away from his family in Spring Valley, New York.

20-year-old legal U.S. resident and Purdue University student Yeonsoo Go was handcuffed and then detained for several days in a Louisiana facility 1400 miles from New York City where she lived with her parents after a routine hearing to extend her legal Visa.

Afghani Interpreter Zia S. -- who risked his life for U.S. forces in Afghanistan over a five-year period -- was detained by ICE at a routine immigration appointment after the Trump administration disgracefully revoked his two-year special temporary legal status a year early while he was still in the process of getting a green card. They issued an order to expedite his deportation in a process that would preclude a hearing in immigration court and force him to return to Afghanistan where the threat to his life would be severe. With pressure from his lawyer and two U.S. Senators, the order to expedite his deportation was cancelled but not after three weeks of angst endured by him and his family. Zia was held at the ICE facility for three months away from his wife and five children. He was not allowed outside once during his detainment which was especially difficult for him as he routinely enjoyed hour long walks in nature with his wife. Most of his time was spent in a two-person room with a small window that he was allowed to leave only three times a day to visit common spaces and watch TV.

30-year-old Green Card holder Mahmoud Khalil was detained by ICE for 100 days at a facility 1000 miles away from his family in New York City without charges for online posts critical of Republican policies during which he also missed the birth of his son.