Pete Eikenberry
In June 2015, I was a volunteer lawyer at the federal detention center in Dilley, Texas. I worked with immigrant women and children who had crossed the Rio Grande from El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras. According to the clients I interviewed or represented, daily life in those countries was ruled by criminal gangs who threaten and then commit murder and rape to back up their extortion and recruitment efforts. Detainees had often come to the attention of the local gang members for having a relative in the United States who was capable of sending funds to pay for the extorted amounts. Most detainees I spoke with were under a specific threat of murder.
With the extraordinary capacities of the two administrators, only one of whom was a lawyer, and with only volunteers – most available for only a week – the Dilley office effectively represented hundreds of detainees, mostly in asylum interviews or hearings or in bail applications. With a positive finding of “credible fear” by an asylum officer, a detainee had a significantly increased chance for a favorable bail hearing. Once on bail, the immigrant had a substantially increased chance to retain effective counsel for a court hearing on an asylum application. Most of the detainees’ stories were so dire that they fitted the legal standard for being granted asylum in the United States (which could then become a path to citizenship) by proving that they had a credible fear of torture or persecution.
Mayra’s Story
Dilley, Texas, with a population of about 3,400, is located midway between (and a long way from) Austin, Texas, and Loredo. In the summer of 2015, the population of the detention center exceeded 2,000 mothers and children. Fathers were detained at other locations. Mayra’s story was typical of the clients I interviewed or represented in hearings. She with her two twin sons (13 years of age) left El Salvador after gang members threatened to kill one of her sons if one did not agree to serve as spy for the gang to report on anyone other than the gang members selling drugs in the community. After each son refused to join, a gang member came by Mayra’s home to tell her that she had to pay the gang since her sons refused to join. If she did not pay, they would first kill one of her sons and then her. When she went to the police, she was told not to make a formal report. If she did, members of her family would probably be hurt or worse. Although she owned her own home and was self-sufficient, she felt she had no choice but to pay a “coyote” to get them across the border to the United States.
Conclusion
In 2015, the detainees were not free to stay in the United States indefinitely. However, they would have a decent opportunity to remain here long enough to obtain lawyers and pursue their remedies for asylum once they proved “a credible fear.” In 2025, under the same circumstances, Mayra would have the same opportunity. A pathway for escape into the United States is international law. The gangs on the other side of the border are dangerous. Immigrants like Mayra are not the problem. JoJo Annobil, chief executive officer of the Immigrant Justice Corps, reports that: “The number of migrants coming across the border is very low because the border is effectively closed and migrants are not coming because they fear detention and return.”