The conditions that we hear about AT EVERY VISIT, AT BOTH Cibola and Torrance, are abysmal.  Here is what immigrants in detention have to say about what they are experiencing:

Freedom has no price

Now that I am deprived of my freedom… I value every moment that I was free, I value every minute and second that I was on the outside.  Every day I cry at the powerlessness I feel seeing every one of the injustices we endure, no phone calls, we are not able to talk to our family members, we have not idea what is happening in the outside world.  Our fates are so uncertain.  We wonder what will happen to us… will we be deported back to Venezuela, will we reach our goals?

We are not animals or criminals, we are simple immigrants, people with dreams and goals to achieve.

I came to this country to join my family because my mother died and I felt very alone.

Here in Cibola I feel overwhelmed, desperate, due to the treatment we receive.

I MISS MY FAMILY

Here in Cibola facility… Breakfast is served at 5 am before our taste buds are fully awake.  We sleep with lights on; sleep deprived.  We get sunlight exposure once a day for 2 hours.  Sometime, we don’t access the yard.  No medical timely attention to the detainees.

I am here in Cibola, a place for criminals, murderers and drug smugglers.  But I am just an immigrant who has committed no crime, I have no past criminal record, I was an aviation official in my country.

About the food:  it’s raw, unhealthy, flavorless, and they serve it to us in tiny portions.  I have lost 4 kilos and my immunity is low, I am not in good health.

Being locked up makes us depressed. I have to read the bible to avoid thinking constantly of my children who don’t have enough to eat, what can I do. 

I was a victim of aggression, physical harm, torture, oppression, extortion on the part of the armed forces of the government.  I was forced to leave my country.

They took away the free phone calls to our families.

We lend each other minutes so that we can call home.  

Whether or not we go outside or to the gym all depends on the mood of the guards; sometimes we don’t go out at all.

There are no human rights here.

What crime have we committed?

It is unfair to keep us locked up this way.

One friend had appendicitis.  They took him to a local hospital for surgery, and then within a week they deported him to get rid of him.

I have a bad injury on my arm.  It always hurts, but they do not treat it medically at all.

I have been here for 100 days, but every day seems longer than the one before.

I know that I am being deported, but they will not get me out of here.

My children need me.

My family needs me.

I don’t want to be prisoner anymore, without food, without mental health, without medical attention, encountering RACISM.  No to racism, no to torture, no to family separation, no to racial discrimination, I only came here for find freedom, and they have taken it away from me.  This immigration system is not humane.  Please do something.

We immigrants are not animals.

We are humans and we have rights.