Visiting Those in Detention

VIDA:  Volunteers for Immigrants in Detention - Albuquerque has been visiting with immigrants at Cibola County Correctional Center since 2018.  We started visiting immigrants at Torrance County Detention Facility in the fall of 2019, soon after it opened.  Since the summer of 2022, we have made over 60 visits to the two facilities.  We visit each facility once a month - Cibola on Saturdays and Torrance on Sundays.   These visits are essential to our missions of abolishing immigrant detention, documenting the human rights abuses that immigrants in detention experience, and ending the isolation of those in detention.

GUIDELINES for Visiting CIBOLA COUNTY CORRECTIONAL CENTER or torrance county Detention Facility 

Keep these guidelines in mind when visiting Cibola or Torrance as a VIDA volunteer:

1. Our goal is to visit with those immigrants in detention and to make a connection.  We comply with the rules of the facility so that we can meet this goal.

2. We visit with groups of men and talk to them about their experiences.  We listen to them and hear their stories.  We do our best to lift their spirits, to laugh, and to get to know each other.

3. We explain to them at the beginning of the visit that we are not legal experts and that we are not from a church.  We are there to establish a friendship with them and give them a chance to meet Americans who don't agree with how they are being treated.

4. Bring an ID with you.  A Driver's license is best.  You will need to show this ID when we check into the facility.

5. The VIDA Coordinator will bring pen and paper so that we can write things down as we are talking to the immigrants.  You might want to do the same. Otherwise, you are not able to bring anything in with you.  This includes cell phones or any kind of camera.  Leave everything besides your ID in the car.

6. Dress conservatively and wear closed-toe shoes.  

7. Usually we are allowed to buy drinks or snacks from the vending machine in the visiting area to share with our friends in detention.  You can bring cash or a credit card for this purpose if you choose.

8. We usually visit the facilities on Saturdays or Sundays.  We leave Albuquerque early in the morning, around 7:00 am, and return by 1 pm. Santa Fe volunteers can meet us in the TCDF parking lot at 8:00 am on a visiting day.  VIDA volunteers find out the schedule in our monthly email updates.

9. Questions about visitation?  Email our volunteer coordinator, Kelly McCloskey-Romero, at kmccloskeyromero@gmail.com.