Artesia- Day 6

Today, we had an excellent team and we were on fire. We had four fabulous lawyers from Southern California who all jumped right in and met with clients all day long, professionally and passionately. This was their first day, but they each handled about 7 cases a piece, and were still working on motions well past 11pm. We have a handful of other recruits that are struggling with the assignment. One of them broke down crying by the end of the day and had to be talked out of leaving the program. This week, I'm the coordinator, which means I sort out the list of clients to be seen and speak to the guard to call our clients out of the holding pen where they stay until we are ready for them. With 9 lawyers and 50 clients, this kept me pretty busy.

This morning, I did bond preparation with the first client I met in Artesia (last week). Her bond hearing is Wednesday. She was the victim of multiple gang rapes in El Salvador. Her 7-year old daughter was also kidnapped for 10 days, and her brother badly beaten. She spent over a month in total in the hospital recovering from serious injuries sustained in the beatings, including a broken nose and jaw, and internal bleeding. During one of the episodes they forced her whole family to watch, including her daughter. I had to leave in the middle of the interview to get a hug from one of my colleagues.  I cannot imagine any worse suffering than what she has been through. If the bond on Wednesday is set high, I will truly lose all hope.

She gave me the government's submission in opposition to her request for bond. The government is submitting identical 100+ page briefs in every bond case in Artesia. They argue that releasing the women and children detained in Artesia on a low bond would create a security risk for the United States because it would encourage further migration of central American women illegally across the border. In other words, we are detaining some Central American women and children as an example, to deter others from coming to the United States.

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuge of your teaming shore. Sent these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door."