Walking ALONGSIDE Someone at an ICE Check-In

by Olivia Mercedez, Project Libertad Volunteer (Hands Off Our Families Rapid Response Project)

I recently volunteered through Project Libertad to accompany an individual to their ICE check-in. As I walked up to the building, I noticed two men talking. One was the man I was there to accompany. The other, undocumented as well, asked me if I was a lawyer, because he needed one. He had been there earlier for an appointment, because the ankle tracking device that had been put on him at a prior appointment had injured him. The man I was there to meet tried to motivate and lift the spirits of the man with the ankle tracking device. I observed him during that initial exchange; he had a backpack with his papers organized, and he was  polite and kind. The other man told us that he was going back to work. I saw his tired and sad looking eyes; he looked exhausted.

We had trouble finding the office as it isn’t accessed through the main entrance. It bothered me that others with appointments may struggle to find the office for these crucial appointments. Once we entered the office, I noticed signs stating that no phones are allowed at all. My plan had been to have my phone on me as backup, in case anything unfortunate should happen.

Wanting to have a phone to document anything didn’t become an issue, because I was told to leave almost immediately. They wouldn’t let me stay in the waiting room. The woman at the desk told me I had to leave because I wasn’t a lawyer or translator. When I repeated that I was there for translation support, she said that they had plenty of people who speak Spanish.

I'm still here, and I will continue to be right outside."

I went and stood right outside the door to the office. Eventually I went and sat down on the curb. I waited an hour and a half then I went in to check on the person. He was still sitting in the waiting room with his head in his hands. When he saw me, I said, "I'm still here, and I will continue to be right outside."

Thirty minutes later, he came out of the office. He was wearing an ankle tracking device. The smile on his face from earlier was gone. They hadn’t explained why he had to wear the device or when it would come off. They had told him to walk around for a few minutes, then return.

We walked together as some realities set in. First, they were going to track his whereabouts from then on and possibly were testing it out while he and I were walking. Second, the device was starting to get uncomfortable as we looped around the parking lot. He told me that they had given him more appointments for the coming weeks. He returned to the office and came back out a little later. I don’t know why the appointment took so long. We were there for two and a half hours after his scheduled appointment time.

I watched the man deflate over a period of hours. By the end, his hopeful smile was gone. We shook hands and said goodbye. That evening, I received a message that there had been an error, and he would have to return for yet another arbitrary appointment.