December 5, 2025 • 56 mins
In a rural town in south Georgia, sits “El Refugio,” a charming white home with green shutters. For 15 years, thousands have walked through its doors during the hardest moments of their lives. The house serves as a refuge for families of immigrants detained just two miles away at one of the largest immigration detention centers in the U.S.. In recent months, the visits to El Refugio have skyrocketed. We spent 48 hours inside El Refugio, the only hospitality house of its kind in the nation. We meet volunteers who visit with detainees and the families of those held at Stewart Detention Center.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Dear, let you know USA listener.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Before we start, you should know that if you want
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Speaker 1 (00:26):
Let's go to the.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Show, Futuro Investigates Investia.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
It's just past eight am on a rainy Saturday morning
in late August. We're at the back of a large
white house with dark green shutters, bordered by a manicured
yard with flowers. I'm with reporter Shannon Heffernan of the
Marshall Project, the nonprofit news organization covering the US criminal
(01:10):
justice system. I'll be reporting with her for the next
two days here in southwest Georgia. Yeah, a woman with
long grayish white hair named Marilyn opens the door for us.
We walked directly into an airy kitchen where she and
four other women are huddling around a kitchen island. Once
(01:33):
introductions are made, they get right back to business. The
smell of brewing coffee permeates the air.
Speaker 5 (01:43):
I had a dream last night that I pulled out
my idea and it was like a cut in half
and everything.
Speaker 6 (01:52):
That's my first time.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
So that's Katie, a sandy blonde with a soft laugh.
Another woman, her name is Amy cuts.
Speaker 7 (02:00):
In no I had check like forty times.
Speaker 8 (02:02):
I was like, I know it's gone, Niety's gone.
Speaker 6 (02:05):
I never move it, but it's gone.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
It's clear that this kind of oddly specific anxiety dream
is shared amongst these women. That's because these five people
standing around the kitchen today are all volunteers in this home.
And this is not a regular house. It's a hospitality
house called Refugio or the refuge in Spanish. The home
(02:32):
is open on weekends year round. It provides a free
place to eat, rest and sleep for families who travel
long hours to visit loved ones at a nearby immigration
detention center nestle deep within this rural part of the state.
And as we soon learn, the dreams of lost or
(02:52):
cut ideas are really not so random. They're getting ready
to get inside the Stewart Immigration Detention Center to visit
with people in nice custody.
Speaker 8 (03:05):
And you've been like put in this place where nobody
can see you, and it's just nice. Somebody just recognizes
you as like a human.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
That's Amy again.
Speaker 8 (03:14):
And I don't know our country has been dehumanizing all
these people and just to hear their story or it
feel like I see you.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Just two miles away from Refuchio, down narrow roads, surrounded
by a forest of green sits one of the largest
immigration detention centers in the country. On average, it houses
around two thousand people in custody, more people than it's
built to accommodate. Despite its massive size, it's a detention
(03:45):
center that unless you're from the South, you're probably less
likely to have heard about the way you may have
heard of others on the news. Especially lately, anti ICE protests.
Speaker 9 (04:00):
LA's Metropolitan Detention Center have become a flashpoint.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
And we're following some breaking news.
Speaker 9 (04:09):
Protesters are gathering outside of Chicago Detention Center, where hundreds
of migrants are being held.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Protesters gathering in Charlotte, North Carolina, tonight angered by the
Trump Administration's decision to deploy federal immigration agents to their city.
There are fewer demonstrations out here or clashes between protesters
and ICE. There is simply a fading rural town in
southwest Georgia. There are no grocery stores, no place for
(04:35):
visitors to stay the night, and less than one thousand
residents in the whole town. That's one of the reasons
that the volunteers are so eager to get inside, to
keep an eye on what's happening with detainees inside Steward,
and to share a bit of human warmth.
Speaker 10 (04:55):
All right, thanks agiv you guys.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Yeah, yeah, The volunteers shuffle out of the house. It's
eight point fifteen now and visitations have already started.
Speaker 11 (05:08):
I don't need to have a might.
Speaker 12 (05:11):
Just her advice.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
They run out the back door, down a long wooden ramp,
past the colossal pear tree, overflowing with ripe fruit, down
to their cars parked in a gravel driveway.
Speaker 7 (05:25):
All right, we'll see you guys when you get back.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
We're going to be spending the next forty eight hours
inside and refugio with the families that pass through here
and the volunteers that run this hospitality house, to learn
how this place is handling and adapting to the onslaught
of immigration arrests in the second Trump term, and to
hear directly from the families of the people that have
(05:52):
gotten swept up in the raids.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Media.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
It's Latino USA. I'm Maria no Josa, and today we
travel to South Georgia. We're going to spend.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Forty eight hours at El Refujio.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
It's a one of a kind hospitality house that has
been created in order to ease the burden for people
who are visiting loved ones at one of the country's
largest immigration detention centers. We're going to meet families whose
lives have been turned upside down by ICE and also
meet the volunteers that are helping them navigate the system.
(06:34):
We also learn about the different ways that ramped up
ICE enforcement is leading more people than ever into places
like the Stuart Detention Center in Georgia. Today's episode is
a collaboration between Latino USA, Futuro Investigates and the Marshall Project.
(06:59):
Senior produce Sir Julieta Martinelli, who started us off, traveled
to Stuart County, Georgia with reporter Shannon Heffernan in order
to produce this story. I'm gonna hand the mike to
Julieta now and justa heads up, dear listener, this story
contains some mentions of suicide, so take care while listening.
Speaker 6 (07:21):
Grapes and the bread.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Back inside, things are still quiet. Marilyn, the woman who
opened the door for us, has stayed behind to prepare
for the day's visitors. Marylyn is the house coordinator this weekend.
Speaker 9 (07:37):
Here is some peach bread that I brought for our
breakfast and then Halo's.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Marylyn takes note of the food and the fridge, and
then she goes through the pantry. She makes plans for breakfast, lunch,
and dinner. As she opens cabinets, I noticed one item
that is in large supply.
Speaker 12 (08:03):
But yeah, they got it.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
It's almost comical, you know.
Speaker 9 (08:10):
People are so kind and they donate what they imagine
could be useful.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
While Stuart Detention Center doesn't publish their demographics, reports show
that the majority of detainees are Latinos. Their presence has
even shifted the demographics of this rural area. A twenty
sixteen analysis of census data by Pew Research Center claimed
that Stuart County so the largest growth in Latino population
(08:38):
in America and noted that the detention center was likely
the reason. And Latinos, well, a lot of us do
really love beans.
Speaker 9 (08:49):
So in this cabinet, we have lots of different teas
we have some honey, some coffee, breakfast cereals.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
While they accept non perishable donations, these volunteers do still
need to shop for fresh food every weekend. And because
there are no grocery stores in Lumpkin, Maryland, and the
volunteers lug groceries down from Atlanta, where they live several
hours north. It's just become part of the routine.
Speaker 9 (09:18):
The house has been operated for fifteen years wow, and
then prior to that, there were group visitations that were
organized a few times a year, so I did some
of those.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Stewart was first opened in two thousand and six by Corcivic,
then known as Corrections Corporation of America. Maryland said after
it opened, she and other volunteers from an advocacy group
started coming down to visit detainees. This was around the
time that ice enforcement really ramped up in the state.
(09:57):
By twenty eleven, Stuart was considered the largest and the
busiest immigration detention center in the nation. The following year,
Stuart was sued by the ACOU of Georgia in a
filing that said Stuart had proven quote incapable of protecting
the basic human rights of immigrants under its care. The
(10:20):
report cited a number of claims relating to abuse, in
humane conditions, and failure to meet medical and legal standards.
And then there was the location. Maryland says driving down
a Lumpkin for visitations made the advocates realize just how
challenging this detention center's geographic isolation was for the families
(10:44):
that were visiting.
Speaker 9 (10:47):
So that was really the impetus for starting this work,
knowing that by giving people a place to stay over
Saturday night, we could really serve people's needs.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
That's why, around fifteen years ago, the first hospitality house
in Lumpkin was opened. It was originally established by an
Immigrants Right nonprofit called Alderna. Maryland was a part of it.
By twenty twelve, Refujio became its own nonprofit and a
group of founding members, including Maryland, took over managing the house.
(11:23):
They were originally at a smaller house. Over the following years,
visitors at Refujio continued to grow. In twenty eighteen, they
moved over to this larger house where we are today.
And crazy story, but this bigger, nicer place was actually
donated by comedian Samantha b It was part of her
(11:45):
TBS show's holiday special, which they called Christmas on Ice.
The show heavily criticized the first Trump administration's immigration policies
and highlighted the work of Refujo. Marilyn finishes in the
kitchen and walks us over to the living room slash
(12:08):
waiting area. She adjusts the pillows on a comfortable couch.
I see art on the walls, books and board games
on the shelves. She talks as she continues her.
Speaker 9 (12:20):
Routine every weekend that I come down here. I play
out different scenarios in my mind about what could possibly happen.
Speaker 7 (12:30):
Has it felt like that's gotten more intense as of
LA Sure.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
That's martial project reporter Shannon Sure. As we talk, Marilyn
guides is over to a large map on a wall.
Speaker 6 (12:42):
Here's our map. We've got people to indicate where they're from.
Speaker 7 (12:47):
So oh wow, yeah, so you can see look at
this and everywhere.
Speaker 9 (12:51):
So this is both volunteers and guests who come to
the house.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
Can you describe the concentration of the pins?
Speaker 9 (12:58):
A whole lot of pins in the Southeast United States,
in Mexico and through Central America, quite a few Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador,
a smattering of pens across Africa, and a few across Europe,
several in Asia, a couple in Pakistan and India, one, two, three,
(13:18):
four in Iran, some from Israel, Palestine, several from Australia.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Yeah, so this is seeing it like this, it's really
kind of mind blowing. People from all over the world
have passed through this house because people from all over
the world have been sent down here into ICE attention.
In less than a year, the Trump administration has increased
(13:44):
the number of people detained in ICE facilities by almost
fifty percent. In fact, the first week of November broke
a record with more than sixty six thousand people in
ICE custody nationwide, more than any any time in American
history ever. And really that's why we're here. As more
(14:06):
and more people get taken into ICE custody and moved
into massive detention centers isolated in rural areas like Stuart,
it becomes even harder to know what people are going through.
Inside a hospitality house like this serves another important role
a commonplace for family members of detained individuals to gather
(14:28):
and share information. It's hard to know how many people
to expect this weekend Maryland says that you never really
quite know, just in case, though they've prepared all the rooms.
We walk through a dining room with one of the
(14:49):
largest tables I've ever seen. Maryland says that most people
congregate here throughout the day. There are several bedrooms with
multiple beds along two floors. Everywhere I look there's colorful
art with encouraging messages. Some of it is even made inside,
stored by people in custody. Marylyn tells us it's a lively,
(15:11):
happy place.
Speaker 6 (15:12):
Oh.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
Our tour is cut short around nine am. The first visitors.
Speaker 6 (15:24):
Saying are they here two weeks? So?
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Her name is Brooke, She's visiting her husbands long so
you know, familiar.
Speaker 6 (15:38):
I've tried to see more. We could take up three hours. Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
The women stop by the prison first. It's how the
routine goes. We learn the visitation hours are split based
on gender. Who goes first depends on the day. Today Saturday,
it was men in the afternoon from two to eight pm.
But as families have learned the hard way, you can't
just show up on time. And I know, like the
(16:04):
time gets full fast, so that we had to come
here early to sign on the list. To visit in
the afternoon, so we're part of Group one. Visits at
Stuart happen behind a thick plexiglass. People like Brooke will
travel for hours just to talk to their loved ones
through a phone. Families can't hug or even hold hands,
(16:25):
and even though the government claims that the tension centers
are not prisons, it all looks and feels the same.
Now that she's safely on the list and there's a
few hours to kill broken, her family can finally rest.
They thank the volunteers and make their way to one
of the bedrooms.
Speaker 6 (16:43):
Make yourselves at home, Okay, I'd like stuff you needed, the.
Speaker 12 (16:46):
Usual in Mohana.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Marilyn says that a lot of what they end up
doing is filling in new visitors with these kinds of
nuances around visitation. For example, nowhere on the DHS website
doesn't inform visitors that they need to arrive hours early
to register for visitation, and while there are address code
guidelines posted online, the guards will sometimes DENI entry based
(17:13):
on arbitrary rules like ripped pants.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Coming up on Latino USA, we meet some of the
families passing by a refujio on their way to the
Stuart Immigration Detention Center.
Speaker 5 (17:28):
You really never think this is going to happen to you,
and you never think it's gonna hate you like this.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
And we learn how these detentions have changed their lives.
Stay with us, Yes, hey, we're back. Before the break,
(17:56):
we learned about El Refujio. It's a hospitality hose for
families of people detained at the Stuart Immigration Detention Center.
Now we're going to meet more of the families. Senior
producer Julia Martinelli brings us this story today, so let's
get back to it.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Not being allowed inside, not having the right clothes, or
I d those are the kinds of anxieties that also
plagued Maria during her first visit. It's nearly noon when
I meet her, after she walks in with her mom
and her toddler, Kailani. Kailani attempts to sign the number
(18:50):
two with her fingers. She has her hair and pigtails
and wears these bright purple sunglasses. Maria has been coming
down a store for several weeks now, but today it's
the first time that she's visiting El Refujia.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
Today, I'm here to come and visit my fiance. He
has been in Stuart Detention Center. Since July twentieth and
July twentieth, a whole world changed. He was going to work. Sorry,
I get emotional. For two years, I was to stay
at home home watching our daughter. He was the provider
for our family. Not just like our family, his mom
and dad in Mexico.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Two. It's now been nearly six weeks since our fiance
Louis was detained.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
He was going to work. It was eight o'clock and
he calls me at eight thirty. He's like, hey, I
was picked up by ice. I was just putting her
back to sleep and I was like, what do you mean.
I thought it was a joke when he first said it.
I was like, that's not funny at all, and he
was like, no, I'm not playing. I was like, what
do you mean? I want to go check outside, but
by that time he was already gone. He's like, hey,
I know it's a lot, just listen. He's like, the officer,
(19:55):
it was nice enough to let me know that he
was arrested.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
Maria says that they snatched them up somewhere between his
front door and his car. She says they showed him
a photo, but he never saw a warrant or any
documents to explain why they were picking him up. It
didn't matter. Technically. Under the law, Ice should arrive with
judicial warrants to pick up the people that they're there
(20:21):
to detain, especially if they want to enter a business
or a residence. But they can also legally detain people
with quote reasonable suspicion in public places, according to DHS,
and the Supreme Court recently validated this, basically giving Ice
carte blanche to racially profile people in public Maria tells
(20:44):
me that Louis was simply put in a car and
taken away, just like that.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
It's really hard with the new laws ima us resident.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
We just got engaged last year in August.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
We're gonna get married in September. That was her plan.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
We've been together for twelve years. We're gonna get married
in a month.
Speaker 5 (21:07):
Yeah, but the September we were gonna get married. You
really never think this is gonna happen to you. You
just hear on the news.
Speaker 12 (21:15):
You hear like, oh blah blah blah.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
And you never think it's gonna hate you like this.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
All those preparations over the last year suddenly did it matter.
The emotional impact of Lisa's arrest was instant. The family
was distraught. Then came the next challenge.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
The money, the financial burden of this. Like I said,
I was a stay at home mom, not trying to
figure out who. Thank god we have savings, but again
that only takes you so long, so you really have
to like, think, think, think.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
Maria looks at Kailani. She's running around in the waiting area,
eating a banana that she picked out in the kitchen.
Speaker 5 (21:54):
It's been emotional for her because her life has changed
in less than a month with me twenty four hours.
She's really smart, but she does have speech delay, so
we were really focusing on her speech delay, trying to
get her tea like all of that. So right now
we have stopped the therapy because I need to figure
out my schedule. So now we're just accommodating to their
(22:16):
new normal.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
The new normal means three hour drives to Steward on
the weekends. Maria says that they've been waiting for a
bond hearing for over a month. She fears that Louise
will be pushed into a fast tracked deportation. That sense
of overwhelm, of chaos, it's something that we hear about
(22:40):
from nearly every person on this day. As the hours pass,
people shuffle in and out of Refujio. Later in the afternoon,
around two PM, as the second round of visitations began
(23:02):
at store, the line of people shuffling in and out
of Refujio slows down. Marylyn is back in the.
Speaker 7 (23:09):
Kitchen, fish fruit snacks, Manie muffins, muffins.
Speaker 9 (23:13):
We got some.
Speaker 12 (23:15):
New cha grain bars.
Speaker 9 (23:20):
There's a I thought they're a devlental soup in there
that is vegan, so I'm going to pull that out Later.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
Two women walk through the door. They're both wearing jeans
and white tops. A blonde and a brunette chatting. They
clearly came here together. After they get settled in, I
approach the women as they talk quietly at the dining
room table, drinking coffee. They tell me they're grateful to
be navigating the complexity of immigration, the tension together, and
(23:48):
so are their husbands. See Alma the brunette, and Anna,
the blonde are friends, well, they are now. Their husbands
were co workers. They're both painters. Now they're locked up
together at Stewart Eleon camp in the Alma says they
(24:12):
were on their way to work. A few weeks ago,
a third co worker was driving. They were just a
couple miles away from their job site in a wealthy
suburb in Atlanta. The men stopped at a gas station,
just as they did every other day. They pumped gas,
grabbed coffee, and made their way back to their work van.
(24:35):
They sparted a cop watching them the minute they pulled
out police lights.
Speaker 10 (24:42):
Albertos steporsua pariencia. The Espanos.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
Ceo all my things that they were racially profiled. Both
women say that, according to their husbands, the cops never
told them why he pulled them over. Inas Instead, she says,
the cop asked if they were legal. It was an
odd question, according to Alma, because she says that the
driver had provided a driver's license.
Speaker 12 (25:10):
As implemente mr LISTA. Last Persona says he lose the.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
Atlanta Alma says that the officers stepped back and made
a phone call. Then, she says, the men saw a
car parked across the street at a fire station pull
around behind them.
Speaker 12 (25:30):
Comenta case is as personas s Tavan and on.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
They say the officer greeted the mass men who exited
the unmarked car.
Speaker 12 (25:41):
Nono the policia.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
There were no decals, badges, or identification, just men in
a car. This is something that we've seen often this
year after Trump took office, and something that keeps popping
up in Latino, USA is reporting no matter what state
we're in, I says, and unmarked vehicles. They show up
out of nowhere, snatch people up without paperwork or explanation
(26:07):
and take them into custody. It all happens so quickly.
Speaker 10 (26:11):
Particular is the e Yallosinko Mimuto's q Minuto's YEO al
Departamento Policy Directamente ale Partamento de Ice.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
Alma says it took less than five minutes between being
pulled over to the moment that they were taken by ICE.
They were sent directly to the processing facility in Atlanta,
then eventually here. Alma leads the storytelling Anna, sitting next
to me at the table, can't stop wiping her tears.
(26:48):
At some point, someone places a container of Kleenex in
front of her. The balld up tissues pile around us
on the table, but Alma is angry. She wonders was
the cop unofficially working with ICE? Why not take them
into the local jail if they did something wrong. He
was a cop, so why would he allow them to
(27:10):
be taken by unidentified men. They're valid questions. While in Georgia,
a new state law requires local sheriff's departments to check
the legal status of people taken into custody. There are
rules and policies to follow. The person must be charged
(27:31):
with something and processed at the local jail before being
placed on an icehold.
Speaker 10 (27:37):
Seas pass a momento dios documentos.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
As almas as her husband should have never been taken
in He has an open petition for adjustment of status
during the process of getting his green card, She says,
the lawyer that she hired told her that a year
ago that would have meant a high likelihood of his release,
at least on bond. But so far they've gotten nowhere,
(28:10):
and it's not surprising given the growing reports of ice
picking up people at their own immigration appointments. The place
where you have to show up when you're doing things
the quote unquote right way.
Speaker 12 (28:23):
You're not nadi lo yoendox.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
The hardest part, Alma says, is not knowing what's going
to happen. Will they be able to get their partners
out Will they get deported? Will the women have to
abandon everything they've built here and return to Mexico? Do
they want to? Will they have to do?
Speaker 6 (29:06):
Toya?
Speaker 12 (29:07):
Must you there into.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
Alma and Anna are both looking to rent out rooms
and their homes. Alma says she fears for her safety,
so she's trying to hold out to find a female tenant.
After our chat, Alma and Anna head off to Stewart
to visit their husbands. But first they go to the bathroom.
They touch up their hair, they smile and put on
(29:35):
a facade that they're okay, that they're strong. Volunteers keep
a tally of the people passing through. They used to
keep a list. Families who walked in would put their
loved ones names down and share contact information. Volunteers would
(29:57):
follow up on their cases, make visits, and try to
stay informed. It's how they could get a sense of
how processes were changing, a general idea of how long
it took to get a bond, hearing, to get transferred, released,
or even deported. But now that's too risky. After fifteen
(30:17):
years here, volunteers say that for the first time they
fear that ICE will show up at a Refujio. So
since Trump took office, they just stop keeping track. They
also locked their doors now, something that Marilyn says feels
wrong but necessary.
Speaker 7 (30:35):
I see that you have your caution signs up here.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
That's reporter Shannon again.
Speaker 7 (30:40):
Have you ever had anybody actually come to the door
looking for people?
Speaker 6 (30:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (30:44):
Yeah, that's something that we're prepared for.
Speaker 4 (30:47):
The volunteers have even been recently trained and even ran
practice drills on what to do if I shows up.
Run to the door, make sure it's locked, ask for
a warrant, make sure it's judicial warrant, don't open the door,
don't say anything, be quiet.
Speaker 9 (31:05):
And please start recording immediately. Yeah, okay, yeah, that's just
saying that somebody is walking past.
Speaker 7 (31:14):
Got it?
Speaker 4 (31:15):
As if on cue a chime plays over a speaker
emotion sensor. At this point, my reporting partner Shannon asks.
Speaker 7 (31:24):
Have you trying to be pretty careful about security and
stuff like that?
Speaker 12 (31:28):
You know, balancing.
Speaker 9 (31:33):
Hospitality and safety is a really, really difficult dance. Our
home is open to anybody who comes to us asking
for hospitality. At the same time, we have to make
sure that there is a clear boundary there between what's
public space and what's private space, and that we don't
(31:55):
allow anyone into this space who has all intentions, and
that that includes more than justize right.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
Marilyn says she follows the news closely, so it's not
really surprising to hear of this fear. After all, there
has been a rise in reports of attacks on immigrants
and even people masquerading as ice agents to cast them harm.
Speaker 9 (32:18):
It could include anybody who feels like they've been empowered
to take things into their own hands, into the abusive
to the people that we serve, or abusive to us
for that matter.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
While the relationship between the detention center and the hospitality
house has always been relatively peaceful, the climate in the
country and the attitude towards immigrants has undoubtedly changed.
Speaker 9 (32:44):
We've not had that issue at all, but of course
it's the top of mind, top of mind.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Coming up on letting the volunteers who go into the
Stuart Detention Center come back with stories about the conditions inside,
and we speak to more families about the toll the
uncertainty of vice attention is taking on all of them.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
Stay with us, Yes, hey, we're back now.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
We continue our forty eight hours inside El Refugio and
we hear from returning volunteers about the conditions inside. Stuart
Senior producer Julia Tabardinelli picks up the story from here.
Speaker 6 (33:44):
We met someone.
Speaker 4 (33:46):
It's dinner time now Refujo. After all families have left, volunteers,
Marilyn Amy McKenzie and two katies finally sit down over
bowls of homemade lentil soup. They share details of their day.
The house is empty tonight, and they share what they
(34:06):
hear about conditions inside. They compare stories and take mental
notes things like issues accessing commissary and food.
Speaker 9 (34:15):
And there seems to be a pretty significant delay between
when you order something then when you get it.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
Or the failure to provide quality translators, which are integral
to a person's immigration case.
Speaker 9 (34:26):
I imgrestion a turning. I know he's had issues with.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Court interpretation.
Speaker 9 (34:34):
I remember one case he was talking about that he
speaks enough Arabic to know if somebody is interpreting well or.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
Not, interpreters who don't speak the language well, and other
challenges of communication, like with tablets for video visitations. For
families without papers or those who are not able to
travel here, this is the only other way to see
their loved ones.
Speaker 8 (34:56):
The lady is what to last time said, there's three
tablets for her her POONI are inner thing, yeah she
At that time, she said, there were sixty two people
in home.
Speaker 4 (35:07):
Nearly impossible to get a chance that video visits. That's
why these in person visits are so important and necessary
to families and also to the volunteers who step in
for those who can't visit. It's not easy seeing people
in their darkest hours, hearing their stories, wanting to help,
(35:28):
but really only being able to listen. After all, each
of the volunteers tells us that they ended up here
because they were fed up with seeing what they considered
cruelty on the news. They wanted to feel useful, to
do something.
Speaker 9 (35:46):
There was a man here, a man who took his
own life at Stuart, Oh God. And I was the
house coordinator that weekend.
Speaker 4 (35:57):
That's Marilyn again.
Speaker 9 (35:59):
We had been told this is a priority visit to
have happened. So I was going to go visit him
on Saturday. But then his mom came by the house
and she was coming from Stuart and she said, please,
please please, can someone check on my son tomorrow? And
I said, yes, I will go check on your son,
(36:19):
and he was in segregation at that point.
Speaker 4 (36:22):
Segregation refers to a person placed in a protected unit.
You might also have heard it called solitary confinement.
Speaker 9 (36:30):
So I went over really early to try to visit.
Speaker 4 (36:33):
Him, but Marilyn says that she was told that she
couldn't see him.
Speaker 9 (36:39):
I went home and then Monday morning I got a
phone call that he had taken his own life.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
It was hard. It was hard because I.
Speaker 9 (36:48):
I mean, it's not like I felt like my visit
could have changed anything, but you know, it felt it
felt personal in a way.
Speaker 4 (36:58):
The other volunteers their heads. It's a sentiment they seem
to share.
Speaker 7 (37:04):
His mom knew, his mom knew he needed something.
Speaker 4 (37:08):
Across the nation, there have been twenty deaths in ice
custody just this year. In fact, by October this was
already considered the deadliest year for people in ice custody
in two decades. These are the kinds of things that
these volunteers have to grapple with. But Amy, one of
(37:39):
the volunteers, says that while it's emotionally difficult work, it's
helped her feel like at least she's doing something people.
Speaker 8 (37:47):
Really are like desperate for, like tangible ways to help
and it's so confusing right now, like what's actually.
Speaker 4 (37:54):
Helpful for those who have been here longer? Though, like
one of the katies who is also a coordinator, the
work can take a toll.
Speaker 13 (38:03):
So I haven't been here in six months probably it's
been a while, and I was really beating myself up
about it and just kind of like, do I want
to come back out?
Speaker 9 (38:12):
Can I cope with?
Speaker 4 (38:14):
What's?
Speaker 3 (38:15):
Like?
Speaker 13 (38:15):
I don't know that I'm strong enough to do this work, honestly,
Like I just had this big moment of doubt and
I was like in this kind of paralyzed place.
Speaker 4 (38:25):
Recently, she says she's been doubting if she's really even
helpful because her Spanish is not that great and she
had a situation where she was unable to communicate with
the person. It made her feel helpless, like she was
letting the person down.
Speaker 13 (38:42):
I have to get out of my own head that
I don't have to do it perfectly, Like I don't
have to be the most prepared. I don't have to
be the most emotionally available stable, you know, I don't
have to have the most languid Like I just have
to show up.
Speaker 4 (39:00):
That's really what it's about. Here. It seems every need
can't be fully met. There is chaos, constant changes, people
coming in and out, all playing out within a system
that is much bigger than this place or these people.
But when each of these volunteers say they can do
(39:21):
is continue to show up, to show by action to
immigrant families that they're not alone. The next day, no
one seems to have got much sleep. It was a long,
(39:41):
heavy day. Eight am, breakfast is made, coffee is brewed
by ten eleven known families finishing the first wave of
visitations are shuffling in to eat rest or now before
they have to do the long drive home. While a
lot of visitors have been Latinos, we also met families
(40:04):
from Russia, Vietnam, and Gambia passing through the house. On
our final day, we also meet a family, a young
woman here with her husband and children coming to visit
her father.
Speaker 6 (40:16):
I've just had a glass.
Speaker 3 (40:19):
Right here.
Speaker 6 (40:19):
It was it was a drought, so I had to
have you guys been driving since morning?
Speaker 4 (40:25):
Yeah, since its light. They have two toddlers in tow.
Speaker 6 (40:31):
Your first time to Stewart. Here's sure is.
Speaker 7 (40:36):
They got a nice set of toys in there.
Speaker 9 (40:37):
Too. I'm sure I will go.
Speaker 4 (40:44):
After the kids get settled. Shannon sits down with them
in the front room.
Speaker 9 (40:48):
How long has your dad been there?
Speaker 6 (40:52):
I'm sure he's going to be termed to see him.
Speaker 14 (40:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (40:55):
She still remembers the day she found out that her
father was in ice custody.
Speaker 6 (41:00):
I just got a call for my dad. He said
that he was taking the ice.
Speaker 7 (41:06):
It's just definitely caused eris because.
Speaker 12 (41:10):
He wasn't He's not a criminal, he didn't do anything wrong.
Speaker 4 (41:13):
Now they're in the process of trying to deport him
to a country that he hasn't been in in forty
three years. He doesn't have any family in there.
Speaker 5 (41:22):
Everyone is here.
Speaker 7 (41:23):
Have you gotten any word about how your dad's doing
in there?
Speaker 4 (41:26):
That's martial Project reporter Shannon again.
Speaker 14 (41:29):
We're sending him commissary money and he's eating tuna.
Speaker 4 (41:33):
As the conversation continues, it undoubtedly beers towards Trump's policies.
Speaker 14 (41:38):
I'm a Republican, and I know that Trump put this
in place and stuff, but and I did vote for him,
but I didn't know it wasn't just rap posts and
killers and murders and this and that, like trying to
go capture like it was my.
Speaker 4 (41:53):
Dad's not any of that.
Speaker 14 (41:54):
When Trump was advocating and stuff and campaigning, I had
no idea that.
Speaker 7 (42:01):
It was literally about like hate, you know. And you
thought when he was talking about immigrants, he wasn't talking
about your dad.
Speaker 14 (42:11):
Well, no, I was thinking about like, you know, literally
like human traffickers and the criminals like that are hurting
other people.
Speaker 4 (42:19):
You know. I don't want to be around that.
Speaker 7 (42:21):
I don't want my kids to be around that.
Speaker 14 (42:23):
That's what he campaign and that's what he said and stuff. Yeah,
it's very frustrating.
Speaker 4 (42:30):
Yeah, but this experience has changed a lot for her.
She says her family no longer supports Trot, not.
Speaker 12 (42:37):
Just because of.
Speaker 14 (42:40):
My dad's situation, but because I do I feel as
just dividing, like the country and you're just being so
so hateful, you know, and like we need more love
and like understanding and not this This just causes like
huge divisions and it hurts families and people.
Speaker 4 (43:05):
It might be difficult to understand how someone can vote
for Trump when their loved ones immigration status is up
in the air, but it helps to look at the
administrations messaging around immigration enforcement. Trump campaigned on this idea
that he would round up criminals and those causing harm
(43:26):
to communities. Instead, as we've seen over the last ten months,
ICE has actually done the opposite. Recent data shows that
more than seventy percent of people currently in ICE custody
don't have a criminal record, and an analysis by the
Vera Institute of Justice shows that in the first four
(43:46):
and a half months of the second Trump administration, ICE
booked into the tension nearly one hundred and twenty thousand people.
That's a seventeen percent increase from the same time period
during Trump's first term and a forty six percent increase
from the same time period under President Biden. Families like
(44:08):
this are having to come to terms with the fact
that when Trump says criminals, it also means.
Speaker 1 (44:14):
Them stay with us. Yes, hey, we're back.
Speaker 4 (44:30):
I sit in the kitchen talking with two of the
volunteers who speak Russian. They've just returned from visitation.
Speaker 9 (44:37):
Recently, there have been a few, like four or five
Russian speaking women who have asked for visits. One Russian
speaker figures out how to contact us, and then she
tells the other Russian speakers.
Speaker 14 (44:52):
Or you know.
Speaker 4 (44:53):
While most of the people that they visit are Spanish speakers.
There's actually all kinds of which needs.
Speaker 9 (45:01):
We had a whole group of men from Cameroon who
we were visiting, a couple people from some islands, from
Latin America, and you know, there's people on our list
now from countries in Africa.
Speaker 4 (45:12):
It's one of the challenges and maybe even proof of
the expanding of ICE enforcement into all kinds of communities,
and it's led people having to make decisions that they
never thought they would. Like Veronica, I first spot her
playing a card game at the other end of the
dining room table. She's there with two young boys. They're
(45:36):
eating the sandwiches that had been laid out in the
kitchen earlier that day. There's barely any room at the
table at this point. Nearly all eighteen seats are taken
by families eating lunch, drinking coffee, and chatting amongst each other.
I'm over in the living room, sitting on the floor,
chatting with another family. The couches are also full. From me.
(46:00):
A little girl sleeps under a blanket, her head on
her mom's lap. I make my weight at the table.
Speaker 6 (46:09):
I also bought cars with my dad. Do you want
to play with us? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (46:14):
Now, for the record, I love O. No, of course
I can't say no.
Speaker 6 (46:22):
You're gonna trouble, scared to play with you, or I shouldn't.
Speaker 7 (46:32):
Have sun.
Speaker 6 (46:36):
Man fiance.
Speaker 4 (46:37):
Yeah, Baronica drove down from Asheville, North Carolina.
Speaker 15 (46:42):
Six hours of a drive every time back at well
twelve hours in total. They got him in his own
igration appointment, and he doesn't have a criminal record. He
doesn't have any reason to be detained. Like his visas
are up to date, his work visas up to day
to twenty thirty. His license is not expirited to twenty
(47:04):
thirty as well, so we were both surprised. I was
really devastated when he told me.
Speaker 4 (47:09):
Like many of the stories we heard this weekend, but
Oniica says that they were following the law. Her fiance
was going to his immigration check ins, and they were
planning to get married. She had never considered that this
could happen. I started screaming, I started crying.
Speaker 1 (47:26):
I wanted to.
Speaker 15 (47:28):
Fill up everything with rage, but I no, he needed
me as much as I need a ham so I
just calmed down.
Speaker 4 (47:34):
I watched Veronica as we play the card game. She
giggles and laughs and seems pointedly different from others in
the house. She's optimistic, and that's because all of this,
the visits, the lawyers, the stress, the crying is coming
to an end.
Speaker 15 (47:52):
He made a decision to volunteer deport himself, so we're
going to make that change, and just got to Columbia.
He said that he'd rather do that and then just
try to come back again after this.
Speaker 7 (48:02):
PRESIDENTIY is over and just go from there.
Speaker 15 (48:05):
And I'm just supporting him with I told him from
the beginning, whatever he wants to decide or whatever he
feels like it's best for.
Speaker 7 (48:11):
Him, we just go from there. Your whole life is
just changing. Yes it is, and it was a really fast,
drastic change. But she's got to keep going.
Speaker 15 (48:21):
I'm gonna basically sell everything that I have here, have
a couple of monies so I can be over there
and just go from there.
Speaker 3 (48:28):
I'm excited.
Speaker 15 (48:28):
I'm really excited over everything so we can get reunited again.
Speaker 4 (48:35):
Before Veronica leaves, she says she can't wait to get
back to living her life. She radiates joy and peace,
something that stands out to me after a weekend where
we heard so much sadness, fear, and anxiety over the
past forty eight hours. We've spoken to families that have
(48:55):
become paralyzed by the sudden presence of ice in their lives.
The detainments have appended everything, not just the lives of
the people that steward, but that of everyone around them.
They're in a form of purgatory, a life sized version
of this home, a waiting room with no set times
(49:15):
and no clear next steps. But Veronica and her fiance
are bucking the system. It might look like giving up,
and maybe it is. It's tragic to have to lose
it all, to be persecuted, to leave your whole life behind,
(49:36):
but it's a choice, a choice made by them. As
the day wraps and our weekend that Refujio comes to
an end, families begin to make their way home. I
(49:57):
catch my breath outside for a minute and spot one
of the volunteers doing the same. It's Mackenzie, the youngest
volunteer here this weekend. She's just twenty one. I wonder
how that feels for you, when like the weekends.
Speaker 3 (50:11):
Are strong to close.
Speaker 4 (50:13):
I know I was prob also emotionary taxi.
Speaker 11 (50:16):
I think it's nice to have the people come through
and to just see how many people were really helping
by being able to keep the house open and like
volunteering here even just to set out the stuff for
lunch or make up the beds. Otherwise they'd just be
sitting in the parking lot waiting for hours and hours.
Speaker 4 (50:38):
And these people. McKenzie is a student at Spellman, by
historically black women's college in Atlanta with a rich tradition
of civic involvement and community activism. McKenzie began visiting the
Teinees that Stewart earlier this year.
Speaker 11 (50:53):
I think that's like, one of the reasons why my
first visit was so important to me is that the
first person that I visited being a black woman. It
surprised me, Like going in and seeing that was like, Oh,
this is not what I expected an immigrant to look like.
And I think because of the way that immigrations talked about,
(51:16):
it's like, oh, it must only be Hispanic people, and
then to see that no, this is actually a much
bigger issue. It affects people from all different walks of life.
I think some people think, oh, this isn't something that
I need to be concerned about because it's not in
(51:38):
my community. It doesn't affect me, it doesn't affect people
that look like me. But when you come here, there's
white people, there's black people, there's Hispanic people, Europeans, Russians.
Speaker 4 (51:49):
She's right. This weekend, we spoke with more than sixty
people at a Refujio, families from eight different countries, speaking
a number of different lightsanguages. While we only heard the
stories of a handful of families in this piece, we
spoke with dozens, most too afraid to share publicly what
(52:09):
they're experiencing out of fear of repercussions from the Trump administration.
Speaker 11 (52:14):
It's just a good reminder that this is a very
diverse and complicated issue, but that ultimately coming up with
a better solution, with a better system that's more inclusive,
benefits all of us.
Speaker 4 (52:34):
And really, at the end of the day, that's why
we chose to come here, Because what's happening inside this place,
hidden away in a tiny rural town in the South,
just a couple miles from an immigration detention center, is
bigger than this house. In a way, the stories we
heard at Rafuchio are just a reflection of the trauma,
(52:58):
the chaos, and the challenges facing people across the nation
at a moment in time where it can feel really
hard to make sense of reality, of the law, of
how power is wielded, of the ways that we can
turn on each other. El Refugio stands as a reminder
(53:19):
of the ways in which people can choose to come together.
Speaker 2 (53:34):
We reached out to cour Civic regarding some of the
claims we heard from families of detainees about conditions inside
the detention center. A spokesperson for the organization submitted a
lengthy response refuting all claims, adding that these allegations were
quote unfounded and not an accurate representation of Stuart Detention
(53:58):
Center today.
Speaker 1 (54:00):
End quote, and dear listener.
Speaker 2 (54:08):
Next week, we'll be dropping a bonus episode for our
FU plus members. Producer Julia ta Martinelli is gonna take
you behind the scenes of reporting out this story, and
if you're not part of Futuro plus, my gosh, you're
missing out. Join us by going to futuro Media dot
org slash Join plus.
Speaker 3 (54:53):
This episode was.
Speaker 2 (54:54):
Produced by Julia Ta Martinelli with reporting from Shannon Heffernan.
It was edited by Mitra Bonshahi with editing support from
Pennile Ramirez and Tom Meager. This piece is a collaboration
between Latino USA Futuro Investigates and The Marshall Project. It
was mixed by Julia Caruso and Lea Shaw Damaran in
(55:15):
fact checking for this episode by Roxanna Guire. Fernanda Echavari
is our managing editor. Special thanks to the dozens of
families who shared so much with us during our visit
to a Refujio. The Latino USA team also includes Rebeccae Barra,
Renaldolanos Junior, Stephanie lebou Luis, Luna Rodri Mard Marquez, Monica
(55:36):
Moreles Garcia, JJ Carubin, Adriana Rodriguez and Nancy Trujillo. Penni
le Ramidez and I are executive producers. I'm your host
Maria Nkosa. Latino USA is part of Iheart's Mike U
Dura podcast network. Executive producers at iHeart are Leo Gomez
and Arlene Santana.
Speaker 1 (55:54):
Join us again for our next episode.
Speaker 2 (55:56):
In the meantime, I'll see you on all of our
social media and we don't forget.
Speaker 1 (56:00):
Dear listener to join Futuro Plus.
Speaker 2 (56:03):
It gets you a chance to listen to all episodes
without ads, and you get bonus content too.
Speaker 1 (56:09):
Also, you'll be supporting futuro media, which we know you
love so Yes, Joe.
Speaker 4 (56:22):
Latino USA is made possible in part by Public Welfare Foundation,
catalyzing transformative approaches to justice that are community led, restorative,
and racially just. WK Kellogg Foundation, a partner with communities
where children come First, and the Ford Foundation, working with
(56:43):
visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide.
Dear, let you know USA listener.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Before we start, you should know that if you want
to listen to this episode, add free. Just join plus
and you can join for as little as seven dollars
a month. Joining also gets you behind the scenes access
and yes, some cheese may so click the link in
the episode description and after you do that, then click play.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Let's go to the.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Show, Futuro Investigates Investia.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
It's just past eight am on a rainy Saturday morning
in late August. We're at the back of a large
white house with dark green shutters, bordered by a manicured
yard with flowers. I'm with reporter Shannon Heffernan of the
Marshall Project, the nonprofit news organization covering the US criminal
(01:10):
justice system. I'll be reporting with her for the next
two days here in southwest Georgia. Yeah, a woman with
long grayish white hair named Marilyn opens the door for us.
We walked directly into an airy kitchen where she and
four other women are huddling around a kitchen island. Once
(01:33):
introductions are made, they get right back to business. The
smell of brewing coffee permeates the air.
Speaker 5 (01:43):
I had a dream last night that I pulled out
my idea and it was like a cut in half
and everything.
Speaker 6 (01:52):
That's my first time.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
So that's Katie, a sandy blonde with a soft laugh.
Another woman, her name is Amy cuts.
Speaker 7 (02:00):
In no I had check like forty times.
Speaker 8 (02:02):
I was like, I know it's gone, Niety's gone.
Speaker 6 (02:05):
I never move it, but it's gone.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
It's clear that this kind of oddly specific anxiety dream
is shared amongst these women. That's because these five people
standing around the kitchen today are all volunteers in this home.
And this is not a regular house. It's a hospitality
house called Refugio or the refuge in Spanish. The home
(02:32):
is open on weekends year round. It provides a free
place to eat, rest and sleep for families who travel
long hours to visit loved ones at a nearby immigration
detention center nestle deep within this rural part of the state.
And as we soon learn, the dreams of lost or
(02:52):
cut ideas are really not so random. They're getting ready
to get inside the Stewart Immigration Detention Center to visit
with people in nice custody.
Speaker 8 (03:05):
And you've been like put in this place where nobody
can see you, and it's just nice. Somebody just recognizes
you as like a human.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
That's Amy again.
Speaker 8 (03:14):
And I don't know our country has been dehumanizing all
these people and just to hear their story or it
feel like I see you.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Just two miles away from Refuchio, down narrow roads, surrounded
by a forest of green sits one of the largest
immigration detention centers in the country. On average, it houses
around two thousand people in custody, more people than it's
built to accommodate. Despite its massive size, it's a detention
(03:45):
center that unless you're from the South, you're probably less
likely to have heard about the way you may have
heard of others on the news. Especially lately, anti ICE protests.
Speaker 9 (04:00):
LA's Metropolitan Detention Center have become a flashpoint.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
And we're following some breaking news.
Speaker 9 (04:09):
Protesters are gathering outside of Chicago Detention Center, where hundreds
of migrants are being held.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Protesters gathering in Charlotte, North Carolina, tonight angered by the
Trump Administration's decision to deploy federal immigration agents to their city.
There are fewer demonstrations out here or clashes between protesters
and ICE. There is simply a fading rural town in
southwest Georgia. There are no grocery stores, no place for
(04:35):
visitors to stay the night, and less than one thousand
residents in the whole town. That's one of the reasons
that the volunteers are so eager to get inside, to
keep an eye on what's happening with detainees inside Steward,
and to share a bit of human warmth.
Speaker 10 (04:55):
All right, thanks agiv you guys.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Yeah, yeah, The volunteers shuffle out of the house. It's
eight point fifteen now and visitations have already started.
Speaker 11 (05:08):
I don't need to have a might.
Speaker 12 (05:11):
Just her advice.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
They run out the back door, down a long wooden ramp,
past the colossal pear tree, overflowing with ripe fruit, down
to their cars parked in a gravel driveway.
Speaker 7 (05:25):
All right, we'll see you guys when you get back.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
We're going to be spending the next forty eight hours
inside and refugio with the families that pass through here
and the volunteers that run this hospitality house, to learn
how this place is handling and adapting to the onslaught
of immigration arrests in the second Trump term, and to
hear directly from the families of the people that have
(05:52):
gotten swept up in the raids.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Media.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
It's Latino USA. I'm Maria no Josa, and today we
travel to South Georgia. We're going to spend.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Forty eight hours at El Refujio.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
It's a one of a kind hospitality house that has
been created in order to ease the burden for people
who are visiting loved ones at one of the country's
largest immigration detention centers. We're going to meet families whose
lives have been turned upside down by ICE and also
meet the volunteers that are helping them navigate the system.
(06:34):
We also learn about the different ways that ramped up
ICE enforcement is leading more people than ever into places
like the Stuart Detention Center in Georgia. Today's episode is
a collaboration between Latino USA, Futuro Investigates and the Marshall Project.
(06:59):
Senior produce Sir Julieta Martinelli, who started us off, traveled
to Stuart County, Georgia with reporter Shannon Heffernan in order
to produce this story. I'm gonna hand the mike to
Julieta now and justa heads up, dear listener, this story
contains some mentions of suicide, so take care while listening.
Speaker 6 (07:21):
Grapes and the bread.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Back inside, things are still quiet. Marilyn, the woman who
opened the door for us, has stayed behind to prepare
for the day's visitors. Marylyn is the house coordinator this weekend.
Speaker 9 (07:37):
Here is some peach bread that I brought for our
breakfast and then Halo's.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Marylyn takes note of the food and the fridge, and
then she goes through the pantry. She makes plans for breakfast, lunch,
and dinner. As she opens cabinets, I noticed one item
that is in large supply.
Speaker 12 (08:03):
But yeah, they got it.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
It's almost comical, you know.
Speaker 9 (08:10):
People are so kind and they donate what they imagine
could be useful.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
While Stuart Detention Center doesn't publish their demographics, reports show
that the majority of detainees are Latinos. Their presence has
even shifted the demographics of this rural area. A twenty
sixteen analysis of census data by Pew Research Center claimed
that Stuart County so the largest growth in Latino population
(08:38):
in America and noted that the detention center was likely
the reason. And Latinos, well, a lot of us do
really love beans.
Speaker 9 (08:49):
So in this cabinet, we have lots of different teas
we have some honey, some coffee, breakfast cereals.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
While they accept non perishable donations, these volunteers do still
need to shop for fresh food every weekend. And because
there are no grocery stores in Lumpkin, Maryland, and the
volunteers lug groceries down from Atlanta, where they live several
hours north. It's just become part of the routine.
Speaker 9 (09:18):
The house has been operated for fifteen years wow, and
then prior to that, there were group visitations that were
organized a few times a year, so I did some
of those.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Stewart was first opened in two thousand and six by Corcivic,
then known as Corrections Corporation of America. Maryland said after
it opened, she and other volunteers from an advocacy group
started coming down to visit detainees. This was around the
time that ice enforcement really ramped up in the state.
(09:57):
By twenty eleven, Stuart was considered the largest and the
busiest immigration detention center in the nation. The following year,
Stuart was sued by the ACOU of Georgia in a
filing that said Stuart had proven quote incapable of protecting
the basic human rights of immigrants under its care. The
(10:20):
report cited a number of claims relating to abuse, in
humane conditions, and failure to meet medical and legal standards.
And then there was the location. Maryland says driving down
a Lumpkin for visitations made the advocates realize just how
challenging this detention center's geographic isolation was for the families
(10:44):
that were visiting.
Speaker 9 (10:47):
So that was really the impetus for starting this work,
knowing that by giving people a place to stay over
Saturday night, we could really serve people's needs.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
That's why, around fifteen years ago, the first hospitality house
in Lumpkin was opened. It was originally established by an
Immigrants Right nonprofit called Alderna. Maryland was a part of it.
By twenty twelve, Refujio became its own nonprofit and a
group of founding members, including Maryland, took over managing the house.
(11:23):
They were originally at a smaller house. Over the following years,
visitors at Refujio continued to grow. In twenty eighteen, they
moved over to this larger house where we are today.
And crazy story, but this bigger, nicer place was actually
donated by comedian Samantha b It was part of her
(11:45):
TBS show's holiday special, which they called Christmas on Ice.
The show heavily criticized the first Trump administration's immigration policies
and highlighted the work of Refujo. Marilyn finishes in the
kitchen and walks us over to the living room slash
(12:08):
waiting area. She adjusts the pillows on a comfortable couch.
I see art on the walls, books and board games
on the shelves. She talks as she continues her.
Speaker 9 (12:20):
Routine every weekend that I come down here. I play
out different scenarios in my mind about what could possibly happen.
Speaker 7 (12:30):
Has it felt like that's gotten more intense as of
LA Sure.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
That's martial project reporter Shannon Sure. As we talk, Marilyn
guides is over to a large map on a wall.
Speaker 6 (12:42):
Here's our map. We've got people to indicate where they're from.
Speaker 7 (12:47):
So oh wow, yeah, so you can see look at
this and everywhere.
Speaker 9 (12:51):
So this is both volunteers and guests who come to
the house.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
Can you describe the concentration of the pins?
Speaker 9 (12:58):
A whole lot of pins in the Southeast United States,
in Mexico and through Central America, quite a few Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador,
a smattering of pens across Africa, and a few across Europe,
several in Asia, a couple in Pakistan and India, one, two, three,
(13:18):
four in Iran, some from Israel, Palestine, several from Australia.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Yeah, so this is seeing it like this, it's really
kind of mind blowing. People from all over the world
have passed through this house because people from all over
the world have been sent down here into ICE attention.
In less than a year, the Trump administration has increased
(13:44):
the number of people detained in ICE facilities by almost
fifty percent. In fact, the first week of November broke
a record with more than sixty six thousand people in
ICE custody nationwide, more than any any time in American
history ever. And really that's why we're here. As more
(14:06):
and more people get taken into ICE custody and moved
into massive detention centers isolated in rural areas like Stuart,
it becomes even harder to know what people are going through.
Inside a hospitality house like this serves another important role
a commonplace for family members of detained individuals to gather
(14:28):
and share information. It's hard to know how many people
to expect this weekend Maryland says that you never really
quite know, just in case, though they've prepared all the rooms.
We walk through a dining room with one of the
(14:49):
largest tables I've ever seen. Maryland says that most people
congregate here throughout the day. There are several bedrooms with
multiple beds along two floors. Everywhere I look there's colorful
art with encouraging messages. Some of it is even made inside,
stored by people in custody. Marylyn tells us it's a lively,
(15:11):
happy place.
Speaker 6 (15:12):
Oh.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
Our tour is cut short around nine am. The first visitors.
Speaker 6 (15:24):
Saying are they here two weeks? So?
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Her name is Brooke, She's visiting her husbands long so
you know, familiar.
Speaker 6 (15:38):
I've tried to see more. We could take up three hours. Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
The women stop by the prison first. It's how the
routine goes. We learn the visitation hours are split based
on gender. Who goes first depends on the day. Today Saturday,
it was men in the afternoon from two to eight pm.
But as families have learned the hard way, you can't
just show up on time. And I know, like the
(16:04):
time gets full fast, so that we had to come
here early to sign on the list. To visit in
the afternoon, so we're part of Group one. Visits at
Stuart happen behind a thick plexiglass. People like Brooke will
travel for hours just to talk to their loved ones
through a phone. Families can't hug or even hold hands,
(16:25):
and even though the government claims that the tension centers
are not prisons, it all looks and feels the same.
Now that she's safely on the list and there's a
few hours to kill broken, her family can finally rest.
They thank the volunteers and make their way to one
of the bedrooms.
Speaker 6 (16:43):
Make yourselves at home, Okay, I'd like stuff you needed, the.
Speaker 12 (16:46):
Usual in Mohana.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Marilyn says that a lot of what they end up
doing is filling in new visitors with these kinds of
nuances around visitation. For example, nowhere on the DHS website
doesn't inform visitors that they need to arrive hours early
to register for visitation, and while there are address code
guidelines posted online, the guards will sometimes DENI entry based
(17:13):
on arbitrary rules like ripped pants.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Coming up on Latino USA, we meet some of the
families passing by a refujio on their way to the
Stuart Immigration Detention Center.
Speaker 5 (17:28):
You really never think this is going to happen to you,
and you never think it's gonna hate you like this.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
And we learn how these detentions have changed their lives.
Stay with us, Yes, hey, we're back. Before the break,
(17:56):
we learned about El Refujio. It's a hospitality hose for
families of people detained at the Stuart Immigration Detention Center.
Now we're going to meet more of the families. Senior
producer Julia Martinelli brings us this story today, so let's
get back to it.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Not being allowed inside, not having the right clothes, or
I d those are the kinds of anxieties that also
plagued Maria during her first visit. It's nearly noon when
I meet her, after she walks in with her mom
and her toddler, Kailani. Kailani attempts to sign the number
(18:50):
two with her fingers. She has her hair and pigtails
and wears these bright purple sunglasses. Maria has been coming
down a store for several weeks now, but today it's
the first time that she's visiting El Refujia.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
Today, I'm here to come and visit my fiance. He
has been in Stuart Detention Center. Since July twentieth and
July twentieth, a whole world changed. He was going to work. Sorry,
I get emotional. For two years, I was to stay
at home home watching our daughter. He was the provider
for our family. Not just like our family, his mom
and dad in Mexico.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Two. It's now been nearly six weeks since our fiance
Louis was detained.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
He was going to work. It was eight o'clock and
he calls me at eight thirty. He's like, hey, I
was picked up by ice. I was just putting her
back to sleep and I was like, what do you mean.
I thought it was a joke when he first said it.
I was like, that's not funny at all, and he
was like, no, I'm not playing. I was like, what
do you mean? I want to go check outside, but
by that time he was already gone. He's like, hey,
I know it's a lot, just listen. He's like, the officer,
(19:55):
it was nice enough to let me know that he
was arrested.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
Maria says that they snatched them up somewhere between his
front door and his car. She says they showed him
a photo, but he never saw a warrant or any
documents to explain why they were picking him up. It
didn't matter. Technically. Under the law, Ice should arrive with
judicial warrants to pick up the people that they're there
(20:21):
to detain, especially if they want to enter a business
or a residence. But they can also legally detain people
with quote reasonable suspicion in public places, according to DHS,
and the Supreme Court recently validated this, basically giving Ice
carte blanche to racially profile people in public Maria tells
(20:44):
me that Louis was simply put in a car and
taken away, just like that.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
It's really hard with the new laws ima us resident.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
We just got engaged last year in August.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
We're gonna get married in September. That was her plan.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
We've been together for twelve years. We're gonna get married
in a month.
Speaker 5 (21:07):
Yeah, but the September we were gonna get married. You
really never think this is gonna happen to you. You
just hear on the news.
Speaker 12 (21:15):
You hear like, oh blah blah blah.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
And you never think it's gonna hate you like this.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
All those preparations over the last year suddenly did it matter.
The emotional impact of Lisa's arrest was instant. The family
was distraught. Then came the next challenge.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
The money, the financial burden of this. Like I said,
I was a stay at home mom, not trying to
figure out who. Thank god we have savings, but again
that only takes you so long, so you really have
to like, think, think, think.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
Maria looks at Kailani. She's running around in the waiting area,
eating a banana that she picked out in the kitchen.
Speaker 5 (21:54):
It's been emotional for her because her life has changed
in less than a month with me twenty four hours.
She's really smart, but she does have speech delay, so
we were really focusing on her speech delay, trying to
get her tea like all of that. So right now
we have stopped the therapy because I need to figure
out my schedule. So now we're just accommodating to their
(22:16):
new normal.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
The new normal means three hour drives to Steward on
the weekends. Maria says that they've been waiting for a
bond hearing for over a month. She fears that Louise
will be pushed into a fast tracked deportation. That sense
of overwhelm, of chaos, it's something that we hear about
(22:40):
from nearly every person on this day. As the hours pass,
people shuffle in and out of Refujio. Later in the afternoon,
around two PM, as the second round of visitations began
(23:02):
at store, the line of people shuffling in and out
of Refujio slows down. Marylyn is back in the.
Speaker 7 (23:09):
Kitchen, fish fruit snacks, Manie muffins, muffins.
Speaker 9 (23:13):
We got some.
Speaker 12 (23:15):
New cha grain bars.
Speaker 9 (23:20):
There's a I thought they're a devlental soup in there
that is vegan, so I'm going to pull that out Later.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
Two women walk through the door. They're both wearing jeans
and white tops. A blonde and a brunette chatting. They
clearly came here together. After they get settled in, I
approach the women as they talk quietly at the dining
room table, drinking coffee. They tell me they're grateful to
be navigating the complexity of immigration, the tension together, and
(23:48):
so are their husbands. See Alma the brunette, and Anna,
the blonde are friends, well, they are now. Their husbands
were co workers. They're both painters. Now they're locked up
together at Stewart Eleon camp in the Alma says they
(24:12):
were on their way to work. A few weeks ago,
a third co worker was driving. They were just a
couple miles away from their job site in a wealthy
suburb in Atlanta. The men stopped at a gas station,
just as they did every other day. They pumped gas,
grabbed coffee, and made their way back to their work van.
(24:35):
They sparted a cop watching them the minute they pulled
out police lights.
Speaker 10 (24:42):
Albertos steporsua pariencia. The Espanos.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
Ceo all my things that they were racially profiled. Both
women say that, according to their husbands, the cops never
told them why he pulled them over. Inas Instead, she says,
the cop asked if they were legal. It was an
odd question, according to Alma, because she says that the
driver had provided a driver's license.
Speaker 12 (25:10):
As implemente mr LISTA. Last Persona says he lose the.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
Atlanta Alma says that the officers stepped back and made
a phone call. Then, she says, the men saw a
car parked across the street at a fire station pull
around behind them.
Speaker 12 (25:30):
Comenta case is as personas s Tavan and on.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
They say the officer greeted the mass men who exited
the unmarked car.
Speaker 12 (25:41):
Nono the policia.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
There were no decals, badges, or identification, just men in
a car. This is something that we've seen often this
year after Trump took office, and something that keeps popping
up in Latino, USA is reporting no matter what state
we're in, I says, and unmarked vehicles. They show up
out of nowhere, snatch people up without paperwork or explanation
(26:07):
and take them into custody. It all happens so quickly.
Speaker 10 (26:11):
Particular is the e Yallosinko Mimuto's q Minuto's YEO al
Departamento Policy Directamente ale Partamento de Ice.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
Alma says it took less than five minutes between being
pulled over to the moment that they were taken by ICE.
They were sent directly to the processing facility in Atlanta,
then eventually here. Alma leads the storytelling Anna, sitting next
to me at the table, can't stop wiping her tears.
(26:48):
At some point, someone places a container of Kleenex in
front of her. The balld up tissues pile around us
on the table, but Alma is angry. She wonders was
the cop unofficially working with ICE? Why not take them
into the local jail if they did something wrong. He
was a cop, so why would he allow them to
(27:10):
be taken by unidentified men. They're valid questions. While in Georgia,
a new state law requires local sheriff's departments to check
the legal status of people taken into custody. There are
rules and policies to follow. The person must be charged
(27:31):
with something and processed at the local jail before being
placed on an icehold.
Speaker 10 (27:37):
Seas pass a momento dios documentos.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
As almas as her husband should have never been taken
in He has an open petition for adjustment of status
during the process of getting his green card, She says,
the lawyer that she hired told her that a year
ago that would have meant a high likelihood of his release,
at least on bond. But so far they've gotten nowhere,
(28:10):
and it's not surprising given the growing reports of ice
picking up people at their own immigration appointments. The place
where you have to show up when you're doing things
the quote unquote right way.
Speaker 12 (28:23):
You're not nadi lo yoendox.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
The hardest part, Alma says, is not knowing what's going
to happen. Will they be able to get their partners
out Will they get deported? Will the women have to
abandon everything they've built here and return to Mexico? Do
they want to? Will they have to do?
Speaker 6 (29:06):
Toya?
Speaker 12 (29:07):
Must you there into.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
Alma and Anna are both looking to rent out rooms
and their homes. Alma says she fears for her safety,
so she's trying to hold out to find a female tenant.
After our chat, Alma and Anna head off to Stewart
to visit their husbands. But first they go to the bathroom.
They touch up their hair, they smile and put on
(29:35):
a facade that they're okay, that they're strong. Volunteers keep
a tally of the people passing through. They used to
keep a list. Families who walked in would put their
loved ones names down and share contact information. Volunteers would
(29:57):
follow up on their cases, make visits, and try to
stay informed. It's how they could get a sense of
how processes were changing, a general idea of how long
it took to get a bond, hearing, to get transferred, released,
or even deported. But now that's too risky. After fifteen
(30:17):
years here, volunteers say that for the first time they
fear that ICE will show up at a Refujio. So
since Trump took office, they just stop keeping track. They
also locked their doors now, something that Marilyn says feels
wrong but necessary.
Speaker 7 (30:35):
I see that you have your caution signs up here.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
That's reporter Shannon again.
Speaker 7 (30:40):
Have you ever had anybody actually come to the door
looking for people?
Speaker 6 (30:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (30:44):
Yeah, that's something that we're prepared for.
Speaker 4 (30:47):
The volunteers have even been recently trained and even ran
practice drills on what to do if I shows up.
Run to the door, make sure it's locked, ask for
a warrant, make sure it's judicial warrant, don't open the door,
don't say anything, be quiet.
Speaker 9 (31:05):
And please start recording immediately. Yeah, okay, yeah, that's just
saying that somebody is walking past.
Speaker 7 (31:14):
Got it?
Speaker 4 (31:15):
As if on cue a chime plays over a speaker
emotion sensor. At this point, my reporting partner Shannon asks.
Speaker 7 (31:24):
Have you trying to be pretty careful about security and
stuff like that?
Speaker 12 (31:28):
You know, balancing.
Speaker 9 (31:33):
Hospitality and safety is a really, really difficult dance. Our
home is open to anybody who comes to us asking
for hospitality. At the same time, we have to make
sure that there is a clear boundary there between what's
public space and what's private space, and that we don't
(31:55):
allow anyone into this space who has all intentions, and
that that includes more than justize right.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
Marilyn says she follows the news closely, so it's not
really surprising to hear of this fear. After all, there
has been a rise in reports of attacks on immigrants
and even people masquerading as ice agents to cast them harm.
Speaker 9 (32:18):
It could include anybody who feels like they've been empowered
to take things into their own hands, into the abusive
to the people that we serve, or abusive to us
for that matter.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
While the relationship between the detention center and the hospitality
house has always been relatively peaceful, the climate in the
country and the attitude towards immigrants has undoubtedly changed.
Speaker 9 (32:44):
We've not had that issue at all, but of course
it's the top of mind, top of mind.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Coming up on letting the volunteers who go into the
Stuart Detention Center come back with stories about the conditions inside,
and we speak to more families about the toll the
uncertainty of vice attention is taking on all of them.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
Stay with us, Yes, hey, we're back now.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
We continue our forty eight hours inside El Refugio and
we hear from returning volunteers about the conditions inside. Stuart
Senior producer Julia Tabardinelli picks up the story from here.
Speaker 6 (33:44):
We met someone.
Speaker 4 (33:46):
It's dinner time now Refujo. After all families have left, volunteers,
Marilyn Amy McKenzie and two katies finally sit down over
bowls of homemade lentil soup. They share details of their day.
The house is empty tonight, and they share what they
(34:06):
hear about conditions inside. They compare stories and take mental
notes things like issues accessing commissary and food.
Speaker 9 (34:15):
And there seems to be a pretty significant delay between
when you order something then when you get it.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
Or the failure to provide quality translators, which are integral
to a person's immigration case.
Speaker 9 (34:26):
I imgrestion a turning. I know he's had issues with.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Court interpretation.
Speaker 9 (34:34):
I remember one case he was talking about that he
speaks enough Arabic to know if somebody is interpreting well or.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
Not, interpreters who don't speak the language well, and other
challenges of communication, like with tablets for video visitations. For
families without papers or those who are not able to
travel here, this is the only other way to see
their loved ones.
Speaker 8 (34:56):
The lady is what to last time said, there's three
tablets for her her POONI are inner thing, yeah she
At that time, she said, there were sixty two people
in home.
Speaker 4 (35:07):
Nearly impossible to get a chance that video visits. That's
why these in person visits are so important and necessary
to families and also to the volunteers who step in
for those who can't visit. It's not easy seeing people
in their darkest hours, hearing their stories, wanting to help,
(35:28):
but really only being able to listen. After all, each
of the volunteers tells us that they ended up here
because they were fed up with seeing what they considered
cruelty on the news. They wanted to feel useful, to
do something.
Speaker 9 (35:46):
There was a man here, a man who took his
own life at Stuart, Oh God. And I was the
house coordinator that weekend.
Speaker 4 (35:57):
That's Marilyn again.
Speaker 9 (35:59):
We had been told this is a priority visit to
have happened. So I was going to go visit him
on Saturday. But then his mom came by the house
and she was coming from Stuart and she said, please,
please please, can someone check on my son tomorrow? And
I said, yes, I will go check on your son,
(36:19):
and he was in segregation at that point.
Speaker 4 (36:22):
Segregation refers to a person placed in a protected unit.
You might also have heard it called solitary confinement.
Speaker 9 (36:30):
So I went over really early to try to visit.
Speaker 4 (36:33):
Him, but Marilyn says that she was told that she
couldn't see him.
Speaker 9 (36:39):
I went home and then Monday morning I got a
phone call that he had taken his own life.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
It was hard. It was hard because I.
Speaker 9 (36:48):
I mean, it's not like I felt like my visit
could have changed anything, but you know, it felt it
felt personal in a way.
Speaker 4 (36:58):
The other volunteers their heads. It's a sentiment they seem
to share.
Speaker 7 (37:04):
His mom knew, his mom knew he needed something.
Speaker 4 (37:08):
Across the nation, there have been twenty deaths in ice
custody just this year. In fact, by October this was
already considered the deadliest year for people in ice custody
in two decades. These are the kinds of things that
these volunteers have to grapple with. But Amy, one of
(37:39):
the volunteers, says that while it's emotionally difficult work, it's
helped her feel like at least she's doing something people.
Speaker 8 (37:47):
Really are like desperate for, like tangible ways to help
and it's so confusing right now, like what's actually.
Speaker 4 (37:54):
Helpful for those who have been here longer? Though, like
one of the katies who is also a coordinator, the
work can take a toll.
Speaker 13 (38:03):
So I haven't been here in six months probably it's
been a while, and I was really beating myself up
about it and just kind of like, do I want
to come back out?
Speaker 9 (38:12):
Can I cope with?
Speaker 4 (38:14):
What's?
Speaker 3 (38:15):
Like?
Speaker 13 (38:15):
I don't know that I'm strong enough to do this work, honestly,
Like I just had this big moment of doubt and
I was like in this kind of paralyzed place.
Speaker 4 (38:25):
Recently, she says she's been doubting if she's really even
helpful because her Spanish is not that great and she
had a situation where she was unable to communicate with
the person. It made her feel helpless, like she was
letting the person down.
Speaker 13 (38:42):
I have to get out of my own head that
I don't have to do it perfectly, Like I don't
have to be the most prepared. I don't have to
be the most emotionally available stable, you know, I don't
have to have the most languid Like I just have
to show up.
Speaker 4 (39:00):
That's really what it's about. Here. It seems every need
can't be fully met. There is chaos, constant changes, people
coming in and out, all playing out within a system
that is much bigger than this place or these people.
But when each of these volunteers say they can do
(39:21):
is continue to show up, to show by action to
immigrant families that they're not alone. The next day, no
one seems to have got much sleep. It was a long,
(39:41):
heavy day. Eight am, breakfast is made, coffee is brewed
by ten eleven known families finishing the first wave of
visitations are shuffling in to eat rest or now before
they have to do the long drive home. While a
lot of visitors have been Latinos, we also met families
(40:04):
from Russia, Vietnam, and Gambia passing through the house. On
our final day, we also meet a family, a young
woman here with her husband and children coming to visit
her father.
Speaker 6 (40:16):
I've just had a glass.
Speaker 3 (40:19):
Right here.
Speaker 6 (40:19):
It was it was a drought, so I had to
have you guys been driving since morning?
Speaker 4 (40:25):
Yeah, since its light. They have two toddlers in tow.
Speaker 6 (40:31):
Your first time to Stewart. Here's sure is.
Speaker 7 (40:36):
They got a nice set of toys in there.
Speaker 9 (40:37):
Too. I'm sure I will go.
Speaker 4 (40:44):
After the kids get settled. Shannon sits down with them
in the front room.
Speaker 9 (40:48):
How long has your dad been there?
Speaker 6 (40:52):
I'm sure he's going to be termed to see him.
Speaker 14 (40:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (40:55):
She still remembers the day she found out that her
father was in ice custody.
Speaker 6 (41:00):
I just got a call for my dad. He said
that he was taking the ice.
Speaker 7 (41:06):
It's just definitely caused eris because.
Speaker 12 (41:10):
He wasn't He's not a criminal, he didn't do anything wrong.
Speaker 4 (41:13):
Now they're in the process of trying to deport him
to a country that he hasn't been in in forty
three years. He doesn't have any family in there.
Speaker 5 (41:22):
Everyone is here.
Speaker 7 (41:23):
Have you gotten any word about how your dad's doing
in there?
Speaker 4 (41:26):
That's martial Project reporter Shannon again.
Speaker 14 (41:29):
We're sending him commissary money and he's eating tuna.
Speaker 4 (41:33):
As the conversation continues, it undoubtedly beers towards Trump's policies.
Speaker 14 (41:38):
I'm a Republican, and I know that Trump put this
in place and stuff, but and I did vote for him,
but I didn't know it wasn't just rap posts and
killers and murders and this and that, like trying to
go capture like it was my.
Speaker 4 (41:53):
Dad's not any of that.
Speaker 14 (41:54):
When Trump was advocating and stuff and campaigning, I had
no idea that.
Speaker 7 (42:01):
It was literally about like hate, you know. And you
thought when he was talking about immigrants, he wasn't talking
about your dad.
Speaker 14 (42:11):
Well, no, I was thinking about like, you know, literally
like human traffickers and the criminals like that are hurting
other people.
Speaker 4 (42:19):
You know. I don't want to be around that.
Speaker 7 (42:21):
I don't want my kids to be around that.
Speaker 14 (42:23):
That's what he campaign and that's what he said and stuff. Yeah,
it's very frustrating.
Speaker 4 (42:30):
Yeah, but this experience has changed a lot for her.
She says her family no longer supports Trot, not.
Speaker 12 (42:37):
Just because of.
Speaker 14 (42:40):
My dad's situation, but because I do I feel as
just dividing, like the country and you're just being so
so hateful, you know, and like we need more love
and like understanding and not this This just causes like
huge divisions and it hurts families and people.
Speaker 4 (43:05):
It might be difficult to understand how someone can vote
for Trump when their loved ones immigration status is up
in the air, but it helps to look at the
administrations messaging around immigration enforcement. Trump campaigned on this idea
that he would round up criminals and those causing harm
(43:26):
to communities. Instead, as we've seen over the last ten months,
ICE has actually done the opposite. Recent data shows that
more than seventy percent of people currently in ICE custody
don't have a criminal record, and an analysis by the
Vera Institute of Justice shows that in the first four
(43:46):
and a half months of the second Trump administration, ICE
booked into the tension nearly one hundred and twenty thousand people.
That's a seventeen percent increase from the same time period
during Trump's first term and a forty six percent increase
from the same time period under President Biden. Families like
(44:08):
this are having to come to terms with the fact
that when Trump says criminals, it also means.
Speaker 1 (44:14):
Them stay with us. Yes, hey, we're back.
Speaker 4 (44:30):
I sit in the kitchen talking with two of the
volunteers who speak Russian. They've just returned from visitation.
Speaker 9 (44:37):
Recently, there have been a few, like four or five
Russian speaking women who have asked for visits. One Russian
speaker figures out how to contact us, and then she
tells the other Russian speakers.
Speaker 14 (44:52):
Or you know.
Speaker 4 (44:53):
While most of the people that they visit are Spanish speakers.
There's actually all kinds of which needs.
Speaker 9 (45:01):
We had a whole group of men from Cameroon who
we were visiting, a couple people from some islands, from
Latin America, and you know, there's people on our list
now from countries in Africa.
Speaker 4 (45:12):
It's one of the challenges and maybe even proof of
the expanding of ICE enforcement into all kinds of communities,
and it's led people having to make decisions that they
never thought they would. Like Veronica, I first spot her
playing a card game at the other end of the
dining room table. She's there with two young boys. They're
(45:36):
eating the sandwiches that had been laid out in the
kitchen earlier that day. There's barely any room at the
table at this point. Nearly all eighteen seats are taken
by families eating lunch, drinking coffee, and chatting amongst each other.
I'm over in the living room, sitting on the floor,
chatting with another family. The couches are also full. From me.
(46:00):
A little girl sleeps under a blanket, her head on
her mom's lap. I make my weight at the table.
Speaker 6 (46:09):
I also bought cars with my dad. Do you want
to play with us? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (46:14):
Now, for the record, I love O. No, of course
I can't say no.
Speaker 6 (46:22):
You're gonna trouble, scared to play with you, or I shouldn't.
Speaker 7 (46:32):
Have sun.
Speaker 6 (46:36):
Man fiance.
Speaker 4 (46:37):
Yeah, Baronica drove down from Asheville, North Carolina.
Speaker 15 (46:42):
Six hours of a drive every time back at well
twelve hours in total. They got him in his own
igration appointment, and he doesn't have a criminal record. He
doesn't have any reason to be detained. Like his visas
are up to date, his work visas up to day
to twenty thirty. His license is not expirited to twenty
(47:04):
thirty as well, so we were both surprised. I was
really devastated when he told me.
Speaker 4 (47:09):
Like many of the stories we heard this weekend, but
Oniica says that they were following the law. Her fiance
was going to his immigration check ins, and they were
planning to get married. She had never considered that this
could happen. I started screaming, I started crying.
Speaker 1 (47:26):
I wanted to.
Speaker 15 (47:28):
Fill up everything with rage, but I no, he needed
me as much as I need a ham so I
just calmed down.
Speaker 4 (47:34):
I watched Veronica as we play the card game. She
giggles and laughs and seems pointedly different from others in
the house. She's optimistic, and that's because all of this,
the visits, the lawyers, the stress, the crying is coming
to an end.
Speaker 15 (47:52):
He made a decision to volunteer deport himself, so we're
going to make that change, and just got to Columbia.
He said that he'd rather do that and then just
try to come back again after this.
Speaker 7 (48:02):
PRESIDENTIY is over and just go from there.
Speaker 15 (48:05):
And I'm just supporting him with I told him from
the beginning, whatever he wants to decide or whatever he
feels like it's best for.
Speaker 7 (48:11):
Him, we just go from there. Your whole life is
just changing. Yes it is, and it was a really fast,
drastic change. But she's got to keep going.
Speaker 15 (48:21):
I'm gonna basically sell everything that I have here, have
a couple of monies so I can be over there
and just go from there.
Speaker 3 (48:28):
I'm excited.
Speaker 15 (48:28):
I'm really excited over everything so we can get reunited again.
Speaker 4 (48:35):
Before Veronica leaves, she says she can't wait to get
back to living her life. She radiates joy and peace,
something that stands out to me after a weekend where
we heard so much sadness, fear, and anxiety over the
past forty eight hours. We've spoken to families that have
(48:55):
become paralyzed by the sudden presence of ice in their lives.
The detainments have appended everything, not just the lives of
the people that steward, but that of everyone around them.
They're in a form of purgatory, a life sized version
of this home, a waiting room with no set times
(49:15):
and no clear next steps. But Veronica and her fiance
are bucking the system. It might look like giving up,
and maybe it is. It's tragic to have to lose
it all, to be persecuted, to leave your whole life behind,
(49:36):
but it's a choice, a choice made by them. As
the day wraps and our weekend that Refujio comes to
an end, families begin to make their way home. I
(49:57):
catch my breath outside for a minute and spot one
of the volunteers doing the same. It's Mackenzie, the youngest
volunteer here this weekend. She's just twenty one. I wonder
how that feels for you, when like the weekends.
Speaker 3 (50:11):
Are strong to close.
Speaker 4 (50:13):
I know I was prob also emotionary taxi.
Speaker 11 (50:16):
I think it's nice to have the people come through
and to just see how many people were really helping
by being able to keep the house open and like
volunteering here even just to set out the stuff for
lunch or make up the beds. Otherwise they'd just be
sitting in the parking lot waiting for hours and hours.
Speaker 4 (50:38):
And these people. McKenzie is a student at Spellman, by
historically black women's college in Atlanta with a rich tradition
of civic involvement and community activism. McKenzie began visiting the
Teinees that Stewart earlier this year.
Speaker 11 (50:53):
I think that's like, one of the reasons why my
first visit was so important to me is that the
first person that I visited being a black woman. It
surprised me, Like going in and seeing that was like, Oh,
this is not what I expected an immigrant to look like.
And I think because of the way that immigrations talked about,
(51:16):
it's like, oh, it must only be Hispanic people, and
then to see that no, this is actually a much
bigger issue. It affects people from all different walks of life.
I think some people think, oh, this isn't something that
I need to be concerned about because it's not in
(51:38):
my community. It doesn't affect me, it doesn't affect people
that look like me. But when you come here, there's
white people, there's black people, there's Hispanic people, Europeans, Russians.
Speaker 4 (51:49):
She's right. This weekend, we spoke with more than sixty
people at a Refujio, families from eight different countries, speaking
a number of different lightsanguages. While we only heard the
stories of a handful of families in this piece, we
spoke with dozens, most too afraid to share publicly what
(52:09):
they're experiencing out of fear of repercussions from the Trump administration.
Speaker 11 (52:14):
It's just a good reminder that this is a very
diverse and complicated issue, but that ultimately coming up with
a better solution, with a better system that's more inclusive,
benefits all of us.
Speaker 4 (52:34):
And really, at the end of the day, that's why
we chose to come here, Because what's happening inside this place,
hidden away in a tiny rural town in the South,
just a couple miles from an immigration detention center, is
bigger than this house. In a way, the stories we
heard at Rafuchio are just a reflection of the trauma,
(52:58):
the chaos, and the challenges facing people across the nation
at a moment in time where it can feel really
hard to make sense of reality, of the law, of
how power is wielded, of the ways that we can
turn on each other. El Refugio stands as a reminder
(53:19):
of the ways in which people can choose to come together.
Speaker 2 (53:34):
We reached out to cour Civic regarding some of the
claims we heard from families of detainees about conditions inside
the detention center. A spokesperson for the organization submitted a
lengthy response refuting all claims, adding that these allegations were
quote unfounded and not an accurate representation of Stuart Detention
(53:58):
Center today.
Speaker 1 (54:00):
End quote, and dear listener.
Speaker 2 (54:08):
Next week, we'll be dropping a bonus episode for our
FU plus members. Producer Julia ta Martinelli is gonna take
you behind the scenes of reporting out this story, and
if you're not part of Futuro plus, my gosh, you're
missing out. Join us by going to futuro Media dot
org slash Join plus.
Speaker 3 (54:53):
This episode was.
Speaker 2 (54:54):
Produced by Julia Ta Martinelli with reporting from Shannon Heffernan.
It was edited by Mitra Bonshahi with editing support from
Pennile Ramirez and Tom Meager. This piece is a collaboration
between Latino USA Futuro Investigates and The Marshall Project. It
was mixed by Julia Caruso and Lea Shaw Damaran in
(55:15):
fact checking for this episode by Roxanna Guire. Fernanda Echavari
is our managing editor. Special thanks to the dozens of
families who shared so much with us during our visit
to a Refujio. The Latino USA team also includes Rebeccae Barra,
Renaldolanos Junior, Stephanie lebou Luis, Luna Rodri Mard Marquez, Monica
(55:36):
Moreles Garcia, JJ Carubin, Adriana Rodriguez and Nancy Trujillo. Penni
le Ramidez and I are executive producers. I'm your host
Maria Nkosa. Latino USA is part of Iheart's Mike U
Dura podcast network. Executive producers at iHeart are Leo Gomez
and Arlene Santana.
Speaker 1 (55:54):
Join us again for our next episode.
Speaker 2 (55:56):
In the meantime, I'll see you on all of our
social media and we don't forget.
Speaker 1 (56:00):
Dear listener to join Futuro Plus.
Speaker 2 (56:03):
It gets you a chance to listen to all episodes
without ads, and you get bonus content too.
Speaker 1 (56:09):
Also, you'll be supporting futuro media, which we know you
love so Yes, Joe.
Speaker 4 (56:22):
Latino USA is made possible in part by Public Welfare Foundation,
catalyzing transformative approaches to justice that are community led, restorative,
and racially just. WK Kellogg Foundation, a partner with communities
where children come First, and the Ford Foundation, working with
(56:43):
visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide.
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