For immigrant families, a ‘Christmas of immense pain’

This story was originally published by American Community Media. 

Janeth López, a mother of three kids, is desperate. Her fiancé, Fredy Sandoval was deported to Nicaragua after being held in detention for three weeks.

“I wouldn’t wish on anyone a Christmas like the one we will have this year,” said López, 39, a resident of Paso Robles, located along California’s Central Coast and famed for its wine shops, olive oil production and almond fields.

During the two years the couple spent together, Sandoval, who entered the United States three years earlier seeking asylum, became a source of moral and financial support for López and her three kids. “He earned the affection of my daughters,” noted López, whose kids are 4, 5 and 9 years old.

She recalled the day, Sept. 30, when the couple decided to contact the lawyer in charge of Sandoval’s asylum case after not hearing from her for a prolonged period. “The lawyer’s assistant asked if we were aware that Fredy had had a court date the day before, on Sept. 29. Fredy said no one had notified him. The assistant said they hadn’t received notice either, but that there was now an order for Fredy’s deportation on the ICE website for failure to appear.”

The lawyer’s assistant tried to assure the couple, saying they would submit a motion to reopen the case. Over the next 30 days that Sandoval was given to appeal, his lawyer’s office continued telling him that they were working on his case; and again, they insisted that he shouldn’t worry.

During that time, Sandoval received an appointment to appear at the ICE offices in Santa Maria, about 60 miles south of Paso Robles, on Nov. 12. He was part of the Intensive Supervised Appearance Program (ISAP), which ICE uses for periodic check-ins with certain immigrants.

“When Fredy called his lawyers’ office in Los Angeles, they told him to show up for the appointment, that nothing was going to happen. Stupidly we believed them, and we even made plans about what we were going to buy the girls for Christmas,” recalled López.

A half an hour passed before she went into the ICE office to ask about her fiancé. That’s when officials informed her that he had been detained.

“I called the lawyers’ office again, and they told me to stay calm, that they were working on the motion to reopen the case,” she said.

Sandoval spent his last three weeks in the United States in custody at the Adelanto Detention Center, east of Los Angeles, before being transferred to other facilities in Arizona, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Eventually López reached out to the ACLU, which helped her find new lawyers. “We filed a motion to prevent Fredy’s deportation, but two days later, on December 4, he was deported to Nicaragua,” she recalled.

With Christmas here, López says she is at a loss for words to describe how she feels.

“We had plans to get married,” said López, who is a permanent resident, noting her fiancé had no criminal record. “He was a good provider. He cared about my girls and they cared about him. He was happy with us.”

She added, “I’m trying to be strong, I don’t feel like doing anything for Christmas.”

In Nicaragua, Sandoval is suffering the effects of detention.

“He tells me he wakes up crying in the middle of the night, and his parents comfort him like he’s a child. Guards kept him without food for 48 hours during the transfer; in Adelanto, on one occasion, they left them without water for about 36 hours,” López said. “The agents drank water in front of detainees, mocking them.”

She says that her fiancé begs her to wait for him and give him time.

“His absence is very hard, even more so during this holiday season. He came to me from heaven, and I’m not going to do anything but wait for us to be reunited. Fredy is my family.”

A Christmas in detention

For Clemente Castillo and his four children, this Christmas will undoubtedly be the saddest of their lives.

“My wife has been detained in Dilley, Texas since October 23, and she has a court hearing on January 12 to determine if bail will be set,” says Castillo of his wife, Roberta, 44.

The pair first came from Mexico to the United States in 2003. Their children, now 21, 18, 16, and 7 years old, were born here, as well as a granddaughter who was born on November 26.

“During Trump’s first term, in 2016, my wife was detained when we lived in Bloomington, Illinois,” recalled Castillo. “The registration sticker on the car she was driving had expired. She was stopped by a police officer who later turned her over to immigration.” She was released the next day, although with a deportation order.

“On the advice of the immigration officer, we found a lawyer who stopped the deportation process, got her a work permit, and a social security number,” said Castillo, adding the only drawback was that she had to report to ICE every year to sign in.

Some immigrants are required to appear before ICE for periodic appointments, which allow officials to track their location, monitor their immigration status, and ensure compliance with immigration laws, especially for those in deportation proceedings or who have been released pending court appearances. This is ostensibly to verify that they do not pose a security risk and will attend their hearings.

This year, Roberta’s appointment was on Oct. 23 in Dallas, Texas.

“That’s where they arrested my wife, and for days I didn’t hear from her, until she called me from a detention center in Dilley, Texas,” he recalled.

Castillo says everyone in the family is emotionally devastated.

“The lawyer we had initially wanted to charge us $5,000, but then said it could be as much as $10,000. We had already paid him $7,000 before the arrest. Since I refused to give him what he asked for, he dropped the case; and that was for the best because I no longer trusted him.”

Having lost his legal representation, Castillo has been looking for lawyers, but not many want to take the case because of the proximity of the bail hearing in January.

“There was one lawyer who asked for $3,500 without offering any guarantees,” he said. “I was even almost scammed by someone who pretended to be a lawyer and set me up in front of a fake judge online. Luckily, I realized it in time, just as I was about to send the payment.”

Castillo says they have no other option but to defend themselves.

“My wife will go before the judge alone.”

Being both mom and dad hasn’t been easy for Castillo, especially after the birth of their granddaughter while his wife remained in detention. “She’s our only joy these days and what has helped us cope with the void left by my wife,” he said.

Fighting back tears, Castillo says their only crime was entering the United States without permission. “We didn’t come here to steal. We’re not a risk to society. We don’t distribute or use drugs. We have a cleaning business. What’s the crime? Leaving houses clean?” he asked.

For Castillo, this will be a Christmas of uncertainty.

“If she’s deported to Mexico, I’ll go with her. If she’s not here, I have no reason to be here,” he said, his voice breaking with emotion.

‘So much emotional suffering’

“This is a Christmas of immense pain, sadness, and hopelessness for immigrant families whose members have been deported, or those detained in these cruel centers,” said Pastor Guillermo Torres, director of migration campaigns for Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE).

Torres says he has never seen such cruelty in the more than ten years he has been visiting the Adelanto Detention Center. “I was there on Friday and left in tears after witnessing so much emotional suffering and the negligence in providing medical care to detained immigrants.”

According to the latest data, some 68,442 people were being held in one of 216 ICE detention centers nationwide. ICE has also overseen a record number of deaths in detention, with four detainees dying over the past week alone.

“We must continue fighting, struggling, and praying with and for immigrants to change this cruel political situation,” said Torres. “I ask God to intervene and make His presence felt in these difficult times of racism, discrimination, and hatred.”