The Unexpected Journey

I was born in a tucked away town called Malakal in South Sudan, on the west banks of the Nile. My mother was a school teacher who taught Arabic to primary school children and adults alike. She also worked as a lead coordinator of logistics for the United Nations and

Art from Inside: Cibola County Detention Center

The sketches and art featured below were collected over the past year from immigrants formerly detained at the Cibola County Detention Center in Grants, NM. They come to us courtesy of the Program for Access to Legal Services, which is a joint project between the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center

“Immigrant detention is incarceration without any due process.”

Recently, I interviewed Vasudha Talla, Staff Attorney for the American Civil Liberties Foundation of Northern California, about her current work around immigrant detention — and what keeps her up at night. Cindy Knoebel: I understand that you’re actively involved in detention and immigration issues. Can you talk more about this?

“We haven’t told our kids he’s in jail.”

Eleven months ago Alexey Kharis went to DHS in San Francisco to receive the verdict on his appeal for political asylum. Then he was arrested and thrown into detention. This is his wife Anna’s story. (Part 2 of 2) I met my Alexey in 2007 when I was in

Political Asylum: DENIED

Eleven months ago Alexey Kharis went to DHS in San Francisco to receive the verdict on his appeal for political asylum. Then he was arrested and thrown into detention. (Part 1 of 2)Like many entrepreneurs in the Bay Area, 43-year-old Alexey Kharis had big dreams for a startup business

In Lament for Zeresenay

*Zeresenay Esmias Testfatsion fled his home country of Eritrea to seek asylum in the U.S., arriving in January 2017. Conditions in Eritrea are deplorable. In 2017, the U.N. recommended publicly that the President of Eritrea be prosecuted in the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. Zeresenay’s