 and pagers and whatever else you're carrying. Thank you and welcome. Somebody asked what is the IWC? It's the Interfaith Welcome Committee, a coalition I should say, made up of a number of different religious congregations, religious communities throughout the San Antonio area. This evening is an evening of listening and participating as we learn from each other about family detention here in San Antonio, well, close to us in Dilley and in Carnes. We hope that it will be helpful. We have a number of people who have first-hand experience there and some on, of course, on video and hopefully their experience will help you to understand the situation we're in and the changes that we're seeking. We are blessed tonight with some committed people to that work who have over the last year done a number of things in order to ease the lives of the women and children who are in these two facilities. So we are grateful for that. I'd like to start with a prayer and then I'll do other little parts of our business. So if we could just recollect ourselves, remembering that we're always in God's presence, His loving presence, and we're always cared for by Him and expects us to give that to His people. Loving Father, remembering that the holy family flood violence and live for a time as refugees, we ask that you protect all refugee families fleeing persecution of any kind and provide them a place of safety and comfort. For children who are making perilous journeys with or without their parents, we ask them that you reunite them with their families and protect them from violence on that journey. For all migrants that they feel not compelled to migrate, but have opportunities in their own homelands where they can thrive and live fully human lives. Open our hearts so that we may provide hospitality for those who come in search of refuge. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit. One God forever and ever. Amen. My name is Sister Patricia Conley. I'm a daughter of charity working on the south side of San Antonio and our center is there. And the other co-chair who is here tonight, but is handling the translation equipment, et cetera, but in the back is Cecilia Perez-Reyes. Cecilia, would you stand up for a minute? For initiatives, our CPR, which I think is a wonderful combination of letters to have in this kind of work. The other chair is Reverend Kelly Ellen from the University Presbyterian Church, and she's not able to be here tonight. You may look on your, you may look, you have on your desk or table these yellow sheets. We do have a time for questions and answers, but it's really gonna be a short time and really going to be focused on our two representatives from Congress, Lloyd Daggett and Joaquin Castro. But if you have questions that you want us to pursue and will pursue, please just write them there and leave them on the table. You have two other sheets. This one's the immigration family detention sheet, which Susan Mica drew together for the leadership conference of religious women that was held in Houston last week. And it's a wonderful summary of the basic facts. Good thing for take home and study. And then in the back there are opportunities for service and advocacy, described in some detail with phone numbers so that you can know who you call for what in terms of involvement. And then finally there's a sheet that is a take action sheet, whether you do it in terms of direct service or financial contributions or advocacy. And we urge all of those or do the ones that are most in keeping with your spirit and what you're called to. So I'd like to introduce Reverend Tracy Smith, who's the pastor at Northwood Presbyterian Church who will give us a short history of how we came to be a year ago. So here she is, Tracy. Thank you, Sister Patz. And Sister Patz said that Reverend Kelly Allen wasn't able to be here tonight, but actually she is here because she wrote the words that I'm about to read. So there's no one more qualified than Kelly to talk about the history of the Interfaith Welcome Coalition. And so we asked her to write that up and so I will be her voice. So I'll try to make it brief, but it is exciting history, so hunker down. Okay, so the original meeting of what is now the Interfaith Welcome Coalition was called over a year ago on August 7th, 2014 by Eugene Heilman who is serving as the chair of the San Antonio Volunteer Organization's Active in Disaster. And that meeting was at the request of Harvey Howell of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance as well as other Presbyterian clergy. And the focus of that original meeting was to talk about the unaccompanied minor crisis, thousands of unaccompanied minors being held at Lackland Air Force Base. That original meeting had over 200 people from faith communities in San Antonio as well as Karn City and New Braunfels, congressional staffers, social service and school representatives and on and on. From the first meeting onward, the group has relied on the expertise, knowledge and leadership of Jonathan Ryan and Ryeces to give legal interpretation and description of the landscape. We continue to meet every other week struggling to determine what our response would be to the unaccompanied minor crisis. I'm gonna skip over a bunch where we found out a month later about the horrors of family detention that's mothers and their babies in jail. We were outraged by this and as we tried to serve the very real needs of women and children in detention while searching desperately to find an end to this humane practice. A variety of programs came into being over this past year. In November, we started an orientation sessions for people interested in visitation which began in local churches and then we also began a backpack program where supplies were gathered and backpacks given to families who were released. In late February, a bus station volunteer found over 20 refugees who needed a place to stay overnight. That was a member of the Mennonite Church who had offered her home for refugees and then she offered to check with the leadership of the Mennonite Church to see if they might offer space for housing after that three properties were put to use to support the efforts of the Interfaith Welcome Coalition to support refugees. Church and individual donations were made to provide food, clothes, transportation assistance, utility payments and rent to the Mennonite Church. From two to five families were hosted most nights at first by late spring the numbers were higher and during some weeks 10 to 20 families were hosted, 30 to 50 backpacks given out. May 1st of this past year the advocacy team hosted a large community event about family detention and organized bus trip to take people to a nationwide protest at Dilly. AmeriCorps Vista and Mennonite Service volunteers have contributed three full-time volunteers to help expand and stabilize the work of a mostly volunteer effort. Methodists, Presbyterians, Quakers, Catholics, Jews, Mennonites, Unitarians, Lutherans, Atheists, Agnostics, Individuals and entire communities have contributed in immeasurable ways to this effort. People have marched, made tacos, offered medical care, donated children's books, paid bonds, created artwork, sponsored families, given cash from their own pockets, gotten up at three in the morning to transport families, done laundry, raised money, written legislators, produced documentaries, planned prayer vigils and spoken out in outrage in our congregations. It is impossible to credit any one group or individual with what has happened in the last year or even to track the activities that have been generated out of our semi-monthly gatherings. It has been stressful and heartwarming, frustrating and joyful, chaotic, conflictual, hope-filled and creative. We continue to serve our neighbors meeting twice monthly but we are fueled by an angry hope that the abusive policy of family detention will stop now. And there's so much more, it's amazing. Now we're moving on to a documentary that has been provided for us and done for us by Charlotte Ann Lucas, who is the managing director of Nowcast San Antonio. Charlotte, do you wanna come up? I'm Charlotte Ann Lucas. I lead Nowcast essay. It's a 501C3 non-profit, local independent online news organization with a vital mission to promote and facilitate an inclusive civic conversation. Using tools like tonight's webcast, we democratize community information, giving access to as many people as possible. As journalists, when we put together something like the documentary that you are about to see tonight, we act responsibly and with empathy. To paraphrase the outgoing CEO of Twitter, Dick Costello, we try to shine a light on what's good in the world and what needs to be changed, to champion the underserved, to embrace people's differences and to amplify the best of humanity. And now the documentary. Be seized by murderous gangs, extortion, abuse, kidnappers and death threats. Hundreds of women from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras risk everything to flee North with their children, seeking safety and refuge in the United States of America. Those who survived the perilous and often deadly journey through Mexico turned themselves in at the U.S. border, asking for asylum and are handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. In the past, mothers and children whose stories seemed credible were quickly released on their word or a token bond to live with family or friends in the U.S. while waiting a court hearing. But in 2014, after 65,000 unaccompanied Central American children spilled across the border, the U.S. government adopted a new policy to deter more refugees by holding mothers and children in private prisons in South Texas on the argument that they are a threat to national security. ICE officials declined to be interviewed for this story. Here, in their own words, is what happened to three Central American mothers after they crossed the border into the U.S. with their children. Yannira left Guatemala on January 6th with her four-year-old daughter and 12 and 16-year-old sons. When the family turned themselves in to immigration at the border, they were taken to the infamously cold-holding facility, the ICE Box, then put in a cage in a place known as the Dog Pound before being transferred to the private prison facility in Carnes, Texas with hundreds of other Central American mothers and children. The judge denied other women asylum here in the U.S. and the saddest part for me was to think that I would suffer the same fate. If I was sent back to Guatemala, I knew we would be killed. She saw many mothers who had been in Carnes for many months without being released on bond. She was sad to think that would happen to her as well, so she wrote her name down to join the hunger strike. Going on the hunger strike was a way for us to pressure the authorities and to let them know that we exist. But after she signed on to the strike, Yenera said the private prison guards told her they had determined her case for asylum was credible and that she would be released as soon as she could pay a bond of $7,500. I started crying when I learned that I was soon to be released. I had no way of paying the bond, and this is what also makes me sad to think of other mothers who have to pay even larger sums. But the guards warned me that if I joined the strike, my bond would be revoked and I would be sent back immediately. Then two months and three days after she arrived and two days after the hunger strike ended, guards knocked on her door and said, bring your children. You are going to be released. To keep us imprisoned with our children is basically saying that our children are criminals and that is not the case. Our children are not criminals to be locked up like that. It is unfair to have our freedom taken away for so long. Those who are affected the most are the children. As a mother, I can handle this pain, but my children, they shouldn't. We've not committed any crime, but to think that we could ask for help to escape abuse, violence, and threats. I ask that you have compassion and see how much we've suffered. We are not criminals. Ana and her 14-year-old son made the dangerous journey from El Salvador up through Mexico, and on October 6th, 2014, walked across the International Bridge from Reynosa, Tamulipas, into the U.S. Port of Entry in Hidalgo, where they immediately turned themselves in as asylum seekers. We came here to escape extortions and death threats because in El Salvador, 10 to 14-year-olds are recruited to be part of the gangs. Two days after arriving, we were sent to Carnes, Texas. They told me we would stay there for two weeks, but this was a lie. Two landed in the Carnes' private prison, where Ana had to pass the credible fear test to see if she was eligible to seek asylum. We had to undergo a process to determine whether the officers believed her story. On the fourth day, I passed the credibility test. But there were hundreds of mothers and children in Carnes and not enough lawyers to go around, so she had to represent herself in front of an immigration judge who was many miles away in San Antonio. From the beginning, I felt the day stretch for hours. We had to stand in line to be counted very early in the morning at 7 a.m. The children left for school at 9 until 4 p.m. We had to be counted again at that time and one last time at 8 p.m. Each time they were counted, it took 30 minutes. There were four hallways, each with more than 100 mothers and children standing in line with their ID cards as they were counted by private prison guards. In April, after enduring six months in the private prison, Ana too joined the hunger strike. I was part of the first hunger strike. We were 78 women. When the officers called us, they told us that we were incapable of taking care of our children because we went on strike. If we joined the strike, they would take away our children. After seven days of hunger strike, Ana was given a bond of $7,500. After seven days, they gave bonds to four of us. We were chosen to be released. And some of the women were released after paying the bond, but Ana did not have $7,500 to pay her bond. Two weeks later, 22 mothers went on another hunger strike that lasted for seven days until April 20th. Then two days later, they got a call telling them they would be freed on their word without having to pay a bond. The officer told us that the reason we were being let go was so that we wouldn't contaminate the new ones. The guards didn't want the new mothers to hear from the troublemakers about hunger strikes and protests by those who had been imprisoned with their children for months. The day before, 35 new mothers had arrived and 35 more the next day. It makes me very unhappy to see so many mothers who were fleeing violence and came here to seek protection. We haven't committed any crime to be locked up for so long. We are not criminals. We are just mothers who want to be with their children and to protect them. We don't want them to be killed. Maria Rosa came from Honduras with her 10-year-old son and spent six months in carins before being released on $7,500 bond after the second hunger strike ended April 20th. The situation in Honduras is very difficult. There's a lot of domestic violence and families who live in fear because they have been threatened. They don't have anywhere to go. The women suffer the most due to domestic violence and they can't escape their situation because they lack the money to run away. Or worse, they have nowhere to go. Unfortunately, those of us who came to this country in hopes of a better life have asked for help but have been thrown in jail instead. I was imprisoned for six months. I got very sick in that place just like many other women who've gotten very sick from being held eight to nine months at a time. Children have taken their first steps in that place, have had birthdays in that place. There's a piece of paper on the wall with their birthdays and we were told we would be able to celebrate but that was a lie. There are even those who have become suicidal saying that they want to kill themselves instead of being locked up like this. It's not that they are mentally unstable. The psychologist said that they just want freedom. That's why the hunger strike was put on when desperate mothers who are willing to do anything for their children. Like every brave woman who is being held there I joined the hunger strike. It lasted 10 days. The officers threatened to separate us from our children if we kept doing that. Besides the immeasurable suffering for the already traumatized mothers and children there is the cost to taxpayers. The geo group told shareholders it expects to get $15 million a year from ICE to operate the private prison in Carnes. That's $40,000 a day. After an expansion later in 2015 the taxpayer tab will go up to $94,794 per day. First ask yourself whether it is fair whether you would want your children to be taken away from calling out injustice. Our children are not criminals and neither are the mothers. I would ask the five people that are going to talk about their experiences to please come forward. Their experiences are those of their experiences are those of volunteering and helping out in this situation their impressions and their experiences I think are helpful to us in understanding the complexity of this situation and you can see on the you can see on the screen what actually they were doing and now you will hear what they discovered and what they experienced. Over 70 mothers signed a petition and began a 10 day fast and hunger strike on Holy Week this year. At the end of the fast attempting to frighten the women ICE interrogated them to find who were the leaders of this strike. I said that my friend Petra was a leader so she was taken to medical for isolation. Her son was put in isolation with her at the end of the school that day. They were kept in a darkened room for 24 hours a room much like a prison cell with a steel bed, a toilet for the next few weeks Petra was more anxious cried uncontrollably and her 11 year old son Juan would not get out of bed in the morning lying under his sheet until coaxed out would not bathe and he began to wet his bed. Hi I'm Elizabeth Rodriguez and I am an LVN and a nursing student and I'm not originally from San Antonio Sister Patricia Conley actually made me aware of what is happening in our neighboring towns and I actually had notes but I'd like to just speak from the heart I actually volunteered to interpret for some of these refugees and as a nurse I learned that there were so many errors I could not understand how all of this could happen and they could get away with it there were consent forms that were issued to these mothers and the consents were for these children they were to receive a hep C vaccination the mothers did not understand what was on the consent form they signed them some of them were provided with an interpreter but they fell to realize that their first language was not Spanish it was actually dialect in many cases so they were consenting to something they were unaware of in a hospital setting legally that would not stand in court the children were vaccinated and immediately after they received the vaccination the mothers noticed that they lost function of those limbs where the injections site took place so as parents imagine your child not being able to walk not knowing if they would regain function to that limb or limbs in some cases it was both legs in some cases it was an arm after everything they've gone through to get here putting their trust in these people's hands and their children's lives and their hands and they're realizing that they weren't in the clear yet they addressed the issue with the medical staff and the medical staff actually disregarded and said well maybe your children are dehydrated didn't make an effort to assess the children nor did they make an effort to resolve the situation you and I know that if it was one of us at the hospital that would not be the situation as a nurse I cannot pick and choose my patients I have to treat them all equally so I don't understand I don't understand why this happened a lot of these children lost a lot of weight even because of the medication error the medication error by the way was that they received an adult dose versus a child's dose it took three to four days for them to regain function of their limbs and they all had a very very high fever the mothers kept addressing the issue and they technically had a fend for themselves a lot of them opted to give the children ice to lower the temperature I imagine my child crawling back and forth panicking the frustration they must have had and experienced when nobody made an effort to help them so I volunteered to translate to make sure that I could stand here today and you would know what happened within that facility I am a Latina and my parents had a cross-eyed border so that I could be born here that could have very easily been my mother that very easily could have been me so I thank God that that was not the situation for my family but I think it's our responsibility now that we are aware to make other people aware and to take action and make a difference because this is not okay thank you Hello my name is Joanne Saldana and six months ago I started volunteering in ministry that is very very close to my heart Ministry of the Mennonite House it's the hospitality house where the women and children come when they are released from detention and they don't have any arrangements and their sponsors are still trying to work things out for them so their temporary stay can be a couple of days and even a few months I got into this ministry not really realizing the impact that it would have five years ago after the loss of my mother I started writing my own memoir for a better life and like so many of us my great grandmother along with her children and a grandson moved migrated from Mexico and if it wasn't for that I wouldn't be standing here speaking to you and every time I see these young women I see the faces of my grandmother my great grandmother and the courage that they have to have made that journey from Honduras El Salvador Guatemala women are strong and courageous women and they're victims of violence and injustices and if they are not well then we are not well the beautiful part of the ministry is that I get to see them on this side where they are free although they don't know that they are free because I don't know that they are free and I am concerned of their well-being once they leave and what their outcome is going to be but I'm hopeful just as they are hopeful they're so courageous they're young women many of them whose sponsors are their mother or their father who they haven't seen for 11-12 years and these women are 22 they were children and now they are young women with children who are hopeful and humbled to be in this ministry and it is not what happens to us it's our response to what is happening that matters and Micah 6-8 reminds us what the Lord requires of us and that is to act justly love mercy and walk humbly with the Lord thank you our next speaker is filling in at the last minute for Rebecca Ortiz who was to be talking about the ministry at the Greyhound bus station in downtown San Antonio but because there are not enough volunteers to go to the Greyhound bus station Rebecca is at the Greyhound bus station and Janice Clayton is taking her place thank you good evening everybody yes Rebecca Ortiz is one of the saints the santitas who are working in this movement we need volunteers in our bus station ministry and I will say that my husband and I Bert Clayton sitting back there are really happy when we make C-plus on the Spanish Grammar Test but our hearts are full as your hearts are full of love and compassion for the people who arrive in San Antonio, Texas at the Greyhound bus station on St. Mary Street every night women and children come into the bus station you can recognize them the first time I went there I'm not going to recognize the women right they have fear stamped on their faces because they have emerged from the hell of their journey from Central America through Mexico and then the hell of the detention centers in los estados unidos Reverend Kelly Allen said the key to the bus station ministry is flexibility and yes you must be flexible that's where my husband is great because he runs all these errands but our three major jobs at the bus station are number one to assist the women in buying their tickets and explaining the steps of their journey throughout the United States this is a huge country compared to El Salvador Guatemala and Honduras and Rebecca Ortiz who's not here tonight always has a map of the United States that she gives each woman and says here San Antonio this is where you're going the other thing we do number two we pass out food drink blankets and to this present day 2000 backpacks have been given to the women and their children number three if a woman's bus has already departed and she's missed the bus or the bus is going the next day or the day after the bus station ministers take them to the Mennonite house where they spend the night and we make sure that they have a way to get back to the bus station so thank you all and God bless you all and now we have one more short video of a young woman who was recently released with an ankle monitor and then you got released because she said my little girl I got sick twice already and the mental tension was really bad her chest would hurt and ear she said yeah that was not helpful at all because there were times where I would wait for 7-8 hours one time I waited for 11 hours and all the time I was drinking water describe what you need to do with that describe what you need to do with that well the only thing they told me that if she wanted to do things earlier they could give her the ankle monitor or she could wait more at the detention center you know and see how things would go but then when they put it the ankle monitor they told her it would only be for a couple of weeks how difficult to put on pants very difficult very very difficult it really bothers the ankle the ankle that's why she has to to protect her ankle to protect her ankle yeah she has the opportunity to speak to the people in the United States who make laws and to regulate the people in the prisons what does she want to tell because as a immigrant they treat it like criminals she said as an immigrant we're treated like criminals and I feel bad because when I go out people stare at me like I'm a delinquent they do it they don't do it like a court okay they give you that so they show up but I mean we still are going to show up because it's all in our case what does she need right now what kind of help does she need right now what type of help do you need right now right now right now I need to train my child I want my child back I want my child back I want my child back it's something very important to separate you from your children it had been two months I saw my little boy on Thursday when I got out of the center as the first thing I did I went to see my little boy and he is not that good he's really really bad because he thought that he was going to be brought with me he's five years old so he thought my mom's here to pick me up and when she left he was very sad and depressed and the lady at the center talked to him in a way that she did not like she was like what is wrong with you why are you behaving this way you are just a child I don't let me get things off the next speaker is Jorge Bautiel who is well known in the community for organizing in various ways and he's speaking specifically about the private prison industry which is remember the movie where you said follow the money this is what you do in this situation and it's quite revelatory very much issues. So are we showing a film first I think? Good evening. Again I'm Jorge Motiel. I'm an organizer with Industrial Areas Foundation. I work with COPS Metro and the San Antonio Sponsored Committee on New Organizing Effort here in San Antonio. And it is my responsibility tonight to help us follow the money trail when it comes to the what we call the business of family detention. Can you hear me back in the corner? Even louder. So I think most of us are familiar with this curve. It shows the trend of undocumented immigration to the United States. And as you can tell it reached a peak around 0708 and has been tapered down or has gone down since then. Not surprisingly because of what's happened to the economy. People want to come here to get jobs and if there are no jobs they don't want to come here. However something totally different has happened to the costs of detaining immigrants in this country and that is the curve has not changed. In fact has continued going up and he broke the one billion dollar mark back in 2011 and it has continued rising ever since. Let me tell you a story about a quota. The U.S. Senate added language to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act in 2010 that said the following. I's immigration shall maintain a level of not less than 33,400 detention beds that went up in 2013 to 34,000 beds. What does that mean? It became known as the immigrant detention quota or the bed mandate. We're telling eyes. We're giving them money and we're telling them you must have this many beds and in some instances congressmen are telling them you must fill them. And what we know is that there is no other law enforcement agency in the country that has a quota from Congress except for ICE. How did that come about? Well there was a lot of lobbying to make sure this happened. One of those responsible is CCA, Corrections Corporation of America. They spent between 2008 and 2014 $10.5 million lobbying immigrant detention and immigration reform issues. Not only that but of that amount CCA spent 61% of the dollars lobbying the subcommittee that dealt with DHS appropriations. So if you're wondering how you get that language in there, this is how. The Geo Group, another private prison company spent $460,000. They need some catching up to do in lobbying between 2011 and 2014 but they're just getting started and as a result they got some contracts. What we know is that 62% of the ICE detention beds are operated by for-profit prison companies and that's up from 49% in 09. Geo and CCA together operate eight of the 10 largest detention centers in this country and get this following the quota, the implementation of the quota. They grew their share of the total ICE detention system from 37% in 2010 to 45% in 2014. They were rewarded by the implementation of the court. You still with me? Now how does this translate to dollars and cents? Well there was a significant payoff between the implementation of the quota, the beginning of the implementation of the quota and now CCA's of the profits go from $133 million to $195 million. The Geo Group did a little better. It went from 42 million in 07 to 144 million. Let me save you the math. That's 244% increase in profit. Now this is a little harder to see but it shows the stock price of these two companies over the last five years. If you'd invested with them five years ago you would double your money. Not a bad investment. Now it's interesting though early in the summer something happened. Maybe this little IWC group of rebels started messing with the detention quota. They're both going down a little bit. CCA went from a high of 40 to a 31 and the Geo Group from 40 to 32. So maybe they're a little concerned about the talk about reducing family detention because that's lost business, right? Well we'll see what happens but don't be too sad about their economic future because hey there's some alternatives to detention or is it an alternative form of detention. The monitors are brought to you by the BI Incorporated a subsidiary of the Geo Group. So if you want to reduce the tension that's fine. We'll come up with a different form of business and we're gonna sell making money. And this is a tagline in the website a leader in offender monitoring. So we're referring to this women as offenders. I started reading when I started thinking about this this issue I started reading this book called why some things should not be for sale. I think it's relevant to this. This question is relevant to what we're talking about and I want to leave you with a line from this book. Markets not only allocate resources among different uses and distribute income among different people. But particular markets also shape our politics and culture even our identities. Efficiency we're gonna use that word a lot when we talk about private prisons. Efficiency it's clearly not the only value relevant to assessing markets. We have to think about the effects of markets on social justice and on who we are how we relate to each other and what kind of society we can have. Deborah Satz S-A-T-Z. I heard this really terrible line one time when they said you know when you deal with drugs the problem with dealing with drugs is that you sell the drug and then it's consuming it's gone. When you deal with people when you buy and sell people which the cartels in Mexico have begun doing you can sell them over and over and over. It's terrible to think about that but it sounds like GEO and CCA taking a page out of the bulk of those cartels. Thank you. Our next speaker is Jonathan Ryan. I think many people know him. He's the executive director of Ryeases which is a nonprofit. Well it's not exactly that but it manages a number of lawyers who pro bono work at the centers for the release of the women and he's also into education big time as you will soon find out as he speaks. So Jonathan it's your turn. Thank you sister Pat for that introduction. I want to thank the Oblate School of Theology for hosting this very important event tonight. I'd also like to thank all the members of the IWC who are here present and who have been working together in solidarity with us over this past year on what I truly believe is the moral issue of our time. I also want to thank our members of Congress for being here to participate in this and also for your support not in this just this issue but in many issues. I am in a way reminded somewhat nostalgic that when I first began to work with these groups of people these collection of churches including Catholic Charities and the Archdiocese who are here today the members of Congress was just after the last presidential election when the single resounding lesson that we all heard was that both parties were going to have to come together on comprehensive immigration reform. That was the big lesson from the last election in 2012. We spent many of us together that summer trying as we thought to prepare ourselves to catch up for what was surely the coming immigration reform. Well we have come a long way baby. Rather than enjoying filling out applications for young people who have been here their entire lives seeking to join our community of citizens we are instead traveling to these detention centers these profit centers vendors of detention to our federal government they sell detention like Coke sells drinks like McDonald sells burgers they sell detention and it's the government who pays for it but who pays for the government. That is us and I must say we've seen a wonderful wonderful cavalcade of examples here tonight around that from the personal to to the corporate and I think what what becomes very clear here is that we are looking at a tale of two cities what we see on these screens and in these movies are the very poorest the very weakest the most marginalized on our planet up against what appears to be some of the largest corporate motivations in our country this country the United States this nation of immigrants I would argue a nation of refugees my parents came here as immigrants from Ireland had there not been a pathway for them to come legally they would have had to have come here as refugees to so I thank God that their pathway was open but that pathway is not open today the same pathway is not open today because we change our laws and I think that this is important as a lawyer to communicate to the public is that our immigration laws have changed more really than immigration itself has changed you would think that we are facing an onslaught an overwhelming surge and influx a tsunami of immigrants coming into our nation but the facts prove that that's just not the case you would have to go back to 1973 to the Nixon administration to find as few recorded apprehensions along the US Mexico border as we do find today but that's not what you would believe if you watched the news if you heard the pundits and some political candidates you would think that we are facing an invasion a threat to our very security and so last summer when a few children yes thousands of children came to our country which we have sold for the past 70 years as the beacon of hope and liberty and democracy in this earth well they believed that and they came looking for our help children looking for the help from adults and what did we do we panicked we called it a threat members of both parties spoke about the need to turn these children around and send them back home that we could not afford this that we were not apparently great enough of a nation to tackle this challenge well we worked very hard with individual children my organization went to Lackland Air Force Base and we met with over 2400 children and we found much as the United Nations found and other bodies have found that more than two-thirds of these candidates have strong and compelling cases for asylum and other protection under our existing immigration laws no change is necessary nevertheless the government tried to make changes they tried to change our law for the first time since World War two to restrict access to asylum just to send back this vulnerable population of children and we fought back members of Congress who are in this room fought back and we were very proud of that effort but unfortunately in the immediate wake of that effort when the fog from that battle cleared we found that family detention had already been expanded was already here at our doorstep and in our backyards this is a national issue this is a White House policy do not think of this as rogue immigration officials in Texas cowboys on the border this is a White House policy that is the direct result I think of what you just saw from Mr. Montiel big dollars big dollars selling detention to our government and then our government selling that detention back to you and how did this government sell this form of detention to you through fear through fear they told you that these women and children were a threat to our national security we had senior members of our Department of Homeland Security a department that we created as a nation in response to 9 11 to keep us safe they signed declarations affidavits declaring that these women and children were threats to your national security does it make you feel safer to see these women and children locked up do you feel that your security is advanced with these detention centers I don't think so we have worked hard over this last year to work with the IWC with the members of this community to meet the needs of each individual woman that we could but at the same time we acknowledge that our overarching goal is to end this policy to stop the detention of women and children return America to what we think were its higher principles and ideals of liberty and justice for all we have brought lawsuits we have brought complaints on behalf of individual women as we know there was a very important decision just set three weeks ago in California a judge federal judge named judge G made wrote an order in which she found not that she found for the first time that detaining children in these prisons was illegal but rather she reminded our government that it has been illegal for nearly 20 years we knew this we knew this because our work is with children we are the people the lawyers who defend children in government detention and we knew that this was illegal and we spoke we spoke to the community we spoke to the government we were called instigators we were called liars but judge G ratified what we said and we are very happy that judge G found that this type of imprisonment is illegal what is very disappointing and where you come back into this conversation is that this administration the administration of hope change is appealing that decision they filed a response just a few days after that judge filed her order in which the government said they're not that bad they're not nearly as bad as they were when you first saw them we promise we give access to care in fact we need to keep people in these detention centers so that we can you know give them a lawyer and give them a doctor it's a service that we're providing and moreover the detention centers and I said if you do sign this order judge if you push us we can make it worse and they put in their filing that they will begin to separate women from their children if the judge files this order sending the children into the foster system and sending the mothers to the for- profit prison system all with the purpose of creating horror of creating fear so that these women make phone calls back home and say that country that shining light on the hill that we heard about that place of democracy and liberty and here don't try we are trying to save people from jumping out of a burning house by boarding up the windows and making an example out of them so that others may not try this is not how great nations act this is how bullies act they find the weakest they hit them hard so that everybody else learns the lesson we have to be the other kids in that schoolyard who aren't going to let that bully do that we are the people who have to be the change that we want I believe that that is what the president told us I believe he did tell us that he cannot do this alone we need to help him take the off ramp from this policy and restore America to its place in history I see a lot of people here who probably have children and grandchildren we're going back to school you could do some very important things if they're studying the history of slavery of the underground railroad of the civil rights movement of the pilgrims you name it you can tell them that that is happening right here in San Antonio you read about history you can come to the bus station you can come to the Mennonite house and you can witness and you can be a part of history so I invite you all to join us sister Pat welcomes you I welcome you we are all welcoming you to this act you will find a fulfillment that you've never seen before you will feel part of America like you never have before for me it has been an honor so I thank you for that I want you to know that this is going to continue you are going to hear legal updates you're going to hear that we won today and that we lost tomorrow this will continue our work will change but it will never never decrease we need your help we need your support these guys need your help and support you need to call their offices and tell you them what you think about this you need to call the offices of your representatives and tell them what you think about this every day you can make a new phone call every 24 hours your phone call is registered as a new phone call you can only vote twice a year sorry you can only fight once every vote every once every two years this isn't Chicago are we in Chicago oh no no sorry sorry sorry you can make that phone call every day you can make your voice heard every day the greatest invention in the history of democracy is in every one of your pockets call your member of Congress let them know what you think about this issue and you will make a change thank you very much no comment on that because there is plenty there for you to comment on I'm sure we said at the beginning that this is an opportunity to listen to the stories listen to the realities that we're experiencing in this city of San Antonio and in in Carnes and also in Delhi but we also want to listen to our legislators who are here with us Lloyd Daggett and also Joaquin Castro but first we want to offer some questions from Lupita Valdez she is a member of our advocacy committee that's in the Interfaith Welcome Coalition Lupita is from Sacred Heart Church she's a member of COPS and Metro and lots of other interests in within her ability and her passion so here she is Lupita well I have to introduce myself right thank you the leaders from Interfaith Welcome Coalition along with partners organizations recognize the importance of working closely with our members of Congress to make positive change in this situation we're pleased to have two congressmen who represent San Antonio and have been advocates for the rights of immigrants and refugees thank you for being here tonight I will ask a few questions that our team has prepared and I will ask our congressman to come up one at a time to respond and add any other comments you will have seven minutes and each and our timekeeper will tell you know when your time is up these are our questions we understand the house resolution 2808 a bill titled protecting taxpayers and communities from local detainees quarter act prohibits eyes from negotiating a contract with a private prison company that guarantees a minimum number of detention beds do you support this bill does he go far enough to end the best mandate and what is the status of this bill question number two the good news is the federal Josh agree with us saying that the practice of family detention must end the bad news is that president Obama did not agree with us it seems like he wants the judges decision overturned would you take the lead in organizing a large congressional day like delegations to tell president Obama once again to do the right thing and end family detention question number three many women are now being released onto their court dates but they face a different kind of detention they must wear a modern-day ball and chain and cause monitors are burdensome and heavy the barriers are worse than our cell phones they carry the message that the women wearing them are criminals as opposed to ravages and uncle's monitors are our source of profit for a private prison company would you work with us to find a better more dignified way of treating ravages question number four private prisons are influencing policy that keeps people detained for months for no reason other than profit they make large campaigns contributions and lobby Congress would you share with us whether you have received campaigns contributions from the private prison industries and would you please to say no to future contribution offers I will start with congressman Joaquin Castro representing the 20th district congressman Castro please come up you have seven minutes good evening first I want to say thank you to all of the advocates who are here tonight who have worked so hard over the last year in particular but I know even longer than that on behalf of immigrants to our nation in the last year on behalf of the women and children coming from the northern triangle countries of Central America about two months ago now I brought in a delegation of seven members of Congress to visit with many of the advocates we met at St. Mary's Law School at the University Center actually and also to visit the facilities at Carnes and Dilly and I wanted them first to come here to San Antonio because this has been the epicenter for advocacy this has been the backbone of support for those women and children and the epicenter of the push to get them released from the detention centers so I want to answer the questions I may take them out of order but first I continue to support closing down the detention centers and not housing the women and children in those arrangements I've said both to the president to Jay Johnson who is the head of Homeland Security and to the Justice Department in fact Lloyd and I joined in a letter with I think about 135 of our colleagues expressing that to President Obama and the administration that we believe there should be alternative arrangements and those can include other things besides an ankle monitor the point is and we know from the numbers that the overwhelming majority of these folks are coming back for their court hearings when they're supposed to and that's what's important right that there be a process here so that they can make their claim for asylum and so I fully support that in terms of campaign contributions I'm not aware if I have received I don't think I've received any from the private private prison companies I have to be honest I wasn't too familiar with Geo or CCA before all of this basically before the last year you think about it I know over the years the function of of imprisoning folks has been turned over to private contractors but most of that had been for you know folks who are criminals within the United States as opposed to the detention of immigrants and so it's not something in the legislature for example that I dealt a lot with or even in my time in Congress so far until this came up and so I think I've only used about two minutes now I want to speak for a minute four minutes I still have four minutes all right I won't use all of them but I think I've answered the questions now those four questions so I want to say this we are right now facing a moral test as a country we're going to have to decide what kind of nation this is going to be in the coming years there are tonight a few hundred of us gathered here in San Antonio Texas and in the other part of the country in New Hampshire there are 1500 people who showed up tonight for a presidential candidate who is leading the charge to end both right citizen citizenship in violation of the United States Constitution and we've got to stand up against that because that's not what our country stands for when the migrants arrived from Central America last summer as Jonathan said many of us understood right away their purpose these are not hardened criminals who are coming here to commit crimes or had committed crimes they're not even folks who are trying to get around border patrol they were going up and presenting themselves as folks seeking asylum in the United States now I agree with Jonathan that the laws as we understand them would give a strong chance for many of those folks to stay on as a psylies in the United States but I think you'll also agree that that's not how most of the nation perceived the situation part of that was because of a lot of the politicians who were stoking fear who were claiming that this was a kind of invasion in our country even a week and a half ago at a debate with many of the presidential candidates the governor of Louisiana said that immigration without a simulation is an invasion you think about that for a second who gets to decide whether somebody has assimilated the United States who's going to make that determination that's where we are now and another part of the reason that it wasn't perceived as an asylum or refugee situation is because the Red Cross and other organizations and I'm sure some of the ones here were having problems going in there and volunteering their time and donating clothing and furniture and offering housing and that affected the way the news coverage and how this was perceived by Americans and so I had a few amendments to an important bill that didn't get my amendments didn't get on but I want you to know that I made an effort to change the way that we handle these situations because I think that we should have sent the Red Cross down there and not the National Guard and then finally as we think about this two things first we want to close the detention centers for the sake of the women and children who were still there today but just as important looking down the road we want to make sure that for God's sake if we have another wave of immigrants who comes here another group of asylum seekers who comes here a year from now or 20 years from now that the United States government handles it differently next time and doesn't put them in jail like facilities and then with one minute left my last point you know when we think about our asylum and our refugee laws we still think about offering asylum to people who are fleeing communist dictators from the 1950s and 60s and 70s I think that's what most Americans still think of when they think of an asylum we have to update that for the 21st century these people are facing violence and desperation and the kind of violence that's being perpetuated on them perpetrated on them from gangs is just as harmful as any that is perpetuated by by a dictator across the world so thank you for caring thank you for your passion and every single thing that you're doing on behalf of these people thank you very much and now we like to hear from congressman Lloyd target you have seven minutes also thank you so much what a powerful presentation we've heard this evening over the course of the last year I have had representatives from our office because usually the welcoming coalition has been meeting while Joaquin and I have been in Washington attend your meetings most recently Mary Ellen the least who's my district director being there but there's nothing like hearing it ourselves and hearing this powerful and emotional testimony I applaud the courage of those who are living their faith and exercising it in responding to this situation let me just respond one by one on your questions and if there's time I'll I'll touch on other things yes I support HR 2808 no I don't believe that it goes far enough I'm pleased that it would prohibit negotiating these bed mandates and and quotas it's a good start but we need to end the quotas in both the private contracts and in the DHS appropriations bill we've actually had a vote in Congress on an attempt to do that as an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security appropriations previously that we both supported but we didn't have the votes to overcome a majority that is in control of the House currently in further response to your question HR 2808 is pending in the House Judiciary Committee it's not a friendly place because it is also controlled by people that do not share our commitment to ending detention. Second you ask if we will continue urging President Obama and we'll work with our colleagues to bring about change and yes I certainly am committed to doing that I think that the August 6th brief that Jonathan so powerfully referred to about family detention and the response to Judge G was just plain wrong and he made the case for why it is locking up women and children in detention just does not work it's not the answer you know I first got involved in this before there was a dilly and a Karn's because before there was dilly and Karn's there was T. Don Hutto and some of you were involved in protesting that T. Don Hutto people were in prison uniforms they got education one hour a day they spent about 12 hours in their cell and it was the humanizing and the response to the protest that finally shut down T. Don Hutto that produced Karn's and originally all of us got invitations to see what a humane place what a nice place Karn's is the problem is you just can't humanize prison and detention for mothers and children and that's what we've seen tonight the administration should be implementing Judge G's decision of a long ago florist decision not appealing it and I applaud and salute Congressman Castro for getting so many of our colleagues down here to see the conditions and I would certainly join in the comments he's already made and join him in any effort that we might make together with our colleagues to the administration I remember when at that point it was Janet Napolitano came to our caucus and told us about the limitations on the administration doing some of the things that it has now done originally the president said he did not have authority to respond to our dreamers they have he has responded and as a result so many dreamers right now are achieving their dreams and are contributing here in San Antonio third you ask about ankle monitors I think they're in humane they're not the way to treat refugees who have asylum claims and I'll work with you to find a more dignified and less burdensome solution fourth you ask about campaign contributions I have not sought am not seeking contributions from the private prison industry I think you do have to follow the money and I pledge to refuse such contributions in the future this I mentioned T. Don Hutto this has been a long fight I first heard about this because of T. Don Hutto before I even had the honor of representing parts of Bear County I've been involved in this struggle originally with the grassroots leadership a fellow named Bob Label who who formed that group and continue with Riesus I think I've been involved in it now for about seven years we are making some progress but it is a fight that we need to renew and engage more of our neighbors in trying to bring about change and while I applaud the idea that Jonathan mentioned of using your phones to call us keep in mind Joaquin and I are not the only two members of Congress from Texas we we just happen to be the two that are on your side on this and Joaquin so powerfully noted what is happening in New Hampshire tonight I know that at least the pinata business has gained from Donald Trump but that's about the only thing good that's come out of really the poison that's been renewed and the misinformation that's out there our Constitution guarantees every person a day in court not just citizens of the United States but immigrants who are waiting a determination on their asylum claims and their immigration status prolonged detention makes it difficult for individuals to make that case and DHS has deliberately picked places like originally artesia new mexico in the middle of nowhere and dilly and even carns though it's a little closer to make it difficult to have access to legal counsel grassroots and raeces have met with our office just within the last few days to discuss further ways for us to be involved along with the American Immigration Lawyers Association lawyers need to be able to get access to process these claims because when they do these claims are are successful the broader question of immigration reform awaits our attention it is outrageous that people even today this afternoon we're still fighting the executive orders that the president has issued that is the pathway forward to us and hopefully after the next election the opportunity to get the immigration reform that we so very much thought would be forthcoming after it was approved on a bipartisan basis by the United States Senate that struggle has to continue there is so much opportunity and hope out there and that's what brings us together tonight not only our faith but our hope and belief that enough of us are engaged working together we can make a difference that's what led to help for the dreamers it's what can lead to the implementation of these executive orders that are being held up in the courts and it's what can end the tension once and for all i look forward to continuing to work with you in that effort thank you the call to action is not only to our congresspersons but to each of us to really make the difference it's needed you received when you came in this paper called take action if you take a look at it please there are several ways to take action some of them as you can see from the top engaging in face-to-face ministry and those are described also on the other paper advocate advocate and and bring about education make a financial contribution always welcome and stay connected if you go back to the advocate and educate we wanted to bring out that all six of our congresspersons were invited here tonight and to responded we think it might be a wonderful idea to use your iphone or whatever kind of phone you're using these days to call the others and say where were you to send them the questions that we asked up the two congressmen we had here tonight to get them moving in terms of this extremely critical situation that we're in we have to get their minds and their hearts moving in terms of the reality that we have people suffering among us and we are part of the perpetuation if we do nothing so there you go something to you can call tonight actually whatever again thank you there's so many people to thank that it would be here way way past your bedtime and so um again you in this room actually you have a number of the people that are already working in this whole effort and you can join at any time the second and fourth tuesday thursdays i'm sorry at 10am at first presbyterian on north alamo we have our monthly meetings you're most welcome they're open they're interesting and we report and we're accountable to each other so we thank all of you for coming all that presented from the heart and from their minds for us and here comes Jorge with an idea you're supposed to take thank you Jorge you're supposed to take it and fill it in and as many things as you wish to do and there's a basket on the table we just signed the N that you can put that paper in all right thank you god bless take care onward with courage and hope