Each month, Imelda Richárd, Prison Ministry Coordinator for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, shares stories from the immigration detention unit in Atlanta’s federal prison. Names are changed for protection.
Phone calls cost money, and E. refuses to ask his mother to deposit funds into his account. He knows every dollar she has may be needed for rent, groceries, or other daily expenses.
When I first met E., I expected to hear about his case.
Instead, he wanted to talk about his mother.
E. is a Spanish citizen who has lived in the Atlanta area for the past five years. Three months ago, he was arrested one evening while driving home from work.
Since then, he has been transferred five different times between detention facilities.
Those repeated transfers have had consequences beyond the uncertainty of detention itself. At one point, they caused him to miss the opportunity to appear before an immigration judge.
Now, he has another court hearing scheduled for the end of this month.
His greatest hope is simple: that he will still be in the same detention facility when that day comes.
After being moved so many times, he lives with the constant fear that another transfer could once again prevent him from appearing before the judge and delay his case even further.
But that is not what brings him to tears.
Before his detention, E. helped cover the major expenses at home. Now, his mother has had to return to work to support herself.
He worries constantly about her.
How is she doing?
Is she managing?
Is she getting enough rest?
When will he be able to hug her again?
Although they long to speak every day, they often cannot. Phone calls cost money, and E. refuses to ask his mother to deposit funds into his account. He knows every dollar she has may be needed for rent, groceries, or other daily expenses.
So instead, he carries the weight of worrying about her in silence.
In detention, we often talk about legal cases, court dates, and immigration status.
But behind every case number is a son who misses his mother.
And behind every detention is a family learning to carry burdens they never expected to bear.
