WEBVTT - Darién Gap: One Year Later | Part Three: The American Nightmare 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:02.880 Also media. 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:06.240 As we always do, we have included the sources for 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:08.680 this podcast in the show notes. I've also included a 0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:11.119 link to Primroses legal aid fundraiser of people would like 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:41.680 to help out for Rose Miami and Primrose and the 0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:44.199 dozens of other migrants I met at the jungle, the 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:47.040 goal was to get here. Some of them had friends 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:50.000 they wanted to stay with, but many did not. They 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:52.839 just wanted a chance, a chance to work and be 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:54.960 paid a fair wage, a chance for their kids to 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:57.560 have a dream and a future, a chance to sleep 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:01.000 safely at night. Once they got across that line, over 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:03.319 that wall, or across that river, they wanted to make 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:05.840 their case for asylum, to ask for help and someone 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:08.160 to keep them safe, to give them an opportunity to 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:11.520 build their lives again. But even for the very few 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:14.520 who made it, the risks weren't over. Within hours of 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:17.759 taking office, Trump had begun signing executive orders that would 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:19.640 make life for migrants on the way to the USA 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:23.960 and those already here even more difficult. To the cheers 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:26.759 of the crowd, he signed in order that kept TikTok online, 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:29.320 pardoned the people who stormed the Capitol on January sixth, 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:32.720 twenty twenty one, and attempted to rescind birthright citizenship from 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:36.240 the children of migrants. He ended CBP one and with 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:39.120 his sharpie ordered the building of mole walls and the 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:41.480 resulting death of more people who came here to ask 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:46.160 for help. Within days of Trump taking office, federal agents 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:50.400 from ICE, the DEA, the FBI, and other agencies had 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:54.160 begun a campaign if made for social media raids. In Colorado, 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:56.440 they raided apartment buildings, which have played a load bearing 0:01:56.520 --> 0:01:59.720 role in right wing conspiracies about trender Ragua months before. 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.800 At universities, they grabbed young men and women off campus 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:06.200 for the crime for opposing genocide. People entering the country 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:08.400 were stopped and had the device's searched, not just for 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:11.160 evidence of crime, but also for evidence of mocking the 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:15.200 president or the vice president. Trump added various organized crime groups, 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:18.600 a list of foreign terrist organizations, and attempted to totally 0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:22.720 ban asylum, including for the people fleeing those very organizations. 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:25.360 People who had waited a month for an appointment on 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:28.560 CBP one now had their appointment canceled. They were left 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:31.400 totally without hope, at risk, and with nowhere to go 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:35.239 for help. Trump used to border emergency declaration to justify 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:38.840 his proclamation and quickly followed up with more military deployments, 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:41.240 wall construction, and a huge increase in the funding for 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:44.960 state surveillance. People still crossed, but their numbers decreased if 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:48.080 many of them were quickly deported back to Mexico. Here's 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:51.320 Kurst in is it Lau promos his lawyer, explaining the 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:52.240 new system. 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:57.600 So there are no new asylum cases. In other words, 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:02.639 people who cross at the southern border are now detained, 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:06.880 only to be removed immediately basically or as soon as possible, 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:11.400 under what's called two twelve F authority. It's under the 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:16.800 Immigration and Nationality Act. Trump has used this authority, which 0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:21.040 basically broadly says that if the President finds a certain 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:24.639 class of immigrants or the entry of immigrants would be 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:27.520 detrimental to the interests of the United States, they may, 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:32.520 by proclamation suspend all entry have said immigrants. So whereas 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:37.119 people used to get credible fear interviews or were parolled 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:39.440 into the United States to be allowed to fight an 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:43.240 asylum case, none of that is happening anymore, and people are, 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:47.360 if anything, only screened for what's called Convention against Torture 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:50.120 screenings to just determine, like, hey, are they going to 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:53.240 be tortured by their government or with the acquiescence of 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:56.240 their government if they're returned to their home country. But 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:58.320 even then they are not allowed to remain in the 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:00.720 United States or fight any relief in the United States. 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:02.480 That just means that they will be deported to a 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:03.320 third country. 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:07.160 For people inside the USA, the situation wasn't much better. 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:09.520 First as a trickle and then as a torrent, we 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:12.400 started to see videos of masked, unidentified men jumping out 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:15.040 of on marked vehicles to grab people, many of whom 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:18.080 were migrants, and detain them. In most cases, these were 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:21.359 federal agents from ICE and other federal agencies like the FBI, 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:24.359 the ATF, and the DEA, whose offices were detailed to 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:27.680 support ICE. In an increasing number of cases, they were 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:31.640 people imitating ICE. For migrants, many of whom had fled 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:35.680 totalitarian regimes where people were disappeared by the state, they 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:38.479 were reminder of what they'd run away from. The place 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:40.520 they had come to be safe started to feel like 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:43.480 the place they had to leave because it wasn't safe. 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:46.680 In Primrose's case, things were a bit different. When Kifton 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:49.360 found a motion to appear remotely, she got an extremely 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:50.480 unusual response. 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:53.839 In ruling on my WebEx motion, I was emailed the 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:57.360 order of the judge along with a notice that primos 0:04:57.360 --> 0:05:02.039 should self deport. So judges are sending out these notices 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:07.400 with routine other orders in cases where the immigrant has 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:14.159 counsel is fighting their case. It's obvious they're fighting their case. Yeah, 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:16.160 So it's one of the things where you just feel 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:19.200 very strongly this administration's influence. 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:21.719 Are they obliged to do that or is that a 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:22.960 choice that the judges made. 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:25.320 No, not at all. It's it's okay, not at all, 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:28.880 and in fact it's completely inappropriate. The immigration bar is 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:32.200 taking a different approach to it. Some are filing motions 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:35.080 to recuse, telling the judges, hey, you need to recuse yourself. 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:37.480 You're a non neutral judge. To send this out in 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:39.280 the middle of the case is absurd. It's a due 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:41.839 process violation. They're entitled to a neutral judge. 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:44.800 See just one of the many areas where things are 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:47.760 not as they have been. The Trump administration has flouted 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:51.760 rules and even court orders. Migrants to a Salvador's megaprisms 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:54.480 that got a place where torture is routine and where 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:56.960 a few people have ever left. They attempted to bring 0:05:57.000 --> 0:06:00.600 criminal charges against migrants to justify their actions, and eventually 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.160 ended up in a prisoner change with the Maduro regime. 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:06.320 At the same time, my daughter's government began offering quote 0:06:06.400 --> 0:06:10.600 unquote humanitarian flights to Venezuelans and Mexico, and some even 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:14.240 took to navigating the Daian Gap southwards to return to Columbia, 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:16.279 where they thought they might have some chance at a 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:20.440 decent life. In the USA, a country with more guns 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:23.359 than people. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath or 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:26.279 worrying that we'd see an increase in lethal violence. But 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:30.080 after a few weeks, thankfully that hadn't happened. But more 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:33.400 and more, where ICE agents showed up, local people also 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:37.799 showed up. They called them are number of things, fascists, cowards, traitors, 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:41.799 and then people began to organize, following ICE agents around 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:45.880 and announcing their presence, identifying their hotels and making noise outside, 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:48.479 picking up neighbors kids, and getting their groceries so people 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:50.839 wouldn't need to expose themselves to the risk of arrest 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:55.240 if ICE agents were spotted people alerted their communities. It 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:57.520 is across the US. People began to form networks to 0:06:57.560 --> 0:07:00.360 take care of their neighbors. Some of this came from 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:03.279 lifelong activists, but much of it did not. People even 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:06.600 began using apps normally used for suburban racism like nextdoor 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:09.920 and Ring to call out the presence of ICE. Raids 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:12.680 were reposed and ICE agents were shouted out across the country, 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:28.960 but they still kept going. It wasn't until June that 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:32.400 we saw the first mass protest. Everyone wondered if we 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:35.720 be in for another hot summer like twenty twenty. CBP 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:38.400 offices had been deployed to La to conduct a series 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:42.320 of loud and once again curated for Instagram braids. Border 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:45.960 patrols Eel Centro Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bavino became 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.400 the face of the operation even before Trump had taken office. 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:51.920 Just a day after Congress had certified the results of 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:55.440 the election, Baveno had sent sixty five agents six hours 0:07:55.520 --> 0:07:57.840 north of the border to push the boundaries of what 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:00.800 people would accept in California, say, to a valley not 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:04.160 so far from Los Gatos Canyon, he led Operation Return 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:07.680 to Sender, accosting Latino farm workers at convenience stores and 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:10.920 on the way to work. Bavino claimed the operation was targeted, 0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:13.920 but reporting from cow Matas showed CBP had no prior 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:18.480 records for seventy seven of the seventy eight people had arrested. Bavino, 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:21.440 who has bestowed the title of Premiere Sector on the 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.440 part of the border he oversees, has five agents on 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:26.280 a team dedicated to producing videos. 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:27.360 He likes to. 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:31.720 Praise Eisenhower, whose operation WAG often flew migrants to El 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:34.880 Centro before they were sent back to Mexico. The plane 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:38.840 which crashed in Los Gato's Canyon was headed there. Bovino 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:41.360 has a long history of these rates, dating back to 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:43.800 at least twenty ten in Las Vegas, and he is 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:46.520 very much the face of the new border patrol approach. 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:50.200 While ICE numbers are growing, CBP still has several times 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:53.280 more offices, and indeed some reporting suggests that ICE offices 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:56.840 and some offices might be replaced with CBP personnel. Border 0:08:56.880 --> 0:08:59.640 Patrol notionly operates within one hundred miles at the border, 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:02.640 an area which includes all US coastline and the entire 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.120 shore of the Great Lakes, and even then this one 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:08.240 hundred Miles is an interpretation and not a hard legal blog. 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:11.640 This remint covers two thirds of the population and gives 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:14.040 them a widely way to infringe on the Fourth Amendment. 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:17.240 This has been the case for decades since the Department 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:19.760 of Home Land Security was founded after nine to eleven, 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:23.080 but mass protests against CBP has been rare. We've seen 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:25.200 it on occasion. The lesson you'd think for an agency 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:27.320 with such a broad remit in a country that seemed 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:29.679 so proud of the first ten amendments to the Constitution. 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:34.160 In La though, people weren't having it. Following a series 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:36.640 of violent raids, Border Patrol agents hadn't been met with 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:40.360 protests across the city. They'd responded with tear gas, projectile 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:43.920 weapons and threats. They'd arrested Denis wuerta leader of the 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:47.480 Service Employees United International, one of the largest unions in 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:50.720 the country, as well as dozens of other Angelinos. They'd 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:52.800 shot tear gas out of moving vehicles and a naunched 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:56.880 projectiles into the faces of reporters and bystanders alike. Seeing this, 0:09:57.080 --> 0:09:59.000 doing what I do, I got on a train to 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:02.040 Los Angeles, but within being southern California, it took like 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:02.720 five hours. 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:28.040 Are they throwing or shooting? Do you get hit? 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:38.199 You're okay, I'm going to that tree on the right. Yeah. 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:40.440 After getting off the train in LA, and before I 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:42.880 met my friend Charles McBride to work of some coverage together, 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:45.720 I walked around el Verda Street, grabbed a coffee, and 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:48.680 spoke to some of the local folks. There were tags 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:51.199 all over the walls and windows of the buildings around 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:53.760 the train station, but that's always been how LA has 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:57.000 expressed itself. All I heard from people I met there 0:10:57.040 --> 0:11:00.400 was support. One man expressed to me his an team 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:02.839 made protest very uncomfortable for him, but he was glad 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:06.480 to see people standing up. Obviously, crimes against property are 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:09.280 something that parts of Los Angeles take very seriously. It's 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:12.880 a spiritual home of conspicuous consumption. But in this instance, 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:15.080 it seemed everyone I've met either didn't care or was 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:18.120 so mad that they didn't care. From mid morning to 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:21.120 early the next day, LAPD, who are not supposed to 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:25.000 assist CBP, but who can enforce state law, chase angry 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:28.439 kids around their own city. Its skid row and downtown LA. 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:31.200 Tear gas flooded the streets, and so did young people 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:34.120 from across town in between the tear gas and pepperbulls, 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:36.360 and managed to talk to a few of them. Their 0:11:36.400 --> 0:11:39.920 stories were similar. They were those kids whose better futures 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:43.160 had brought their parents here. They were citizens raised in 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:45.199 the USA to believe in the right to free speech 0:11:45.240 --> 0:11:48.079 and assembly, something they were now using to make their 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:48.839 voices heard. 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:55.240 I mean, my family, they're susceptible to all the ice 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:58.040 rays and stuff like that, and you know, being a 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:00.319 citizen here, I feel like it's my duty to out 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:03.319 here and you know, speak out and know for those 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:03.719 who can. 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:07.920 It made me think of Primrose and Kimberly and the 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:11.120 future they might both have. I sincerely hope that one 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:13.319 day at Kimberly and every other kid I met the 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:16.280 jungle would feel brave enough to be out here and 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:19.200 despite everything, be strong enough to stand up against state violence. 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:22.880 Unbeknown to me, Primrose and Kim weren't that far away. 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:25.240 They had a check in with ICE at the DTLA 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:27.520 federal building that day, and as they rode by in 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:30.800 a bus past the protesting crowds, Kim said to her mom, look, 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:33.400 it's uncle James. Her mom, of course, told her it 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:36.680 couldn't have been, but she was right. It was after 0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:39.640 nine months of only speaking on the phone, Kimberly somehow 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:41.720 recognized me this might be being wrapped up in a 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:56.760 helmet and a plate carrier. When they first arrived, they 0:12:56.760 --> 0:12:59.000 went to stay with someone they knew in Texas. I 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:00.840 planned to go and visit them and accompany them to 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:03.880 their court hearing. At this point, I say, agents had 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:06.520 already begun snatching people in the corridors the courthouse itself 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:09.000 to the government withdrew their cases and placed them in 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:13.400 expedited removal proceedings, which meant mandatory detention. There's not much 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:15.360 any of us could do about this, but I didn't 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:17.640 want them to be alone. Then I got COVID and 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:21.120 couldn't go his curse in explaining how this process works. 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:24.640 So Ina Section two thirty five applies to people who 0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:27.920 entered within less than two years. Like you said, they 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:31.679 can be then subject to what's called expedited removal. That 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:34.320 means that they have to take a credible fear interview 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:37.199 and be detained, and that they only get to fight 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:39.640 a case if they pass their credible fear interview. They 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:42.520 do not qualify for an immigration judge bond so they 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:44.320 only get out if Ice lets them out, which of 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:48.720 course I is letting nobody out. So the administration wants 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.280 to have people detained under this authority, this two thirty 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:55.440 five authority, as much as possible, to have them have 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.720 to fight their case detained and either lose the will 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:02.280 to do so and or not be able to afford 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:04.559 an attorney, because the tanned cases move along a lot 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:08.320 quicker and are very costly as well for that reason. 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:12.719 So what they're doing is anybody who was here two 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:15.200 years or less but was parolled in so they're in 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:17.920 the regular immigration court proceedings. They got out there under 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:21.520 two forty proceedings, that's called so DHS attorneys in court 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:24.840 are terminating those proceedings. They're asking the Dodge to terminate 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:27.280 the two forty proceedings, so then that case is closed 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:29.760 and then they immediately restart a case under section two 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:30.400 thirty five. 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:34.960 Their hearing went relatively smoothly. Their lawyer, who is now 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:37.960 working for whatever Primrose could fundraise, was able to help 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:40.760 them make their case. They left with another hearing scheduled 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:43.920 soon after. They decided to move to la to stay 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:46.640 with another friend. After the housing situation in Texas fell through. 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:48.720 They were living in East LA when they had their 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:49.560 next ice check in. 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:53.000 Yeah, I was living an appointment. 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:55.640 And you said they went back to get some documents 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:56.720 in them around. 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:58.880 Yeah, yeah, I went. 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:04.760 I think that aunt a of eight two four pm. 0:15:05.040 --> 0:15:07.440 At first they came and give me my papers. They said, 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:11.040 go to chat with which is close to where you stay. 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:16.040 Then came here in La downtown. So when I walk away, 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:21.080 I realized there was no other documents. Then I woke, 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:23.840 I go big. I said to Kim at let's go 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:28.360 big inside. Then I go to the reception. Then I 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:30.680 asked the lady and she was the rude to it first. 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:33.760 Then she took my documents, then said oh okay, let 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:37.200 me go and find it. Three hours four hours, not 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:39.320 coming big. Then she came and called me. I think 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:43.800 four pm. Then the ice officer is just telling me 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:48.920 I'm going to detainium. I said, oh why, I said, 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:53.440 we are going to explain more. We are going. 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:54.600 I said, oh. 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:58.440 Okay, like thousands of other migrants who are trying to 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:02.200 do as they're asked, was detained her check it along 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:05.479 with Kim. Previously, she'd be giving ice checkens in Riverside 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:08.320 despite living in East La. I'd helped her navigate the 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:10.160 four and a half hour bus route to get there 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:13.080 on time. I wondered, how on earth, someone who doesn't 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:14.960 have a friend here, or who doesn't speak English, she's 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:18.080 expected to do this. She went out of her way 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:20.120 to make sure she was there and she had her 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:23.120 documents in order, despite all of this, but she and 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:26.520 Kim believe were detained anyway, It's not hard for me 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:28.040 to see why people in La were mad. 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:33.720 Then they took me to Santana. We were just sitting. 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:37.800 Not even one ice officer come talk to me. 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:38.320 Nothing. 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:41.240 I was just sitting. And the other thing, they just 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:43.600 took my phone. Same time this, I switched it off. 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.800 Then I said, can I tell even one of my 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:48.760 friends maybe they. 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:50.960 Are worried. 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:52.440 And I said no, no, we are going to give 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:55.360 you a phone. Later on I said, okay. So in 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:58.200 Sanna they took us in a hotel to sleep. Then 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:03.720 the following day they took big us to sunder detention center. 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:08.200 Not even one officer. I was being asking the securities. 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:12.080 They said, we don't even know. We splained the whole 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:16.720 day sitting doing nothing. We were just sitting. Then they 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:20.040 took us. I think around the six PM take you 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:24.919 to Los Angeles then, when that's why I saw the 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:28.240 ICE officer. Then she explained to me, we are going 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:31.199 to detain you, are going to put you somewhere because 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:35.159 the rules are changing every day. I even ask you, 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:38.280 did I do something ru She said no. 0:17:40.440 --> 0:17:42.840 I've heard this from a lot of migrants. The ICE 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:45.880 agents managing their non detained docket as opposed to those 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:49.719 enforcement removal or detention, seemed to be struggling to keep 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:52.320 up with the pace of the changes in rules. Many 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:54.800 of the migrants I'd heard from had decent relationships with 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:57.040 the officers to do their check ins, and they can't 0:17:57.119 --> 0:17:59.720 understand why other officers working for the same organization would 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:02.600 detain them, even that they're doing exactly what they're asked 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:06.320 to do. They are doing things quote unquote the right way. 0:18:06.800 --> 0:18:09.879 But that's not enough for an agency desperately driven by 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:12.960 quotas and the desire to purgenation of people who had 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:16.480 risked their lives to become Americans. Let's hear how this 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:17.400 felt for Primrose. 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:22.440 Then I said, do you have a lawyer? I said yes. 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:25.240 Then she said, okay, it's fine, So she gave me 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:28.159 another documentary to sign. Then I signed, like they are 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:32.200 going to detain me. Then I ask you for how long? 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:34.320 She said that I don't think you guys will you 0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:36.920 are going and going to stay more than fourteen days, 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:41.119 maybe less than fourteen days. I said, okay. Then I 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:44.359 asked your phone to call a lawyer. She gave me 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:48.439 a phone. Then I conduct the lawyer. The lawyer the 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:52.120 phone was off. Then I tried to conduct one of 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:55.879 my friends. Then the answer. I said, Yo, we wanted 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:58.440 to go to the police to ask you because we 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:03.560 were worried because your phone were off and the ice officer, 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:06.800 the ice officer, they both I was saving a GPS, 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:11.480 so my GPS was off for the way phoning. Uh 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:15.280 the person way up to me in Texas looking for me. 0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:18.879 Then he also replaced, I'm also looking for you. I 0:19:18.880 --> 0:19:22.439 don't even know where she is. Yeah, So people they 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:26.439 were worried. Maybe I will someone could app you something 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:30.879 happened to me. Yeah, yeah, so you. 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:33.320 And another ice officer is also looking for you. 0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:35.639 Yeah, the other officer, we're looking for me. They were 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:40.440 even sending messages on their app. Yeah, yeah, asking where 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:43.680 are you charge your GPS? And the other ICE officer 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:47.760 was detaining me. Then I even explained to her. She said, 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:50.080 oh no, no, it's okay. Then she took the scissor. 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:53.359 Then she cut the GPS. She cut it off. 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:54.399 They know. 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:58.560 We spent I think one hour, it was around seven. 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:04.560 Then they said, okay, oh there someone k is coming 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:08.320 to take you and your daughter, so to take you 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:12.920 someway which is safe with your child. I ask away 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:15.760 those people they visited, we don't know, we don't know. 0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:22.800 I said, all okay. Then they search me. They said, 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:24.679 did you want to take your big they's no, no, 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:27.040 it's fine. I can ask if someone because I know 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:28.600 I was leaving as key for the. 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:33.360 Apartment Primrose, like many people seeking asylum, had to wear 0:20:33.359 --> 0:20:37.440 a GPS ankle tag part of ICE's Alternatives to Detention program. 0:20:37.960 --> 0:20:40.880 There are various parts of the program, including facial recognition 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:44.159 check ins via a smartphone app, home visits, and the 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:48.359 Intensive Supervision Parents Program, which is administered by Behavioral Interventions 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:52.320 A Geogroups of Sidiary I SAP as it's known, includes 0:20:52.320 --> 0:20:54.560 an app through which people can check it, as well 0:20:54.600 --> 0:20:57.280 as the GPS monitors and smart watches which can monitor 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:02.280 GPS and do facial recognition. Very obviously, they're not being 0:21:02.359 --> 0:21:04.680 used in a systematic way, as one branch of ICE 0:21:04.720 --> 0:21:07.920 was detaining Primrose while another was using a GPS tag 0:21:08.000 --> 0:21:11.440 to try and find her. All the GPS devices used 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:15.800 to altern to detention represent massive surveillance overreach, an invasion 0:21:15.800 --> 0:21:18.600 of privacy, and a huge government dragnet of data they 0:21:18.600 --> 0:21:20.600 can use to track down migrants and the people they're with. 0:21:21.440 --> 0:21:25.360 Despite this, they're also better than detention, which is where 0:21:25.400 --> 0:21:27.600 Primros ended up, but not directly. 0:21:28.480 --> 0:21:31.760 Maybe they're going to put me. I can't go with 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:36.200 the keys. Then they took my big Then okay, we're 0:21:36.320 --> 0:21:40.119 going to put somewhere. After one hour, they took us 0:21:40.160 --> 0:21:47.359 to Lax Airport. They put us in a hotel. It 0:21:47.560 --> 0:21:51.520 was around the twelve, yeah, twelve three, and that time, indeed, 0:21:51.520 --> 0:21:54.480 they said, okay, so when you can navy shower, then 0:21:54.520 --> 0:21:57.480 you can navy saw me. I was in the shower 0:21:57.600 --> 0:22:03.400 in the Kimberdis was already on the bed sleeping. Then 0:22:03.480 --> 0:22:07.480 the lady came in said, make fast, we are going 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:10.959 to we want to go back to pick another person 0:22:11.240 --> 0:22:12.040 where we came from. 0:22:13.680 --> 0:22:15.439 Ah. Then awake I awake him. 0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:17.119 I was talking about she was crying she was like, 0:22:17.200 --> 0:22:20.400 I want to sleep because she was leaving headache. Then 0:22:20.400 --> 0:22:23.240 they said no, no, no, it's okay, let's go, you're 0:22:23.280 --> 0:22:23.879 going to sleep. 0:22:23.920 --> 0:22:28.360