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There is no way to begin to tell this story in a way that is not putting me in the role of a privileged outsider. Yet I am telling it in the best way I can.

Last week, a group of interested folks from Temple Sinai, headed by Rabbi Sam Trief, visited the Camp Stewart Detention Center near Lumpkin, Georgia, under the supervision of the El Refugio House (a place to house detainee visitors, lawyers, family members and the like). We were  briefed by a sensitive and knowledgeable guide named Joann, who did her best to prepare us for what we would experience in meeting with detainees. Despite her Herculean efforts, she failed. Not because she did a poor job, but because, until you meet with a detainee and hear his story (this facility is men only), nothing can compare you for what you see, hear, and feel.

Some of the detainees have made mistakes, some not. Many have been here for far too long, awaiting legal assistance that may or may not arrive. All find themselves in this civil court (as opposed to a criminal court) due to their immigration status. In one case, a man broke the lock on a warehouse trying to recover his belongings only to be arrested for breaking and entering. Yes, he committed a crime, and yes he deserved to be convicted according to our system. But he was put into a criminal prison for TWO YEARS. He served his time but on being convicted, he was forced to give up his Green Card. (Yes, he was in this country legally.) Upon losing the Green Card, he was then picked up for having no Green Card, and was sent to this Detention Center (prison) as an illegal immigrant with no guarantee of representation of any kind and no idea if he
will be deported or when. He has a family that lives too far away to afford to visit. His wife doesn’t make enough money to support herself and two children without any income from her husband to supplement her small salary.

The Center had no place for lawyers or visitors to stay before Samantha Bee (yes that one) purchased and refurbished the house that is now El Refugio House. The center is purposefully in the “middle of nowhere” with no amenities, only one cafe. Some detainees, in the small instances of being released, until recently, were just put out on the street with no follow up help, no transportation, no money. El Refugio was finally just able to appoint a release coordinator.

Make no mistake, these conditions are unfair and deplorable. Many of the people met with are here because of a bad break or just rotten luck. They are hard working. Many are refugees seeking asylum from a treacherous government that will at best beat them and at worst kill them if they are returned to that country.

How can we process this? Why do we allow it? What is the moral responsibility of our government ? What have we come to? These are the questions that arose in me after meeting with our detainee, a HUMAN BEING. The best we can do for now is offer sympathy, be empathetic, write letters, send a book.

It is not enough.

Temme Barkin-Leeds