While the Trump Administration has successfully slashed illegal immigration, it has also shamefully cracked down on legal immigration.
Virtually no new refugees are allowed here now. There’s a deliberate backlog in handling millions of citizenship applications. More than 200 immigration judges have been fired or forced out. And 80% of asylum requests are rejected, a record high.
On top of that, asylum seekers are often detained by ICE when they go to court, many people legally in the U.S. are imprisoned by ICE, and at least 46 people have died while in ICE custody since Donald Trump became president again.
It’s all outrageous!
With that in mind, nine caring and passionate individuals from North Dakota and Northern Minnesota just traveled to the southern border.
“I was deeply affected. It was life altering,” former Fargo City Commissioner Arlette Preston told me.
“There were so many awful stories that were hard to hear,” Nancy Farnham of Enderlin, North Dakota told me.
One of those awful stories is of 23-year-old Andrea Pedro-Francisco, who they met with. Two months ago, Andrea was legally living and working in Burnsville, Minnesota.
Jim Shaw / Andrea Pedro-Francisco of Burnsville, Minnesota.
Andrea has a tennis ball sized ovarian cyst. She was scheduled for surgery in Minnesota to have the cyst removed. However, just a few days before the scheduled surgery, ICE randomly stopped her car because of the color of her skin. She was arrested and sent to the El Paso detention center, where she lives today.
Meantime, ICE has blocked her surgery. They claim Andrea just has constipation. The reality is, Andrea is now in enormous pain, and without the surgery, her life is in danger.
“It’s absolutely inhumane. It’s horrifying that this country is doing this to people,” Carrie Lauber of Moorhead told me. “She and the others deserve medical care and basic human needs.
“We prayed with her. She started to cry. She sobbed on my shoulder. I told her she doesn’t deserve this. It’s heart-wrenching to see someone facing a death sentence.”
“It is horrific,” Moorhead City Council member Deb White told me. “I just keep thinking this can’t be happening in America. When you see someone being treated this way, it’s heartbreaking.
“She did everything she was supposed to do legally. We are trying to get her released on humanitarian grounds.”
The group also met with people who had been released from the detention facility. They were appalled to hear of the horrendous conditions there.
Vicki Schmidt submission / Southern Border Wall
“They’re treated like animals,” former longtime West Fargo resident Vicki Schmidt told me. “They don’t get enough food or water, the food has worms, the showers are cold, there’s no privacy, medical conditions are not addressed, medications are confiscated and thrown away, there’s a lack of toilets, and many people have diarrhea.”
They also went to criminal court, and were shocked to see those charged with illegal entry were in shackles around their waists, ankles and wrists. They also barely met their lawyers. All this for people accused of misdemeanors with no criminal records.
Vicki Schmidt submission / ICE ankle bracelet
“It was horrifying to see them shackled like that,” Farnham said. “You could see in their eyes how terrified they were.”
“It was very tough to watch this,” Preston said.
The group met with several migrants who had ghastly stories. It took one woman a year to walk from Venezuela to the border. Along the way, her father and brother were murdered, while she was raped and robbed.
Vicki Schmidt submission / Carrie Lauber with a migrant
“They come here because they’re going to die if they don’t,” Lauber said.
“They’re driven to get to a safe place to live,” Schmidt said. “They have no idea what they’re going to encounter…One woman told us that ICE grabbed her after her asylum interview. She did everything legally she was supposed to do, and ICE put her in detention.”
It is frightening that this country is violating its own immigration laws, and that so many people are treated so cruelly. We’re much better than that.
“We’re dehumanizing people,” Schmidt said. “One woman said, ‘All I want to do is tell my story, but nobody would listen.’ The law says people have a right to come into this country and seek asylum.”
“I have sadness for my country,” Farnham said. “Our country has always been a beacon of hope for the world, but that’s not what I saw or what I was hearing.”
Vicki Schmidt submission / ND MN residents praying in El Paso
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