That audio is a representation of many Americans this week as we weep for a nation that has decided to break basic human rights laws before our very eyes. In actuality, that audio is made up of children that have been detained at the United States border, as they have been torn away from their parents. Some ranging from as young as 8 months old to 10-year-old with down syndrome according to pleas from the Mexican government. The photos attached are those that Health and Human Resources have done as when children are separated from their parents, they are released into their ward.
How does this affect me while I’m comfortably stationed in Miami, living my best summer life? This week I had the opportunity to watch a United States program that was only piloted within five United States cities, and Miami happened to be one of them. At Immigration Helpdesk, a lawyer uses a court room where he/she can interact with people who do not have a lawyer and cannot afford one to advise them based on previous court information or what to do going forward. There, a woman came in crying asking whether her children will be able to flee from their Latin American country for the summer. She was worried about her children being able to leave. The lawyer was worried, but he was worried that they would not let the children in for the summer and they would have to ask for asylum. If that was to happen, he wasn’t sure what would happen. Whether her sons would be affected in the same way as the children being seen in the media.
The day after being a Helpdesk, we got the opportunity to visit a detention facility while one of the lawyers gave the detainees a presentation on what their rights and options were. I saw different men in that room, some cheerier than others, others gloomy. But then the lawyer mentioned a soccer team, Argentina, and how they were going to play the next day. All the men started laughing and discussing the World Cup. They discussed who they know has been doing well, who’s lost, and who they’re cheering for.
“Solo miras al cielo y ves a la bandera.”
Only look up into the sky and you’ll see the flag. The Argentine flag, a small thing, a flag playing soccer for the World Cup along with thirty-one other flags, but for one of the men in that room, that flag was somehow more poetic. I can only imagine what it must be like to be detained, but to be able to have hope of a team, to look forward to that as opposed to looking forward to your impending deportation.
After having read all the depressing news all week, something that I had done was step back and follow the drama of the World Cup. Neymar tripping and falling but the VAR coming in clutch and calling him out. Panama getting to hear their national anthem on the worlds stage for the first time. I never realized how those moments that allowed me to step away from the real world for a second were moments that others used as well.
Although Trump signed an Executive Order that stated that families would no longer be separated but instead detained together, there is still a lot of work to do in being able to help the 2000+ children that have already be separated from their loved ones. Feel free to visit HERE, where a list of places one can donate have been compiled.