This article is part two of a two-part series that discusses immigration trends, past and present. The series focuses on apprehension rates, entry and retention legislation, COVID-19 influences, and Colorado detention centers.
While Colorado is physically removed from the Southwest border, the state has several detention centers for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers already present in the United States. The pandemic has impacted how these detention centers operate with the assistance of external non-profit organizations.
Detention Centers: Controversial Immigration Policies
Colorado is home to three detention centers, including the Aurora-GEO Detention Center. Those in the Aurora detention facility include both undocumented individuals and asylum seekers already living in the U.S.
While the Aurora Detention Center does not directly hold newly detained migrants and thus has not experienced ripple effects from increased apprehension rates, the pandemic has strained operations in an already under-pressure system.
Casa de Paz is a non-profit organization that used to run a visitation program in the detention center. While only an hour, the visitations work to alleviate feelings of isolation and provide moral support to those who are detained.
Emily Glass, a sophomore international studies and public policy major at the University of Denver, joined the Casa de Paz visitation program in winter 2020 to broaden her personal knowledge on U.S. immigration policy. Glass was allowed to visit the same individual every time, so she could build personal connections.
“If you want to continue to go back and visit the same person and build a relationship, a lot of the people do that,” said Glass. “I did that with an immigrant for maybe two or three visits.”
Such networks were often cut off due to the disjointed nature of the U.S. immigration system. After speaking with the one individual over the course of three visits, Glass learned they were no longer in the center.
“You do not know if that means they got some sort of legal status and had been released, you do not know if that means they have been deported or if they were transferred to another facility,” said Glass. “To this day, I still have no idea which outcome it was.”
Another organization operating within the Aurora Detention Center is the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network. For 20 years, the Network has provided pro bono legal services to detained immigrants and refugees.
Aside from legal representation, RMIAN conducts daily “know-your-rights” presentations within the detention center as well as self-help workshops to ensure the legal rights of detained individuals are protected and fulfilled. Through this variation of legal services, RMIAN provided nearly 500 clients with legal assistance and referred an additional 700 clients to a broader pro bono legal network in 2020.
Due to the pandemic, Colorado organizations such as Casa de Paz and RMIAN had to reconstruct outreach opportunities. For Casa de Paz, this meant their hourly one-on-one visitation sessions were promptly replaced with a pen pal program.
For volunteers like Glass, the writing program is simply not the same as the visitations. While they are able to reach a broader audience, Glass concedes there is no personal connection and this is the whole purpose of the program.
“I think we have an even bigger crowd that we are writing with,” said Glass. “It is a very different experience because you cannot get all of the same information that you can in a one-hour visit.”
For asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants alike, isolation is a crucial issue within the centers. Both prior to and during the pandemic, individuals can often go months without contacting family or even seeing outside.
“They [detained immigrants] can spend months there without ever seeing outside,” Glass said. “They didn’t have any sort of outdoor recreation area, and a lot of them did not even know that Colorado had mountains […] They had been bused to the detention center, and that was all they had seen of the U.S.”
The Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network was able to continue its pro bono legal work during the pandemic. Navigating telephone-based legal proceedings, COVID-19 outbreaks in the facility, and quarantine periods for detained persons, the team was still able to expand certain services such as by hiring a third social worker for its Social Service Project.
RMIAN pivoted its legal work to ensure the protection of detained individuals who are medically vulnerable. In late April, nearly 100 detained people tested positive for COVID-19 and were sent into quarantine at the facility.
In early February, however, RMIAN and the Colorado Medical Coalition for Human Rights co-authored a letter to Governor Jared Polis and Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Health Jill Hunsaker Ryan calling for the prioritization of COVID-19 vaccinations for detained persons.
The historic patterns of migration trends, recent apprehension rates and the disjointed nature of the U.S. detention programs speak to the complexity of U.S. immigration politics. Sara Jackson believes the pandemic has made these issues more prevalent, and she asks that people join local immigration organizations to broaden their personal knowledge.
“Treat others the way you want to be treated,” said Jackson. “This starts with work which will lead to collective liberation.”
For DU students who are interested in this issue, the international studies and political science departments teach various courses on the immigration field. The Casa de Paz program partners with the University of Denver Service and Change (DUSC) organization on campus.
