[This is a guest post by Lynn and Bill Oberfield]

A man and his wife and five-year-old daughter came to the US from Columbia two and a half years ago seeking asylum as a result of danger in their town.  We do not know what the threat entailed, but he was accepted into the asylum system and had an asylum attorney (as distinguished from an immigration attorney).  The family grew when the couple had another daughter, now two, to join the now-seven-year-old daughter.  The father has had a job in Philadelphia and was consistent in reporting to the immigration office for regular check-ins.

When, in good faith, he reported to the immigration office in late January (approximately), he was arrested, detained, and sent to a detention center near Pittsburgh. 

That is when the school which the older daughter attends was notified.  A teacher at the school responded by talking with about a half dozen members of her Quaker Meeting.  The group sought organizational resources and financial resources to support the family, as money for a bond for the husband was being raised. 

We were amongst the members of the Quaker Meeting who were involved in this effort.

Our group found many resources and websites providing support of all kinds for immigrant families (legal, material, family support).  We also learned about Congresso, an immigrant rights group in Philadelphia, which could cover the rent and utilities for two months.  The small group at the Meeting funded some food and store cards for the family, and the mother ran her own event to fund the family’s expenses. 

It was not known initially whether ICE and the immigration office would honor a bond and release the man from the immigration system and into the asylum system (where that system has determined he belongs) or whether ICE would seek to detain and deport the mother, as well.  This man was ‘low-hanging fruit’ for ICE, as he showed up at the office of immigration voluntarily.  This family, like many others, is in limbo…a result of a system that has failed immigrants and citizens alike in its cruelty and indecision over decades.

Following the initial detention, a judge ruled that the father could be released on bail, since he is in the asylum system, and he is now home with his family and seeking work. This is, so far, a good outcome, with legal proceedings being followed… but who knows?

ICE has a quota that the Trump administration would like to fill so it can prove its effectiveness and fulfill its campaign promises.  Many detention centers are privately run and are eager for the money that will come to them to house and feed the detainees as a result of these ICE raids.  Their ‘cooperation’ with ICE is, therefore, mutually beneficial.

An update from the Oberfields on March 26:

Yesterday, our Meeting member updated us on the story of the little Colombian family from Philadelphia, whose father was detained, then released on bond.  When he returned to their home in Philadelphia, his employer refused to hire him again.  No idea why, but that has left them without income.  Moreover, Congresso, the organization in which they put a lot of hope, did not come through with either rent or utility funds for them.  They are left, as is evident, high and dry.  They are borrowing money at a usurer’s rate, and, though the father wants to do it all himself, things look bleak.  He has to seek a pro bono lawyer from HIAS (a great organization), as he can no longer pay the attorney he had hired. 
      What is being done?  The school is helping contact HIAS; some individuals are helping with food and rent, but not in any sustainable way.  The story doesn’t have a positive ending after all, but I will keep you all up to date.