Andrew KimmelVerified account

After everyone received food, it was time to process them. My job: write down names of those turned away & the # of their relative in the US. I then use my phone to call their relative/husband/friend, etc so they can talk. We are only supposed to give them 2 minutes to talk...

Two minutes to tell a loved one, whom they hadn’t spoken to in days (or even up to 2 weeks), where they are. Most had no clue where they were. One woman asked if she was in Mexicali (nearly 10 hrs drive away).

I sat facing each person who made their call. It was incredibly uncomfortable. As soon as I’d pass the phone over, the person would break down in tears. There was nowhere else to look except in their eyes or down @ my lap. I wanted nothing more than to console them, but couldn’t.

One of the women I was processing came from Cuba. Border patrol took her passport & sent her back to Mexico. She called her sister & explained how she had nothing. She is unable to receive money without her passport and has nothing but the clothes on her back. She was hysterical.

I asked my contact how often and why this happens - they didn’t know, but said it happens quite frequently. Can someone please look into this for me? How can this be legal?

We had to tell the woman secretly that we could help her find a place to stay, as the facility doesn’t allow it. So we told her to wait for us outside. Without shelter, she’d be on the streets with no money, no identification, no phone, and not a clue of what to do.

Things unfortunately took a turn for the worse. We left the facility and walked back to the parking garage for our car. The Cuban woman was standing near a bus stop outside and we told her to keep waiting for us. When we pulled out, she was walking w/ a man on his phone.

The man was well-dressed in pressed pants and I’m guessing in his 60’s. We told the woman to get in our car. She told us, “This man says he can find a safe place for me to be. He says he can help me until I find out what to do.” This all took place right in front of the facility.