Right now a longtime Vashon resident and small business owner sits in jail in Tacoma, though he is accused of no crime.
At his family’s request, his name will not be used, but the facts remain. He has been there since September, and during that time he has not seen the sky or smelled fresh air. When he is moved about the facility, he is placed in shackles. His mail and visits are monitored.
Though he is in jail, he has no right to a court-appointed attorney if not able to pay for his defense. He has no right to a jury trial. The person deciding his case is an administrative law judge, because this is just an administrative matter. This jail is called the Tacoma Northwest Detention Center, because people aren’t imprisoned, they are just “detained.” Even those holding him would agree that even though he is being treated like a criminal, he is not one.
What he is accused of is being in this country without proper legal status — commonly referred to in the vernacular as “an illegal” but more properly called an undocumented immigrant. This is a civil offense, not even a misdemeanor. More like a traffic ticket.
The consequences, however, are much different. Deportation from the country instead of a fine. Separation from his American citizen wife and children. Loss of his livelihood and the ability to support his family. Being sent to a country from which he was taken when he was too young to remember and where he knows no one.
There are many levels to the situation of this neighbor of ours. As may be obvious, he is the kind of person something like the Dream Act might be able to help — someone who came into this country through no decision of his own, who has made the kind of contribution to our country that he and we can be proud of and who really has no way out of the dilemma of not having a proper legal status.
“They should get legal if they want to live here!” Great idea, except that the laws are a labyrinth with lots of ways out and almost no way in unless you are rich. “Then they should go back to where they came from!” And just how is that supposed to work? “They should just fess up to their criminal ways and self deport.” Exactly how is that supposed to happen when one is brought here as a young child and now has a family, dependents and a productive life? There is just no sensible legal solution for even the most honorable and law-abiding person in this circumstance.
Bad enough, though, many in our country disagree. “Which part of illegal don’t you understand?” That, of course, could have been said about runaway slaves before the Civil War or Japanese-Americans who resisted internment during World War II.
But none of us should be complacent about the situation in the tide flats of Tacoma, where more than 1,500 people are being held at this private prison. It is a place where people can disappear and be held for years, then be discharged in the dead of night to places around the world, suitcase in hand, set down on a corner in a country that may be totally strange to them. It is another toxic plume coming over to us from across the water, though spreading inhumanity rather than arsenic. Both are harmful in long-term subtle ways, tearing at the fabric of our community’s health.
A small group of people has been visiting this facility on a regular basis to vigil, support families and protest. The New Sanctuary Movement of Washington State has been there on the second Saturday of each month for years, and in the last year Unitarians from our Island have joined them. It is about education, compassion, supporting individuals and moving toward change in our national policies.
Two events are coming up for those who would like to learn more — a screening of the Frontline documentary “Lost in Detention” and a mass vigil at the detention center in a show of anger for the situation our country has created and compassion for those caught up in it. (See box for details.) I hope many Islanders can join us for one or both of these events.
“We all belong” is the recent Island phrase. I believe it’s true, even when our government tries to tell us otherwise.
— Charles Torrey, a retired physician, is a member of the Vashon Island Unitarian Fellowship.
The documentary “Lost in Detention” will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 2, at the Land Trust Building. A discussion will follow.
The mass vigil will be held from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 12, at the Northwest Detention Center, at 1623 East J Street, Tacoma. For more information or carpooling, email immigration@vashonuu.org.
