This is the story of my friend, Linda. Linda has been detained and separated from her community and family in the South Texas ICE Detention Center in Pearsall, TX since June. She missed her son going for his first ride on the big yellow bus, she missed my birthday (although that didn’t stop her from helping me plan it from inside detention), and she’s missed so many moments with friends and family that are so easy to take for granted while you have such easy access to them.
If you’re reading this, wondering to yourself how someone who’s really been following the “right” path could have found themselves in a detention center, here’s the short version: she did everything this country asks of those seeking asylum, and put her trust in an attorney who radically mishandled her case. Those dominoes have landed her in ICE detention, with an attorney who’s now doing her best to pick up the pieces and find a way forward for Linda–with severely more restricted options because of the realities of the past.
Linda’s 90 days in detention will be toward the end of September. Ninety days separated from her husband, her two children, her friends, and the broader immigrant community in Austin whom she dedicates countless hours serving – even with the question of her own status so up in the air. Linda has one of the most generous, ebullient, genuine faiths and hearts I’ve ever had the joy of encountering. Her whole life is dedicated to supporting her community: from the work she does at Kingdom Capital Network to help Black & Brown business owners make Kingdom impact in their communities, to the volunteering she does with More Than Welcome to support refugees in Austin, to the countless ways she volunteers in her church and broader community, much less all the ways she models Jesus by being a loving and joyful presence for her two kids…
And now, she’s sitting in a detention center with incredibly limited ways forward because of the mishandling of her case combined with a system that was never designed to care for people like Linda.
I’ve been doing what little I can to support and advocate for Linda while she’s been detained. From keeping our community updated, to helping to organize support for her family, to helping to raise funds for all the legal fees of different filing & applications she has to navigate on top of the money she’s paying while in detention just for the right to have a video call with her kids or a (really bad) cup of coffee.
And you know what’s been bizarre?
Everyone – even Linda – keeps telling me what a good friend I am for all that I’m doing for her. When all I’m doing is advocating for my friend in the ways that Jesus both commanded and modeled for us. What’s the alternative? Do nothing?
We are not called to lukewarm inaction. Whether through the paralysis of overwhelm by the system, or inaction through apathy, both would fall under the “lukewarm” concept John writes about in Revelation 3, and neither are an option when your loved one is in detention. We are called to be healers; to be harbingers of justice and mercy and good news for the marginalized and foreigners among us; to be a strange people marked by the aroma of grace. Of course, I’ll do what little I can to advocate on behalf of my sister. Because what else am I supposed to do?
If I’m being honest, as I’ve been doing what I can for Linda, I’ve felt torn. I want to do this for everyone; I know that there are so many across the hundreds of detention centers that don’t have anyone looking out for them on the outside, and that breaks my heart. But this is why I’m sharing Linda’s story, along with my story of how I’ve been advocating for her:
No one can do this work for everyone, but everyone can do this for someone.
This is why the broader justice work I do in my local community and through work with organizations like Red Letter Christians and Chasing Justice are imperative. They’re reminders to look back to the ancestors of our faith: not a single one accomplished anything of substance alone.
We are part of a greater faith heritage that welcomes us into a family designed and called to do just this:
To do justice,
To love mercy, and
To walk humbly with our God.
Not in isolation, but as part of a global and diverse family bound up by faith.
My sister’s current situation is severe. Through the past mishandling of her case, a very real concern exists that our country may deport her into an incredibly dangerous situation if we don’t work together to find ways forward for her. Because of the limited options, there have been many extra legal filing and application fees (on top of the weekly costs of just being in detention) that her family simply does not have.
If you’re able and feel so compelled, please reach out to me either through Instagram (@k.nguyen.palomares) or at katie@dwellcoworking.com, and I can send the donation link. For the safety of Linda and others, we’re not sharing her GoFundMe link publicly.
Alternatively, you can also Venmo (@kPhoenix128) or Cashapp ($kphoenix128) and mark “Linda” in the description, and I’ll make sure those funds go directly to her GoFundMe. We’ve had donations from $10-$2,000, and I can tell you that Linda and her family are genuinely grateful for every single donation; every cent is covering her legal fees, detention funds, and supporting her family as they navigate life without her by their side.
We can’t do everything for everyone, but I’m praying that you would join our community in contributing anything at all to help get Linda OUT and reunited with her kids.
