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A6 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 23 OcTOber 2018

In a prison and a temple, Oregonians help detained migrants

By ANDREW SELSKY erally travel onward in a upon them," said Sheridan due process. prison, surveying the near-
Associated Press day or two to other states Mayor Harry Cooley, who The migrants were granted by forests, hills and fields for
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — With where they have relatives worked at the Oregon pris- access to lawyers after the the first time since they ar-
the sun bearing down, or friends. The volunteers on for 21 years and is not American Civil Liberties rived.
Norm and Kathy Daviess One man borrowed a
stood in the shade of a pris- phone to make a video call
on wall topped with coiled to his wife in Nepal as Katy
razor wire, waiting for three Mitchell, who manages In-
immigrants to come out. novation Law Lab's opera-
It's become an oddly famil- tions in Sheridan, gave him
iar routine for the Air Force a ride.
veteran and his wife, part of "I couldn't understand their
an ad hoc group of volun- conversation in Nepali, but
teers that formed in recent I could understand the love
months after the Trump ad- and excitement in their
ministration transferred 124 voices seeing each other's
immigrants to the federal faces and talking for the
prison in rural Oregon, a first first time in many months,"
for the facility. Mitchell said. "He sat there
The detainees were among clutching his heart with the
approximately 1,600 immi- biggest grin on his face
grants apprehended along and she couldn't stop gig-
the U.S.-Mexico border and gling with joy."
then transferred to federal On a recent day, Carlos
prisons in five states after Marroquin, from El Salva-
President Donald Trump's dor, and Abdoulaye Ca-
"zero tolerance" policy left mara, from Mauritania,
the usual facilities short of watched the countryside,
space. tinged in autumnal col-
Almost half of those sent to ors, flash by as volunteer
the prison outside Sheridan, Cynthia McCracken drove
an economically struggling In this Oct. 3, 2018 photo, Navneet Kaur, left, a volunteer interpreter with Innovation Law Lab, them from the prison.
town 50 miles (80 kilome- hands out towels and toiletries to Carlos Marroquin, right, after he was released from a nearby "It's been so long, waiting for
ters) southwest of Portland, federal prison at the Dasmesh Darbar Sikh temple in Salem, Ore. Looking on at center, is Victoria this moment," Marroquin,
on May 31 are from India, Bejarano Muirhead, of Innovation Law Lab. sporting a fresh haircut and
many of them Sikhs — part Associated Press wearing jeans and a plaid
of an influx of Indian nation- shirt, said in Spanish with a
als entering the U.S. in re- provide transportation, in- among the volunteers. He Union of Oregon filed a law- big grin. "I feel an enormous
cent years. They also came terpreter services, legal was less certain about mi- suit alleging they were held gratitude for all these peo-
from Nepal, Guatemala, counseling, food, shelter grants who request asylum largely incommunicado. ple, because they helped
Mexico and a dozen other and moral support. They at points of entry, noting it The detainees told federal us in an incredible way: the
countries. raised more than $12,000 isn't illegal. public defenders they were community, lawyers."
"Zero tolerance" made to pay bonds for migrants "It would be unfathom- initially confined to cells for McCracken, of Newberg,
Sheridan an unusual way who couldn't come up with able if they were detaining up to 23 hours a day. "It's Oregon, took Marroquin
station for migrants from the money themselves. those people rather than not right. We don't do that," and Camara to the Das-
around the world. Now, A Sikh temple in nearby just turning them away," Norm Daviess said. mesh Darbar Sikh temple
those who pass an initial Salem also offers the immi- Cooley said, but then add- Immigration and Customs in Salem, where they show-
screening and post bond grants religious and other ed it seemed justifiable to Enforcement declined to ered, ate and relaxed. She
are being released. And services, and a place to detain the immigrants while comment, citing pending noted she's driven 12 men
Norm and Kathy Daviess, recover. their stories are verified. litigation. from the prison gates.
along with more than 100 Many of the detainees "The previous policy was Kathleen Moss, from near- Freed immigrants often
other volunteers — retirees, made long, dangerous catch and release, which I by Carlton, said it's been sit outside on the temple
recent college graduates, journeys to reach the U.S., definitely don't agree with." rewarding to coordinate grounds, taking in the fresh
lawyers, clergy — have and all either turned them- The prison is Sheridan's larg- around 60 drivers and peo- air near a driveway lined
lined up to help. selves in to seek asylum or est employer, though the ple offering respite centers. with red, white, yellow and
"The best part of this is see- were nabbed by border town of 6,000 has paid little "It's kind of taken over my pink flowers.
ing the big smile on their agents when they arrived. attention to the migrant is- life," the nutritionist and ad- "It's wonderful. I think it's a
face, to be out, to have Since "zero tolerance" took sue, the mayor said. vocate for foster children dream," Karandeep Singh,
this burden done with," effect in May, everyone The volunteers are mostly said. an immigrant from India,
said Kathy Daviess, 71, who who enters the country il- from other communities To help the immigrants seek said inside the temple as
wore a floppy white hat legally is charged with a in the Willamette Valley, asylum, making a case that music featuring the soft
as she and her husband crime. including Salem and Port- they fled dangerous condi- patter of tabla drums fil-
stood outside the prison Attorney General Jeff Ses- land, Oregon's largest city. tions back home, Innova- tered from a speaker. An
on a recent afternoon. As sions said the crackdown Kathy Daviess said she got tion Law Lab has "plugged ornate Persian carpet lay
drivers, the two are ready is necessary to eliminate il- involved because "we've in" 80 volunteer attorneys, at his feet.
to go to the prison, a half- legal immigration and be- got a legal system, and it's legal assistants and other For Mitchell, being involved
hour from their hometown cause abuse of the asylum supposed to apply to ev- specialists, said Victoria Be- in the team effort has been
of Dundee, at a moment's system has caused a surge eryone." Her husband, who jarano Muirhead, develop- bittersweet.
notice and often wait there in illegal border crossings. spent his career with the Air ment director of the Port- "I feel lucky to be witness to
for hours as the detainees "For those who crossed the Force in uniform and as a land group. this joy, but pained to know
are processed. border illegally, those were contractor, felt the immi- Volunteers have watched the suffering it's rooted in,"
The freed migrants gen- the consequences brought grants were being denied detainees emerge from the she said.q